A letter from the president Dear fellow traders and professionals, I hope you are getting your businesses back on track, especially with pandemic restrictions now fully lifted. It has been promising to see so many businesses operating at normal capacity again. Our improved trading situation has shown in recent retail sales figures provided by Australian Bureau of Statistics, which reached record levels in March. Sales increased 9.4 per cent compared to the same time last year and 1.6 per cent compared to the previous month. These results are great, but we are aware that challenges lie ahead, with inflation and cost of living rising, and the interest rate hike. It will put pressure on people’s budgets, but retail experts predict sales to remain robust, thanks to the high savings rates of Australians during the pandemic and ongoing potential for tourism spend to flow onto retail. This newsletter shares our marketing plans for winter, including our seasonal campaign and food promotion. There will be opportunities for you to get involved so make the most of it. Our recent CamberWELLBEING event was a success, with customers taking the ‘Wellness Trail’ to explore health and wellness
businesses. It was good to see people attending events again and so many businesses participating. We promoted this as part of our advertising on the new radio station MAGIC 1278 – they arranged ‘vox pop’ contributions from participating businesses and had a marquee at the event. This winter we’ll also advertise at the Rivoli and Balwyn cinemas. It’s a good way to show what the precinct offers in quick images, similar to the seasonal videos on our website. Please visit the Trader Portal on the camberwellshopping.com.au website – it has information to help your business, like government news, support programs and workshops. It’s also crucial you keep us updated with your contact email so you stay in the loop via our monthly updates. The traders’ association can help promote your business, reaching people outside of your database, so use the association’s leverage whenever you can. Send your specials and offers via email to: info@camberwellca.com.au Take care and stay well. Regards, Henk Kelly-Kobes President, Camberwell Centre Association
Marketing snapshot Some of our recent campaigns have included Easter, Mother’s Day, autumn, and CamberWELL-BEING. This year for Easter, we had the Easter Bunny visit Camberwell Junction to meet and greet shoppers and share some goodwill. The campaign also featured our annual competition, The Great Camberwell Easter Hunt, which invited people to find the golden eggs hidden on posters across the precinct. The campaign was supported by digital advertising, social media activity, printed posters, and online editorial. Our Mother’s Day campaign featured a competition for Marvellous Mum Awards. It gave entrants the chance to win a $500 voucher to spend in Camberwell Junction – all they had to do was tell us what Mother’s Day award they would give their mum for a chance to win. The promotion was supported by website editorial and digital advertising. We ran our annual autumn campaign to highlight new season offerings, including fashion, homewares, dining, beauty, and wellness. The campaign promoted several retail categories and adopted our refreshed branding to reinforce its association with Camberwell Junction. CamberWELL-BEING returned this year to promote our health and wellness businesses. Held on Saturday,
May 28, the day gave shoppers the chance to discover businesses along the Wellness Trail and win a share of prizes worth more than $5,800. The event was a great success and offered traders the opportunity to connect directly with prospective customers. Our online marketing activities continue to yield strong results. Here’s a snapshot of Camberwell’s digital audience numbers: • More than 8,100 email addresses in our subscriber database • More than 150,400 visits to the websites over the past year • More than 8,700 followers on social media.
