Independent shops in Crouch End - the chance of some free publicity

[Adrian Essex]

A couple of days ago I got this message from Twitter, and then on Saturday I read in the paper about an award for independent shops. I'm wondering if this is a happy coincidence.

 

GiuliaFlorimo Giulia Florimo @OpinionN8 pls RT as hard times are hitting again can we pls support all our indy shops in CE. The place wouldn't be the same without them.

The award is given by the Daily Telegraph and the details of the Telegraph Shop Award scheme are here. The nomination Form for Telegraph Best Small Shops in Britain Awards 2011 is here. The nomination form even has a slot for shopkeepers to nominate themselves. 

The Telegraph of course has written this up as a huge benefit for small shops, and has several case histories for winners showing the good that has been done. I'm not sure of the benefits to simple nomination, but with reference to Giulia's tweet, it would at least be a hook to hang some sort of publicity campaign onto. Indeed I wonder if it might not go further than that. A bit of co-ordination among the independent shopkeepers might serve to focus attention on Crouch End. Are there enough independents to make Crouch End the most nominated town in the country? Would that attract the attention of Mary Portas (who has a regular column for the Telegraph) and give rise to a decent feature on the area? A well run social media campaign might garner a lot of publicity.

On the downside of course there may be some objections. The Daily Telegraph is not everyone's favourite newspaper. Well coordinated independents is almost an oxymoron. Not everyone can win, and of course the Telegraph is not doing this for altruistic reasons - is there some hidden downside? 

Any way, just some thoughts.

[Adrian Essex]

A couple of weeks ago I made a suggestion on OpinioN8 http://opinion8.ning.com/forum/topics/independent-shops-in-crouch-e... but everyone ignored me. I still think I might be right. This is a series of tweets that might be relevant

1. My suggestion was to enter all Crouch End's independent shops into the Telegraph competition and make it the most nominated town in Britain and then get Mary Portas to write it up. Turns out Mary is already a fan of bits of Crouch End, and Budgens gets a positive mention here.
2. “

   @budgens_CE @fightforyrwrite.... is on to it....do you have any special requests? Any particular brands? Or do you like surprises.....

   Neil Dugard

   13 hours ago

   ReplyRetweet
3. “

   @Neil_tbce @budgens_CE amazing! Reese's peanut butter cups - the mini, sugar free and individual ones, Baby Ruths and Mr. Goodbars please!

   Fight For Yr Write

   13 hours ago

   ReplyRetweet
4. “

   @FightForYrWrite @budgens_CE just ordered 14 Hershey's lines will be in this Friday, should be on shelf by Monday......

   Neil Dugard

   10 hours ago

   ReplyRetweet
5. “

   Crouch End candy fans FYI RT @Neil_tbce: @FightForYrWrite @budgens_CE just ordered 14 Hershey's lines will be in Fri, should be on shelf Mon

   Fight For Yr Write

   an hour ago

   ReplyRetweet
6. “

   @Neil_tbce @budgens_CE AMAZING!! Thanks so much guys! That's brilliant. X

   Fight For Yr Write

   an hour ago

   ReplyRetweet
7. “

   So impressed by Budgens Crouch End's social media & customer service - I asked, they got. V cool. @maryportas would be pleased :)

   Fight For Yr Write

   an hour ago

   ReplyRetweet
8. “

   @FightForYrWrite I agree. Also my fave bakers Dunns is in Crouch End. The best.

   Mary Portas

   an hour ago

   ReplyRetweet

[andrew thornton]

I love the idea of entering all the Crouch End independent stores for this, think CE already has Mary Portas' attention and this will certainly raise our profile. We have our very own Crouch End Project who could co-ord this, I will propose to them - in meanwhile through this lets all nominate our favourites.....!

[Adrian Essex]

Andrew - thank you - a bit of co-ord is definitely needed for the mass approach. Are all the independent shops 'members' of the CEP? Is there still a concept of membership? 

Does anyone have a list of the independent shops? I'd be happy to publish it here together with a list of the suitable categories - and set up a steady stream of tweets encouraging votes. 

4. All entries must be received by midnight on Monday, December 5. 2011

[andrew thornton]

Over to Clare & Helene at CEP, alterted them to this discussion....

 

[Helene Connoly]

This is a great idea and naturally the CEP would be behind it. Scarecrow Boutique had highlighted this to us a few weeks ago and we certainly voted for all our great local independents at the time. We would be happy to spread the word to our database encouraging them to vote.

Re membership - with the current CEP structure all local businesses are considered members and are entitled to free listings on our website with the option to upgrade to gain access to our full marketing toolkit. The paying membership system was the means by which we were able to get the project going when it launched 4 years ago and thanks to this and the committment of founding members we were able to produce (amongst other things) our website, crouch end loyalty card, events.

In short the CEP are wholeheartedly behind any initiative that wil help promote local business and would be happy to spread the word, but don't forget crouch end is in the uniqe position of having an established town centre marketing resource/platform and business support network which is open to all businesses in the area to use.

We are launching an amazing new website in the New Year which has been tailor made for the local community (both business and residential) with effective opportunities for local business to promote themselves in the area as well as an easy solution for businesses and organisations to really engage with the wider community...WATCH THIS SPACE!

 

[Adrian Essex]

I have added a page to this website Independent Shops Competition - How to vote and who to vote for - C....

I am sure this is incomplete. Please help me to correct it - post replies on the page or email [e-mail], and it could form the basis of a flier to be distributed in local shops.

 

[chloe goddard]

Hi

As a new business I am happy to help anyone fill in their nomination forms for free, sometimes its not what you say its how you say it. I would echo Helene's comments that the Crouch End Project is a fantastic community platform, ideal for independents keen to link up with their community and collaborate. Strength in numbers! 

http://www.chloegoddardpr.co.uk