So what does a voucher entitle you to?
It means that our team is able to offer advice on our areas of speciality. Spacing out regular sessions leaving our RBP clients with homework to experiment and implement learnings has been the most productive way to work for most, allowing us to revisit, tweak and reapply. In the Tourism sector, we have been fortunate to work with some real everyday businesses inhabited by some pretty amazing people as part of the Regional Business Partners Network and have been excited to see some great learnings and results.
Who we have been working with within the Tourism Sector?
Aurora on George
What they do: A stunning 4 Star Plus motel, where urban chic meets private garden tranquillity. Unique-hotel-like facilities where Chris, Adrienne and their team really look after you. It truly is a special place. You can relax, recharge and restore with a wonderfully relaxing yoga session, an energetic HIIT Pilates workout or an amazing massage onsite at Aurora on George. www.auroradunedin.co.nz
The challenge: When the lockdown occurred many of those that travelled for work remained working from home. Understanding the customer motivations was paramount to appeal to a returning or new audience.
Oh boy, OTAs. Booking.com, Expedia, TripAdvisor etc. These dominant globally owned players take quite the cut and they have the power to stay at the top of the google list. They have a ridiculously huge reach. It’s one of those who can't live with them, can’t live without them scenarios.
The learnings: Understanding the opportunities - discovering who was the target audience now that things had changed and sharpening and tailoring messaging and Digital Marketing efforts. We focused on this along with analysing connections, reconnecting and reaching out through contacts and networks.
Book direct means go to the source peeps… If you want to support local businesses go to the motel's website and book through there, email or call them and they will look after you. If you go through a third party 30% minimum goes offshore.
The result: This is a really interesting market in terms of consumer behaviour. There have been tough times and some seriously good results. We gave advice and worked through the finer points of Strategy, Digital Marketing, Social Channels, Google Adwords and online presence. We helped Chris and Adrienne take back control of their social channels and storytelling and grow their understanding of how things worked. It turned out that Adrienne has quite the flair for writing and is finding her feet blogging with Hail. Independently of the voucher funding we have supported some of the implementations and are delighted to continue working with Aurora on George. Don’t forget, if you have friends, family or colleagues coming to town for work, go direct, you won’t regret it. www.auroradunedin.co.nz/book-now
House of Travel
What they do: Helping Kiwis see the world. Who doesn’t know House of Travel right? A nationwide franchise owned by local people.
The challenge: As overseas travel ground to a halt it was time for the House of Travel Dunedin to reassess. What did the future of travel look like? Where should they even start?
The learnings: Have to admit, slightly terrified when this one first came in. We needn't have worried as it didn't take long for us to get excited after meeting Tony and realising that this was going to be all about building his personal brand and the local Dunedin House of Travel brand and strategic storytelling. So that’s where we started with our advice. Tony had a phenomenal photo library and we have got to know the world of Adventure travel… with a wine of course! We advised Tony about strategies and introduced Tony to the inner workings of Digital Marketing and supporting tools. People engage with people and we discovered that the House of Travel couch of many colours is still as popular as ever when the team made an appearance seated in it on social channels. Finding the tone and creating interesting inspiring content that wasn’t sales focused was key to keep audiences engaged, excited about travel and dream. There is still an education process around the benefits of using a travel agent. It can really help get you out of a jam. Oh, and don't forget to forward plans and book your travel credits. Many are rebooking their future travel now so don't miss your chance.
The result: From Instagram, Facebook, Linked In to EDMs (Electronic Direct marketing) Tony’s quite the Hail hero. and it’s hard not to be impressed by his storytelling capability. He has managed to develop a local brand identity envied by other franchise owners. We recommend a follow on his social channels or sign up to his Dunedin House of Travel newsletter. But be warned, the beautiful photos of warm, sunny beaches will see you signing up for that Raro holiday!
