A letter from the president Dear fellow traders and professionals, It’s been great to see many of you back in business since we’ve reopened, as well as new businesses opening recently, including my own. My family are pleased to be back with a new location for Dymocks Camberwell, near the Rivoli. This year has been another challenging one for us all but is looking more positive as we resume normal trade ahead of Christmas. Despite the hardship, I hope you’ve found ways to diversify your business. You may want to keep extra services going, like click-and-collect, phone orders, and home delivery – some customers prefer this, and it can add value to your business. It’s also important to offer customers as much time as possible to shop. I know some businesses are still not fully operational, due to problems with stock or staff, but now is the time to recoup sales so I urge you to consider extra trading hours. In the precinct’s Christmas advertising, we are reminding people about the importance of shopping local and shopping in person as delivery is so uncertain. Their support over the past 18 months has been vital, and we want to keep our locals while attracting new
people. Some will prefer the open-air shopping of our precinct, feeling safer than big malls. It’s important to make it clear to customers that you’re taking all precautions. You need to have COVIDSafe plans, hand sanitiser, QR codes, and control density quotients. It’s now our responsibility to check customers are vaccinated before entering our businesses, even in regular retail stores. It will put extra pressure on your staff so you will need to support them with difficult customers; I suggest training for new staff so they know what to do. Do visit camberwellshopping.com.au and check out the Trader Portal, which has information about the rules and helpful resources for your business. The traders’ association can also help promote your business so send your specials and offers via email to: info@camberwellca.com.au I wish you and your families all the best for the festive season. Regards, Henk Kelly-Kobes President, Camberwell Centre Association
Marketing snapshot We continued to market the precinct throughout the lockdown period to promote our businesses and to keep customers engaged. We held competitions, promoted Father’s Day, launched a spring campaign, and advertised food traders that were offering takeaway and home delivered meals.
reopening with a refreshed brand continues to keep Camberwell Junction precinct front of mind. For an overview of our marketing activities from the past year, please view the AGM presentation on the Trader Portal: bit.ly/3E4XHDD
Following the success of last year’s What’s on the menu? campaign, we ran it again this year but with a refreshed look and feel, and with a stronger focus on digital platforms as we engaged with customers online while they were isolated at home.
Our online marketing activities continue to yield strong results. Here’s a snapshot of Camberwell’s digital audience numbers:
Once lockdown ended, we ran a Welcome back to Camberwell Junction campaign, to reconnect with customers and encourage them to return to the precinct. We hosted a small activation day where we handed out free flowers and had live music and roving musicians to bring a vibrant atmosphere to the precinct.
• More than 157,000 visits to the websites over the past year
We have also launched a new-look brand for the precinct, which includes a fresh logo and brand mark, a new palette of brand colours, and identifying strongly as Camberwell Junction. Market research unveiled that it was important to identify as Camberwell Junction to better tie the two suburbs we straddle – Camberwell and Hawthorn East. Connecting with our community through engaging marketing was our priority during lockdown and
• More than 8,400 email addresses in our subscriber database
• More than 8,600 followers on social media
