The Coconut girls, Sarah, Sally and Victoria recently travelled up to Birmingham to support a very special charity event. Organised annually by advertising guru agency, ARC Media, Coconut Creatives arrived in true Coconut style dressed to impress in full pirate costume!

The event was hosted at Birmingham’s finest Greek Athens Restaurant on the 3rd October with over 130 guests (majority also in pirate costumes!) from around the country who were invited to join in the pirate-y fun and helped raise £520 for the ‘togetheraware’ charities.

Guests lined up to put their 10 ‘X’s on the pirate map to try and win one of the treasures including magnums of champagne and a 32″ plasma TV! Coconuts Victoria and Sally managed to bag great prizes including a luxury wine hamper and a DVD box set of Pirates of the Caribbean. Sally also deservingly won the Best Dressed Pirate award and took home a magnum of champagne (that we secretly hope she’ll share with the rest of us Coconuts at Christmas!)

For more images of the Coconuts and friends getting pirate-y in Birmingham visit http://www.arcma.co.uk/GreekNight-2008-Pics.htm

For all attendees to this year’s Franchise Marketing Conference, we are delighted to offer the opportunity for a one-to-one consultancy with one of our marketing specialists from Coconut Creatives on any aspect of your franchise marketing strategy.

* Have your current campaign assessed prior to attending the conference
* Receive 30 minutes of one-to-one targeted and personalised marketing advice
* Take your business to the next level by asking the experts your franchise marketing queries
* Find out if your marketing and franchise recruitment plan maximises both efficiency and effectiveness
* Gain real and achievable solutions to your marketing and franchise recruitment challenges

Session times:
09:45, 10:15, 11:35, 12:20, 14:10, 15:15, 16:00

For more information about the conference visit http://www.franchiseinfo.co.uk/fmc/consultancyclinic

During the build of the first Loaf Hairstylists salon, Channel 4’s ‘Risking it All’ series filmed all the development work. At the end of the programme, the presenter praised the company on air and said that it was by far the most successful business of the series!

“As soon as the programme was aired in August 2006, our salon went into overdrive with calls from people all over the area wanting a booking with one of our stylists. We were thrilled and excited for the future,” says Richard Darlow, Managing Director of Loaf Hairstylists.

The Loaf Hairstylists niche is for city centre styling in the suburbs. Research showed that many people wanted a professional and stylish haircut but didn’t want to travel into the city centre and didn’t want to pay such a high price. The Loaf Hairstylists approach to hairdressing is relaxed yet professional, a combination that seems to work well with their quality brand image.

In 2006, a second salon was opened in Broomhill, yet another suburb of Sheffield. This salon also proved to be an immediate success and continues to grow.

Recently Loaf Hairstylists have opened up their business to franchisees with the first one already signed up. Their programme on Channel 4 has recently been rerun which should add to the hype and attention that this brand already has.

Franchisees don’t need any previous hairdressing experience because they will be trained in all aspects of the business. However, applicants need to be confident, have a flair for fashion and have lots of energy.

To request an information pack contact Craig@loafhair.com or call 01142 684494 or click the link below.

Coconut Creatives is now working with Mirage’s beauty salon in Leeds. Mirage is renowned for its professionally tailored treatments in a relaxing and tranquil environment and this successful business is now available as a franchise. This unique franchise opportunity is the ONLY combined hair and beauty business currently available in the UK.

Jaz Rander, founder of Mirage and qualified beauty therapist, explains why the franchise offering has been developed, “The Leeds salon draws clients from up to 70 miles away and they tell us that it is because we combine innovative beauty services with a real care for the individual. We have always strived to do things differently at Mirage and this has built our reputation to a point where our regular clients include national TV celebrities.”

Mirage was one of the first salons in the region to offer threading, Hollywood waxing, sugaring and non-surgical facelifts. The salon is also known for effectively treating skin pigmentation, acne and acne scarring, and other skin problems using their own PRAVI product range. PRAVI has been developed using ayurvedic principles, combining herbs, minerals and oils that contribute towards natural healing of the skin and Mirage franchisees will have exclusive use of these products.

A Mirage franchise would suit anyone looking for a management opportunity and whilst a keen interest in the beauty industry is desirable, it is not necessary as full training will be provided. The franchise, which costs just £106,500*, includes all training, treatment machines, operations manual, legalities, marketing promotion and opening stock.

For more information visit: www.miragebeauty.co.uk and for a franchise pack please call Prashant on 0113 249 0777 or email franchise@miragebeauty.co.uk. Coconut Creatives Marketing and PR Specialist Sally Butters is the account handler for Mirage.

1. If your Advertising isn’t working – STOP DOING IT!
Let’s start with the simple stuff. If you are running advertising that is not working, please stop it!

This applies to all advertising, whether you’re running ads in newspapers or magazines. Feel free to use posters everywhere and make sure you ask people where they found out about you.
2. Only use Direct Response Advertising
There are two types of advertising – direct response advertising and brand advertising.

