A letter from the president
Dear Camberwell Junction traders and professionals,
It may have seemed quiet over winter when many locals were holidaying overseas and the cold weather impacted visitation. However, June retail sales figures showed an overall year-on-year increase of 2.9 per cent. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s August announcement to hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent was also welcome news. While we’re still faced with slow spending and higher costs of doing business, this decision will boost consumer confidence.
In this newsletter you’ll find details about our upcoming promotions. The Camberwell Culinary Awards run until the end of September. Customers vote for their favourite eateries in the precinct and they must spend money to enter. This promotion drives sales, encourages people to discover our great food and dining offering, and visit the precinct more often. If you want to win your category, you need to promote this to your customers.
We’ve got Kylie and Dannii Day on October 20, which celebrates the Minogue sisters and their connection to Camberwell. This can become a huge event if you get behind it. Could you sell Kylie cupcakes or Dannii donuts with a coffee? Offer ‘Minogue markdowns’ or a discount
Marketing snapshot
Following a successful campaign last year, the Camberwell Culinary Awards returned over winter to celebrate cuisine in the precinct by giving customers the chance to vote for their favourite meal or beverage. They have to vote across a range of categories including best coffee, best brunch, best sweet treat, best drinking spot, best casual dining, best fine dining, best takeaway, and best healthy option. The campaign aims to drive sales to local businesses, as entrants have to purchase a meal or beverage and upload their receipt for a valid entry into the competition. The major prize is $500 to spend in Camberwell Junction, as well as 10 x $50 vouchers. The competition runs until the end of September and we’ll share results of winning businesses for each category in the next newsletter.
In June we ran Jazz at the Market – an activation in collaboration with the Camberwell Sunday Market. This was part of our ongoing partnership to drive market visitors to the wider shopping precinct. The event day featured a live jazz band at the market, and promoters handed out vouchers to drive customers from the market to our shops. We are continuing to work with the market to cross-promote the precinct and leverage marketing opportunities.
Our Father’s Day promotion featured a branded promotion across outdoor and digital advertising.
if customers can name a Kylie song. We’ll provide a trader pack to support this campaign, with themed social posts you can share with your followers to help bring people to the precinct.
We also share details about our branding strategy campaign. Our role is to give Camberwell Junction a strong identity and boost awareness of what’s on offer, to attract people to discover your stores. You may find our profiling helpful in planning your own marketing. Lastly, our precinct manager Kerry Daly shares some insights from the recent Mainstreet Australia Conference, where retailers and industry experts gathered to discuss trends and the way retail is changing.
Make sure you check the Trader Portal at camberwellshopping.com.au to find the latest government updates and business support resources. Also tag us in your social media posts and send your offers via email so we can share them: info@camberwellca.com.au
Regards,
Henk Kelly-Kobes President, Camberwell
Centre Association
This incorporated laneway posters, an article on the website, custom website and digital graphics, and social media posts to keep Father’s Day front of mind for shoppers.
Our online marketing activities continue to yield strong results. Here’s a snapshot of Camberwell Junction’s digital audience numbers:
• More than 8100 email addresses in our subscriber database
• More than 148,000 visits to the websites over the past year
• More than 9600 followers on social media.
Mainstreet Australia Conference insights
The Mainstreet Australia Conference ran from July 31 – August 2 and shared some interesting insights for retailers and business operators. Mainstreet Australia is the organisation that represents people who work with local businesses in shopping precincts, including trader associations, councils, and industry affiliates. Camberwell Centre Association is a member and our manager Kerry Daly attended their national conference, Creating Tomorrow’s Destinations.
Steve Sammartino, an AI futurist, opened the conference with a compelling exploration of transformative technologies, starting with a nod to emojis as a powerful form of communication. He emphasised that technology alone isn’t enough; we must engage and interpret it collectively. It is vital to keep up with emerging technology and he encourages us all to experiment with AI tools and prompts to achieve objectives.
Roxanne Haines, the principal strategic placemaker at Eke Panuku Development Auckland, talked about the power of place. She detailed the significance of understanding place through a holistic ecosystem approach, emphasising that placemaking connects various elements harmoniously. Their use of murals was powerful which reinforces our goal of finding appropriate locations across Camberwell Junction to add colour and local stories.
Ojay McDonald, CEO of the Association of Town and City Management in the UK, provided an insightful update on challenges facing UK high streets, which also apply to Australian retail precincts. He said retail has struggled long before the pandemic, with online shopping and changing consumer habits reshaping the retail landscape. He shared successful interventions like Stockport’s Foodie Friday, a popular street food event that takes place between 6pm and 9pm at Stockport Market Place on the last Friday of every month. It provides a unique social event for the town centre and attracts people of all ages. He said while retail may no longer anchor main streets, there is demand for experiences related to health, wellbeing, and community engagement. Our CamberWELL-BEING event supports this theory for our community who really enjoy engaging with our health and wellness businesses.
