Content about Marketing Methods

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Brian Wallace, president/CEO of the Coin Laundry Association, was given a daunting task: to capture the audience’s attention during the final hour of a regional dry cleaning and laundry trade show in sunny Southern California.

But his task was no more challenging than one faced by every dry cleaner: to successfully market his or her store(s) in an environment where potential customers have access to information almost instantaneously and from a variety of sources.

On top of all the other “hats” that a dry cleaner “wears”—customer service, maintenance, production, human resources, accounting—he or she can add one more hat to that mix: director of marketing, Wallace told attendees of Fabricare 2012.

“You work incredibly hard for your business, but the fact of the matter is things have changed. … We’re all trying to reinvent ourselves on the fly, trying to deal with the new marketplace. I think that trying to come to grips with some of the new marketing techniques is really an important part of that overall process.”

LOS ANGELES — Every four years around this time, the same question comes up: are you better off today than you were four years ago?

Well, let me be frank. The last four years have been difficult. I was 51, now I’m 55. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like 51 better. Then, I had black hair; now, I’m losing the black and losing the hair.

And it was exactly four years ago this month that I decided to leave my lucrative career as a personal manager for actors, writers, comedians and directors to join my wife in manufacturing and distributing reusable drycleaning garment bags.

Things went pretty much haywire right from the start: we made our first sale about the exact same time as the banking, housing and financial bubbles burst. The loans we were counting on to grow our business were now unattainable: banks simply stopped lending.

LOS ANGELES — The editorial director for American Drycleaner asked if I’d write this month’s column to match up with one of the edition’s themes: energy efficiency.

“Sure,” I said, “I devote my life to being energy-efficient—although my wife more often refers to it as lazy.” I will admit to keeping the remotes when we get new cable TV boxes so I don’t need to expend the energy just looking for a single remote when there are two in the room. In the summer, we continually feed our dog treats so we can use his tail as a fan.

And I do save the need to fly to Florida by having my wife’s mom live with us. There’s a downside to it: no matter how cold we keep the house in the winter, she doesn’t talk about moving out. Her stride’s a little slower; could be age, may be frostbite.

LOS ANGELES — Those who know I spent 25 years in show business often ask why I’d ever leave show business for dry cleaning. And they get one of three answers.

Some I tell that I’ve been to the Cannes Film Festival, to Sundance, to the Toronto, London and Telluride Film Festivals, and the nicest people I’ve met were at the Long Beach dry cleaners convention.

And that’s true: in Sundance, everyone looks both ways before saying hello; they don’t want to engage you and miss Harvey Weinstein or George Clooney coming their way. But dry cleaners have spent 12 hours a day for years being nice to the customers who walk in their stores and, as a result, they’ve just become nicer.

Others I tell that I wanted to represent a product instead of a person, especially after having clients who wanted me to complain to the studio and network of the series they were starring in that they wanted DirecTV, not Dish TV, wired into their dressing room. No matter how successful our business gets, I doubt one will ever demand premium cable channels.

LOS ANGELES — When I was 21, after getting fired from the radio station I was selling advertising time for—badly—I started my own advertising agency.

I got the record and plant store chain account after hanging out with the owners for months and gaining their trust.

For the high-end audio chain account, I created copy that said what the principals thought needed to be said about them.

I got the guitar store chain account by telling them how they could advertise in media they never thought of and create new customers (their “first guitar” sales went up 350% that Christmas season).

I got another client by appealing to his interest in sports celebrities and humor, getting the Steelers quarterback who never played in four years in the NFL—just stood all day on the sidelines—to endorse his foot-pad manufacturing company.

Got my biggest client—a big user of radio advertising—by writing a jingle that he loved and became the company’s most recognizable branding feature for years to come.

CHICAGO — Going to a trade show is a bit like making professional New Year’s resolutions. You see a new innovation or service, maybe learn about a different marketing strategy or business solution. And you promise that once home, you’re going to integrate what you learned or purchase that product you saw to help take your company to the next level.

But all too often, instead of following through on post-trade show plans, life gets in the way.

CHICAGO — Every month, I like to align my column to the magazine’s theme. But the May had me stumped. What do I know about “Retooling for Recovery?” I don’t own a plant—not even a ficus.

Then I realized that each of us does some retooling on an daily basis, by taking information and using it as hope for the future. We’re a little bit like Little Orphan Annie, thinking that tomorrow, the world will be a better place. It’s why we buy lottery tickets. It’s why we get out of bed.

CHICAGO — The talk of the industry always seems to hinge on the newest big company to make the scene. And following extensive research from parent company Procter & Gamble, Tide has entered drycleaning well-funded.

Some pundits in the industry doubt Tide stores’ potential, while others think their success is practically guaranteed. History shows us it can be very difficult to “roll up” the drycleaning industry and build a large chain, however. Remember PurpleTie?

CHICAGO — This month’s issue goes to the core of what all drycleaning business owners should do. That is, to use advances in technology to reduce costs and to build customers and revenues.

You can use your current customer base to connect with, engage and find more customers. And the customer databases in your point-of-sale (POS) system are a great tool to use to increase sales, build loyalty and retain big spenders.

Jolly Belin of France opened the world’s first drycleaning “business” in the 1840s. He accidentally spilled some kerosene on his stained clothing and saw the spots vanish. The rest is history, as they say.

Today, there are more than 30,000 drycleaning establishments in the United States. About 85% of are small, Mom-and-Pop establishments employing approximately five people and generating about $200,000 in annual sales.

CHICAGO — The other day, I drove by a drycleaner and did a double-take. Its sign—a big one—said, “Dry Cleaners.” That’s it—no name. No prefix. No slogan.

I did a u-turn and drove into the parking lot. The place had a freestanding building; it was presentable; it was on a busy road. Inside, there was a tidy plant floor and a counter. Nothing was amiss. The racks were mostly full.

Being “green” can create great opportunities, and with opportunity, there is always risk. But to ignore the trend or create an appearance of apathy is, I think, the greatest risk of all.

Some cleaners just buy a banner that says “Environmentally Friendly Cleaning” and don’t change a thing. Others follow “green” ideals to the letter. There are drycleaners all over the “green”-marketing spectrum, from “greenwashers” to “treehuggers.”