Debbie LaChusa

A new yogurt shop opened in our neighborhood about a month ago. And, it opened in a retail space that has housed several ice cream shops over the past few years, and none of them have been successful for any length of time. My guess is this is partly due to the actual location, but probably has more to do with their lack of marketing and establishing a strong brand. The new yogurt shop seems to have a leg up on the branding end. It's called DIY Yogurt and you actually get to serve yourself the yogurt and add all your own toppings. This is something I haven't seen before, and kids in particular seem to get a kick out of serving themselves and sprinkling all sorts of random toppings on their yogurt. So right there, the brand name (DIY or Do-It-Yourself) is consistent with the yogurt store's uniqueness. Good job marketing so far.

The second thing they did right was to distribute 50% off coupons to all the homes in the immediate vicinity of their store. The coupons were valid on two specific dates and were used to announce the grand opening of the store. Good idea. We were made aware of the shop and we were given an incentive to give it a try, which we did, along with many other people - the shop was packed with people when we visited. They also gave us a frequent buyer card that entitled us to a free yogurt after purchasing 10. A good way to keep us coming back. So now they've done three things right.

But guess what? That's where it stopped. It's been at least a month since we went in for the 50% off trial and I haven't seen or heard anything from DIY Yogurt since. And we haven't been back. Perhaps they're doing other marketing that I haven't seen. But my guess is they probably aren't. They're expecting me to remember them. And as any good marketer knows, you've got to follow up again and again and again and again. You can't rely on your customers or prospects to remember you - you have to remind them you're there. I'll be curious to see how long this yogurt shop lasts. I hope they do well. It's a unique idea that I think has a lot of merit. But without consistent marketing they may end up like all their predecessors in that space.

(length 3:51 minutes)