Understanding the distinction between the two will immediately save you a fortune.

Brand advertising is used by companies like Coca Cola and the large car manufacturers to build and increase awareness of their brand. Unless you have huge amounts of money which you are happy to lose, you should avoid brand advertising at all costs. For a small business it is a complete waste of money.

The only type of advertising you ever want to consider is direct response advertising. The only purpose of direct response advertising is to produce a clear response.
3. Testing and Measuring
It is absolutely essential that you test and measure all of your advertising.

If we are going to engage in direct response advertising we obviously need to be able to measure that response, otherwise we are not going to know if the ad is working.

At the very least we need to know how many people responded to the advert. Then you need to compare that figure to the cost of the ad and you can immediately work out how profitable the ad was, or whether you should stop running it.

One of the reasons that Radio and TV Advertising can be so high risk, is that it’s very difficult to test it on a small scale. You should never invest in Radio and TV Advertising unless it’s money you can afford to lose.
4. Use Fun and Exciting Headlines when possible
Be adventurous with your headlines. Test different versions to see what works best. There are no rules – except what works.
5. Remember AIDA
There’s a classic formula used by advertisers and it’s well worth remembering. The formula is AIDA. This stands for

Attention – grab the reader’s attention
Interest – Create an interest in your product or service
Desire – Convert that interest into a strong desire to contact you and find out more
Action – Give them a reason to act now e.g. free consultation or buy one get one free etc

If you follow this formula in every ad that you write or produce, you will greatly increase your chances of success.
6. Benefits, Benefits, Benefits
One of the principles that should drive all of your marketing is communicating the BENEFITS of your business.
7. Don’t Advertise on a Left Hand Page
If you’re doing newspaper or magazine advertising, this one piece of knowledge can turn an unsuccessful ad campaign into a successful one. This has been tested again and again. When you read a publication, your eyes are drawn to the right hand page as you flick through, so statistically, more people will see your ad if it’s on the right hand page.
8. Never pay the full rate for advertising
The person selling you the advertising needs to know very early on that you have absolutely no intention of paying the full rate.

Most advertising rate cards are far too high and you can always negotiate. If you’re a small business remember that large companies who use ad agencies are buying based on the readership or audience levels rather than the rate card - so haggle and negotiate.
9. Don’t Follow the Competition
One of the biggest mistakes people make is advertising in publications or on various forms of media just because their competitors are doing so. Don’t for a minute think that all your competitors are there because their ads are producing great results. They’re more likely to be there because everyone else is and most of them wont have a clue whether their advertising is working.

In fact, this is a well-known sales trick used by the people selling ad space. If they can get one or two of your competitors to advertise, they can call you up and tell you how you’ll lose out if you don’t advertise too. What they fail to mention is that your competitors probably never test their advertising, often haven’t got a clue how to market and are only advertising there because they think you will. This is a highly effective way to sustain the advertising industry. It’s not a great way for you to run your business.
10. Don’t buy into the myth that Advertising is essential for your Business Success
Generally, advertising is one of the least effective ways to grow a business.

Advertising is just one of many marketing options that you have. But you really shouldn’t be dependent on it.

So start to think out of the box and use a few of the other marketing methods below:
· Direct Mail
· Internet
· Email marketing
· PR (Why spend money on advertising when PR gives you coverage for free)
· Strategic Alliances – i.e. make friends with other businesses and sharing clients

Coconut Creatives director, Sarah Dyer is a regular contributor to the national franchise magazine, Franchisor News.

The magazine contains a whole range of useful information from franchising overseas to ensuring your have a solid franchise agreement, as well as news and views from throughout the franchise industry.

Sarah’s contribution this issue looks at the topical concern of using marketing consumer data legally, protecting your intellectual property and brand and includes some useful tips and contacts.

To view the magazine online visit www.franchisornews.co.uk

Coconut Creatives Director Chris Cook has just returned (by train!) after cycling to Le Mans from Somerset in just 48hrs. The 232 miles of cycling is part of a training programme for a charity off-road mountain bike ride in the summer.

The ride was conceived by Chris’s friend Andy Stobart (PR at Bridgestone). Andy and Chris left Somerset, with pace man James Bowler, at 12.30 last Thursday. After a brief photo-shoot at J Day Engineering the 3 headed for Shaftesbury and then on to Salisbury along pretty country roads.

With a healthy tail wind and fresh legs the pace was rapid with a top speed of 50mph recorded after one descent. James departed in Salisbury and the 2 pedalled on to Portsmouth stopping for a shower and food before catching the overnight ferry to Le Harve. The average speed for the afternoon had been 15.2mph and total mileage 85…

After a poor nights sleep on the ferry and with sore legs the guys arrived in Le Harve. The rain eased and the sun came out as they headed East to cross the estuary and then West before dropping down South towards Le Mans. Day 2 saw a whopping 95 miles covered with rain ending play at the small village of Sees approximately 70kms from Le Mans.