The Woven
What they do: The Woven is NZ’s Best Knitting Yarns and Knitting Kits based out of Wanaka delivered online. Michelle makes knitting uber cool! If you don't know how to knit there are learning resources and knitting kits. Her small-batch artisan knitting yarns are made from top quality NZ fibres sourced directly from local farms. Fresh and modern, and milled right here in NZ, with LOVE, not chemicals. www.thewovenco.com/
The challenge: Michelle was experiencing the pain of being constrained by her current platform on WordPress and was desperate to find a way to make eCommerce work for her and not be a slave to fighting her website. The team listened and stepped her through her options and discussed ideas and delivered advice and as a result ‘Your Wolly Surprise’ was born.
The learnings: Understanding both the behind the scenes pain that Michelle was experiencing was critical as well as getting to the bottom of what her clients really desired. Michelle was already quite active on her social media and the advice from the team has seen her take a more strategic approach and really establish her brand storytelling and own this space. This lady has skills! Our team gave advice on how she could make improvements to her existing site herself in the interim and discussed her options around eCommerce, Shopify, Apps, Subscription management and Membership experiences and gave advice on what she could do herself to manage her budget and how a staged release could happen. Michelle contracted us independent of her voucher to create her membership platform.
The result: ‘Your Wolly Surprise’ is born. Monthly Knitting Subscriptions that offer you to choose the option that best suits you, with everything you need, your pattern, yarn and needles with learning options, a supportive community and on-going top-ups and special offers with free shipping. Michelle can now better connect with her audience, easily manage memberships and orders as well as offer a cohesive learning experience that her existing customer base is snapping up and the way things are progressing a bottom line she can depend on. She achieved her launch target in the first 2 weeks and exceeded her reach the target in only 3 weeks. Great work Michelle, you rock! Sign up for your winter project right here www.woollysurprise.com
Kinross
What they do: If you are looking for a great Queenstown getaway and enjoy the finer things in life these guys deliver. In the heart of Gibbston Valley, Kinross is a boutique hotel with dining, cottages right on the vineyard, and you can’t beat their wine tastings with their talented and entertaining wine advisors.
What their winemakers don't know about wine isn't worth knowing. Kinross is the official cellar door for five high ends, boutique Central Otago wineries - Coal Pit, Hawkshead, Kinross, Valli and Wild Irishman. The experience delivers long after you leave if you join the Kinross Wine Club and Wine School with access to limited releases, rare vintages, wine celebrations and private tastings. It’s world-class! www.kinross.nz
The challenge: Kinross already had some really smart things in place and a digitally savvy team onsite. They seized the opportunity to make the most of their access to us to get advice from our team and picked our brains on complete eCommerce integration, Shopify Apps, Shopify POS, CRMs, Customer Journeys, Inventory and warehouse management across multiple locations, Membership Sign Up Process to Member Experience, Subscription Management options before discovering the Holy Grail (sorry, that’s one a trade secret!). They asked some really good head-scratching questions and ultimately, together we uncovered a number of solutions that solved their problem and we’re waiting with bated breath to see them release their new and improved Wine Club in the near future that they are working on right now. Kinross was smart about getting good advice and contracted us independently from the voucher to deliver some custom dev to solve some immediate pain points that were cropping up for the team during the order to distribution.
The learnings: There were many for us all. This was a complex integration challenge we were looking to solve connecting a face to face, bricks and mortar experience with a seamlessly digital one that felt personal while looking for ways to automate manual processes. Ask lots of questions, challenge why and unpick workarounds to uncover a better solution so you can fix the pain now and then progressively prototype new solutions for new growth. Market behaviour dictates where your energy and decision making is spent. Try new things out. Engage your wider industry network for answers, and look under the hood of accidental discoveries that COTS (Commercial Of The Shelf solution) might just surprise you once you do the numbers.
The result: The Kinross team has already made improvements that have simplified processes and improved warehouse communications attached to orders and we look forward to the release of the new member experience coming soon.
Shout out toIronic Restaurant and Bar - Sue and Steve were one of the first voucher recipients we got to work with post-Covid, it doesn’t get any more Dunedin-esk than this place, and the food is amazing so don’t forget to visit! Doodlefish and Fantail Tours, we are excited to start this process with you and look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Next newsletter I will tell you a little more about how RBP vouchers helped local businesses in other sectors.