Cheesy Grin
Here’s a good-news story.
The other week I had lunch at my Dad’s.
On removing one of a trio of cheeses, I spotted a card in the bottom of the box.
It had a nice look, a classically grabby headline, a friendly tone and a sense of humour.
It told a winning, honest, educational and unusual story.
Call
I was much impressed by the novelty, humanity and high quality of this communication, so I wrote to the company:
Dear Team,
I just wanted to say how impressed I was with the writing on your cheese insert.
‘What makes our cheese special?’ is a fantastic piece of work.
I’m thinking of referencing it in a Small Business Owner blog post at some stage:
How would that sit with you?
If you liked the idea, I could include your input on how you came to write that piece and what sort of reaction it’s generated.
Just a thought. Let me know what you reckon.
Best regards and nice work! Paul.
Response
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the positive feedback. Since we put the card inserts into the packs we have been receiving a lot more feedback from consumers which was really the point.
We want to develop a more direct relationship with consumers so we try to provide them with information that is useful to them in understanding who and what we are.
We wrote it (which is reflected in the style and the words) rather than letting a professional marketer loose on the job so it has authenticity.
Often regional food producers get wrapped up in talking about the features of the location and the methods of production which are very important to them but meaningless to the consumer unless they have been there.
We are trying to focus on the features of our business that add value to people eating our cheese no matter where they are.
Our location and how we make the cheese are a part of who we are which is why we also encourage people to visit us on the other side of the card. [See below. PH.]
Once people have visited a business and understand what makes it tick they are far more likely to develop brand loyalty.
Until then we have to give them information about ourselves that shows we are providing value to them.
We would be happy for you to reference the card.
Regards, Jane Bennett, Managing Director.
Wow!
Now I was even more impressed. This company:
- Had a keen sense of self, its industry and its competitors.
- Knew what it wanted.
- Was passionate about what it did.
- Understood its strengths.
- Had the guts to back its own story and writing.
- Was prepared to build slowly, rather than rush for instant results.
- Was open to others spreading the news.
This ticks all my boxes on what a client, campaign and communication should be.
Flip Side
I think this is charming. And the fact it caught my attention amid the dozens of fliers thrust at me daily is a testament to its placement, content and design.
So it’s hats off and a big Onya Sonya! to Ashgrove Cheese.
In my book, this is the whey to achieve cut-through.
In fact, I can barely curd my enthusiasm.
What say you?
Paul Hassing , Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Great story Paul. Cheesy pun though.
Thanks, Ad. I agree I may have laid it on a bit thick.
This is absolutely brilliant. Spot on for authenticity and a clear, concise and heartfelt communication. I can see that that they live their values and this is no doubt reflected in their product which I’ll now seek out to buy.I love supporting clever businesses.
And, I particularly like their response to your email. They responded, took the time to write a very nice email and are clearly passionate about what they do.
Now that is an A+ business and I hope they are enjoying all the success they deserve. We can all learn from that.
Thank you, Malcolm. I do like these good news pieces. They provide a handy foil to our grim-but-necessary exposes of corporate crapness.
I too was pleased and suprised when the MD got straight back to me. I sense this is a switched-on crowd from top to bottom.
I’ll be dropping in next time I’m in Tassie for sure. Thanks for weighing in.
I’ve been to the Ashgrove Cheese Factory and can also attest that the wasabi cheese rocks – definitely worth 5 years of development!
Is that … OUR Megan?!
Talking of corporate communication all I can say is that the standard is nothing shy of rubbish. Today I received 4 letters from companies trying to sell me something. I didn’t read past the first line on any of them.
They look like junk mail, read like junk mail, all sound the same, have no cut through, interest or benefit. Waste of time, money and trees.
No way, not interested, go away. For the few that do take the time to craft a decent letter (or have Paul write it) success awaits you!
Yeah! What he said!
Ditto dudes
Cheers
Stephen G
PS Come on Malcolm! Semi-colon > dash > closing-bracket. You can do it!
Yeah, Malcolm.
Say ‘cheese’.
A great story. Good on them.
The reason this write up is so engaging is that they’ve answered the “What” they do with “Why” they do it! ie What they believe in first and foremost ~
Followed by the “How” ie with 1200 cows
And finally the result, which is the cheese!
Saw this vid a few weeks ago
http://bit.ly/cQDP85
with Simon Sinek who’s website is:
http://www.startwithwhy.com/
It changed the order of how I now present the facts!
G’Day Paul,
Your post “warmed the cockles of my heart.” Back in 1991, I attended a Marketing Boot Camp” run by Paul Dunn and Chris Newton. They were advocating this sort of approach back then. And it still works.
In fact, it worked for Schllct Beer–hope I got the spelling right–back in the 1920s. It’s so important to be reminded that fundamentals like this are still so valuable.
Each of us has a great story to tell. The trick is to tell it in a way that’s meaningful to prospects and customers.
Make sure you have fun
Regards
Leon
Not being much of a flyer writer, I don’t have much to say, except that this is also a nice place to visit
Sorry, gang; I’ve been out and about taking photos of Prahran. How nice to come back and find you all here.
Linda, we LOVE it when folks recommend TED videos. I’ll be checking that one with interest. I liked that bit about the cows. I was half expecting them to name some in the photo!
Leon, I’m glad YOU’RE still having fun. Thanks for your return visit.
And you, Stephen, H.
Thanks for your kind sentiments, Luke. And if any of your clients is ever in the market for a killer brochure …
Good show, everyone. In the words of Mr Grace, ‘You’ve all done very well!’
Yes it is OUR Megan…not so frequent as I used to be, but I do try to read every post.
Great to hear from you, Megan! So nice to know you’re out there keeping track of us. Best regards, P.
Paul, what a great story – the only thing missing was the cheese itself. All we need is some enterprising Web 2.0 type to invent a way to download cheese (and wine of course) and my day would be complete.
Thank you, Joanna, and good point.
I have it on (very unreliable) authority that Ashgrove will be joining Stephen G’s intercontinetnal food caravan as participant and sponsor.
All very hush hush at this stage.
As you can imagine.