An early rise on Saturday saw the remaining 55miles to Le Mans covered by 11.30hrs. The guys arrived picked up their passes and met the Lola press team.

Chris returned by train to St Malo and then over the channel by Condor Ferry. Andy has continued on to the French Grand Prix a further 250kms - ouch!

Pictures copywrite Coconut Creatives Ltd. 2008

Coconut Creatives have been invited to publish a range of articles in several magazines to respond to the increased interest that business people have in marketing.

Featured articles can be found in the national Making Money Magazine sold in Tescos and WH Smith, Start Your Business magazine also sold in WH Smith and independent retailers and the national Franchisor News magazine which serves the franchise industry.

“We are delighted to offer marketing features to complement the magazines existing articles and information,” says Coconut Creatives founder, Sarah Dyer. “We have been writing articles for the press and online sources for some time now and it is our pleasure to help spread the word about marketing through established and reputable magazines as well.”

Coconut Creatives Directors, Sarah Dyer and Christopher Cook also sit on the South West Regional Board for the Chartered Institute of Marketing and work tirelessly to help improve the awareness and standard of marketing practices UK-wide. “It is vital that a company’s marketing function starts from a strategic level so that it maps in with the direction of the business plan. Campaigns and promotions are then created to meet the objectives set out at this strategic level and we have found that our clients see and achieve much greater success by approaching marketing in this way,” explains Christopher.

For further information about Coconut Creatives contact Sarah or Chris on 01963 31030 or email helpme@coconutcreatives.co.uk.

Coconut Creatives launched a franchise recruitment campaign for Murcia Villas last month and within the first 48 hours they had received over 40 enquiries for their franchise package.

The campaign started with a series of online messages and later continued into national press opportunities with a write up in the Daily Mail in early May 2008.

Information about the Murcia Villas franchise can be found at www.murciavillas.com along with details about the business and how it all started several years ago.

“This franchise package suits individuals that want to improve their lifestyle and live in a warmer climate,” explains Sarah Dyer, founder of Coconut Creatives and Murcia Villas account handler. “I worked closely with Hugh and Fiona, owners of Murcia Villas to understand their business and the type of person that would be interested in this opportunity.”

With the first franchisees now operational, a second signed up and several other hot prospects booked to fly out to Spain for a tour of the possible franchise zones, the future of the business is very optimistic.  Initially, Sarah set realistic objectives for 2008 with Hugh and Fiona. “Having a solid and achievable set of objectives for any project is absolutely essential. The objectives act as mile stones to show how successful the project has been,” adds Sarah.

Coconut Creatives work with a range of owner managed businesses on a variety of projects to help achieve specific objectives. Visit www.coconutcreatives.co.uk to review some recent case studies and to find out what other clients think about the Coconut team.

Hugh and Fiona James outside their Murcia Villas office in Spain

Coconut Creatives was delighted to attend the Greats Awards with client, Shared Earth in London on 22nd May.

The Greats Awards set out to recognise not only the top independent and multiple gift retailers regionally and nationally but highlight many of the finest retailers in the UK and Shared Earth were short listed for the Best Multiple Retailer Award 2008.

“I am extremely pleased to be nominated as one of the 5 finalists for the Best Multiple Retailer Gifts category. I see this as recognition not just for Shared Earth, but for our staff and producers in over 30 countries,” comments Jeremy Piercy, founder of Shared Earth.

Shared Earth provided over 300 reusable jute bags to hold the goodies offered to each attendee on the evening to help spread the word about reusable bags. Coconut Creatives work with Shared Earth on a number of products including supporting the Daily Mail’s recent Banish the Bag campaign which aims to banish the use of plastic bags within the retail environment.

As well as being the UK’s largest independent retailer of non-food Fair Trade products, Shared Earth offer the best selection of recycled products, including bags made from crisp packets in bangladesh, toy cars made from tin cans in Madagascar, office stationery from computer boards in the UK, wall hangings from old saris in India and jewellery from recycled glass in Chile. With sales both on and offline via wholesale and retail channels, their marketing needs to have an integrated and targeted approach. Coconut Creatives has recently assisted in the set up of their second website www.sharedearthnewsandmedia.co.uk to deal with the large number of press enquiries and stories that have been generated through the PR campaign. All types of customers and business affiliates can now go to this website and find content relevant to them.

Late last year, Shared Earth also launched the first Fair Trade franchise in the UK which is capable of doubling the sales of independent non-food Fair Trade products sold nationally. This is an exciting development which has opened up the industry with a wealth of new opportunities for many individuals who wish to work for themselves in a fairly traded retail environment. Coconut Creatives continues to work with Shared Earth on a number of projects including franchise recruitment and PR. Watch out for their latest story featured in the Mail on Sunday on the 8th June.

Jeremy Piercy and Tammy Hullis proudly display two of their reusable jute bags at the Greats Awards on 22nd May 08.