Hearthlist Digest #554 - Saturday, January 27, 2001
 
RE: Rogers post - energy crisis
  by "Craig Issod" <[email protected]>
 

(back)
Subject: RE: Rogers post - energy crisis
From: "Craig Issod" <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 17:24:50 -0500
 
>
>Choice A: Hay, who cares. Life is good. The HPA has just reorganized and
>has it's own stuff to do. They can't do much anyway. Whatever business
>that accidentally comes my way from the energy crisis is all I need.
>
>Choice B: Our HPA should reinvent its organizational structure to put
>mass media public relations as its highest priority (after EXPO). It
>should assign an existing staff person as the HPA Public Relations
>Officer to be the media spokesperson, whether dealing with national or
>affiliate level media opportunities. HPA should contract with mass media
>consultants so they can constantly be in the media's face, talking with
>editorial staffs, filling the many media channels with interesting
>articles, PSAs, videos and homeowner interviews about the many
>advantages of our products. Our manufacturers should be yelling,
>screaming and demanding that our trade association take immediate
>advantage of this incredible national media opportunity. The HPA should
>even consider a membership "surcharge" if necessary to kick start this
>mass media effort, not to buy ad space, but to leverage our message into
>the hundreds of energy crisis article opportunities.
>
>What choice do you think is best and why?
 
These choices also apply to retailers and manufacturers. Many 
businesses pull back on their advertising and promotion when things 
are good, figuring that they'll sell everything they can get their 
hands on. WRONG! This is the best time to strike and when you will 
get the most long term effectiveness from your marketing dollars. The 
fact is that your business has the dollars to spend and customers are 
more willing than ever to listen, a perfect scenario!
 
As far as HPA, we can't count on our rather small trade org to do ALL 
the work for us. However, as a member of the communications 
committee, I'm pleased to report that HPA is taking a new direction 
in consumer advertising and education. I'll leave it to HPA to 
explain the details, but for beginners:
 
1. They have been placing customer advertising in the internet in 
order to stimulate customer demand. They have increased the spending 
and also gotten smarter about where to put it. The result is a 
virtual avalanche of customers going to the HPA web site for 
information.
2. A program has been put into this years budget to greatly enhance 
the web site for these customers with the focus on customer education 
as opposed to just marketing hype. Again, I'll leave it to HPA to 
explain further.
 
As good as they are, these efforts pale in comparison to the 
potential combined strength of our manufacturer and retailer members. 
As retailers, you should ask your manufacturers about their national 
marketing efforts. If they say they have none, ask them why. Look at 
your own ad spending and increase it to the industry norms of 2-4% of 
gross sales.
 
One thing for sure, Roger is right about the opportunity. HearthNet 
provides an interesting laboratory for studying customer demand 
patterns. As an example, one of our manufacturers who sells wood 
furnaces has seen the inquiry rate DOUBLE over the past few months. 
I'm getting questions like "can I convert my gas fireplace to wood" 
and "why is my LP bill so high, I can't afford to run my stove as 
much as I'd like".
 
One thing is for certain...constant change.