The Marketing Muster: Issue 5

Hello

Hello, it's Joh here.

I don't know about you, but I'm quickly heading toward wind-down mode and trying to finish up my last bits of work before closing for the Christmas break.

Speaking of winding down, The Marketing Muster is going on hiatus for a few weeks. Here's what to expect:

Tuesday 15 December - our final issue for 2020 will hit your inbox
Tuesday 12 January - our first issue for 2021 will screech into your emails

Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it.

I hope you're able to get some downtime over the summer. After everything that has been 2020, I think we all need a moment to regroup.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy issue 5 of The Marketing Muster.

Standing Ovation

The Prep House

The Prep House has had a big year. They've gone from mostly supplying hospitality businesses to becoming a much-loved family meal saviour in my local area. While The Prep House has offered ready-meals to the public for a while, it didn't seem to be a big focus for them until... well, you know... the pandemic.

When COVID-19 first took hold, The Prep House found much of their hospitality work dried up. They quickly refocused their messaging on getting healthy, fresh and frozen meal bases to people stuck in isolation. To help families support elderly and other vulnerable folk, they offered home deliveries, rather than their usual in-store collection (after all, their delivery truck wasn't doing the rounds of the hospo venues for a while).

Since then, as things have returned to some level of normalcy, The Prep House has continued offering family meals. They use their Facebook page as the main way to get messages out about delivery days, new menu options and pandemic-related changes to services.

Why I love it

It's a small family business getting through challenging times by refocusing their talents and expanding their offering
They're solving the timeless pain point of how busy parents can keep their family fed with ease
Their messaging is relatable and down-to-earth, and their brand voice is fun and a little quirky
They're keeping things interesting with regular releases of new menu items and products for their customers to try
They painted their premises with a fabulous mural to make it easier for people to find (it was a non-descript brick wall and roller door before... the mural is far more fun)

The Prep House is a wonderful example of how you don't always need a global-campaign level marketing budget to reach your customers. They've beautifully understood and anticipated their varying customer needs, and adjusted their business to suit. They didn't give up, and they're constantly innovating their product range.

And for me personally, they've been a kitchen hero, helping to keep my kiddos fed through many busy moments this year. (I'm not connected to this business in any way, just super thankful for their delicious, sanity-saving meals and fun Facebook updates 😋🙏)

Thank you, The Prep House.

You get this week's standing ovation. 👏👏

If you know a business, brand or campaign you think deserves a standing ovation, tell me more.

Breaking News

The 5 big trends Julia Gillard sees defining 2021

An interesting discussion in CMO from this year's AANA Reset conference about the trends Julia Gillard says will define the world in 2021. I think we're already seeing how some of these will impact our marketing, such as the growing trend for buying local and a greater appetite to show political and ethical values in our brand messaging. What do you think about these predictions from the 27th Prime Minister of Australia?

Insights

How to report on your social media.

A great article from The Digital Picnic about tracking and reporting on your social media success.

Website Wisdom

7 SEO tips for a new website

An excellent break down from SEMRush about what you need to do to start nailing your SEO from the very beginning. A must-read for anyone launching a new site, but also useful for those with existing websites.

Tools

Health advertising compliancy checklist

If you're marketing in the health space, you need to understand AHPRA's rules around advertising regulated health services. If this is you, sign up for a FREE handy checklist from The Melbourne Health Writer.

My News

Over the weekend, I took a quick getaway with a fellow copywriter, Angela Pickett, to spend time working ON our respective businesses.

We left our families to fend for themselves and rented a sweet little cottage in Burra, South Australia. Saturday was a solid day of working, chatting, sharing ideas and laughing, followed by a delicious meal at Le Pecora Nera (which I highly recommend if you're ever up that way - so yum).

It was a lovely way to move into the end-of-year mode. Now I have a solid plan for what I want to achieve this summer so I can be ready for a successful and slightly less chaotic 2021.

Yesterday, I was chuffed to be named a Top 15 Copywriting #GigSuperStar along with a bunch of other wonderful word wranglers. What a delightful piece of fabulousness to kick off my week.

What piece of fabulousness have you found this week?

Just For Fun

FutureMe: write a letter to your future self

I've never been able to master the habit of keeping a journal or diary, but I love this idea of writing a letter to future me. I think I've found a little summer project. You, too?

See you next week, Musterers.