Keynote speaker Peter Alexander shared his professional journey from his early days at Myer and David Jones to establishing his successful sleepwear brand. He recounted the challenges of starting with mail orders from his kitchen table, managing rapid growth, and eventually partnering with Just Jeans. He
continues in the business to ensure his unique style is still reflected in all design aspects including shop fit-outs. The Peter Alexander store in Camberwell Junction is testament to his creative approach and brand continuity.
Steve de Niese, from our own marketing agency Assemblo, presented a fantastic masterclass where he guided attendees through brand strategy and how to create a strong identity that everyone can connect and resonate with. To quote Steve: “Visual identity is just a small part of branding. Brand strategy is where it’s at!”
Conferences are an opportunity to learn and share with other people in the industry, make contacts, and be inspired by fellow professionals who are passionate about main streets and local precincts. We encourage you all to keep abreast of emerging ideas and industry trends. You can find more information and download the ‘Key Takeaways’ report from the Mainstreet Australia Conference on the Trader Portal section of our website. Visit camberwellshopping.com.au
Kylie and Dannii Day returns to Camberwell Junction on Sunday, October 20 to celebrate the Minogue sisters and their connection to Camberwell.
The event will run from 8am – 12pm at the Rotary Camberwell Sunday Market and include live entertainment, music, lip-sync performances, trivia, a fashion parade, photo wall and more.
All traders can get involved to leverage the event so think of ways you can be creative. Can you offer Kylie and Dannii themed menu items or products? Maybe dress up and play Kylie and Dannii's music on the day. Contact us if you need help with ideas.
Details: camberwellshopping.com.au/kylie
Camberwell Junction brand campaign
As part of our marketing strategy for Camberwell Junction, we’ll soon launch a dedicated brand campaign. This will promote brand awareness of the shopping precinct and further cement Camberwell Junction as a leading shopping destination in Melbourne.
After carrying out market research, the public shared that they view Camberwell Junction as a leading precinct for grocery shopping and dining. The majority of people agreed that Camberwell Junction has better dining options, atmosphere and shopping experiences than other nearby locations so we really want to emphasise this in our advertising.
The research identified that the precinct needed a stronger brand identity, especially because it straddles the suburbs of both Camberwell and Hawthorn East. As such, we shifted the brand name to Camberwell Junction to more strongly reflect the precinct’s location. We’ve also developed some creative territories to represent the area’s history, traditions and its character, and will tap into the precinct’s lifestyle appeal. We’re currently refining some new taglines and advertising messages to reflect more of a lively, fun and enthusiastic persona that we want the precinct to be known for.
We also want to more strongly reflect our brand purpose, which is to create a space that makes it easy for people to come together and connect, while positioning Camberwell Junction as the precinct where time-poor customers can get everything they need in the one place. Unlike our competitors, Camberwell Junction combines an authentic experience with a diverse offering across retail, entertainment, dining and business.
We’ll continue to keep you updated with developments about the brand campaign and our planned activities, so stay tuned.
Advertise in next issue of The Camberwell Citizen
Our independently produced newspaper, The Camberwell Citizen, will soon open advertising for the final edition of the year. This will be the Christmas/summer edition and offers your business an effective way to leverage Christmas and New Year campaigns through targeted advertising. This edition will be distributed from mid-November, giving you optimal time to advertise your business in the lead up to and during the festive period. The publication, which features local stories and has a dedicated section that highlights the Camberwell Junction precinct, has a local distribution of 30,000 copies (including 28,000 to local homes and 2000 to cafes and retail stores in the Camberwell Junction precinct). Enquire about advertising by sending an email to: citizen@assemblo.com
Funding for murals
Are you interested in creating a mural outside your business? The Camberwell Centre Association has funding for mural projects and we’re looking for suitable sites across the precinct to beautify the area through art. Examples of where murals can be installed include on exterior walls and entrances to shops, as well as decorative art on shop windows. We have access to professional mural artists to assist with these projects, we’d simply need permission from both the tenant and landlord as part of your application. To find out more, please email Kerry Daly: kdaly@camberwellca.com.au
Marketing calendar
What’s coming up?
SEPTEMBER
✓ Camberwell Culinary Awards
✓ Spring school holidays (September 21 – October 6)
OCTOBER
✓ Kylie and Dannii Day (October 20)
✓ Halloween promotion (October 26)
✓ Halloween (October 31)
NOVEMBER
✓ The Camberwell Citizen issue #21 available
✓ Melbourne Cup Day (November 5)
DECEMBER
✓ Camberwell Christmas Family Day (December 7)
✓ Christmas Day (December 25)
✓ Boxing Day (December 26)
✓ Summer school holidays (December 21 – January 28)
Trader Portal
Check the Trader Portal tab on the website for helpful advice and resources. Examples of current articles that can help your business include tips and links for improving your digital security, government grants for small restaurants, and a business recycling and waste toolkit.
Visit: camberwellshopping.com.au/cca-association-news
Business support
If you receive this newsletter, you’re within the boundary of the Camberwell Junction Traders Association. To get maximum benefit, you need to engage with the association.
• Check you are receiving regular email newsletters so you are abreast of upcoming promotions that might benefit you and those you can participate in.
• Do you have a web page for your business on our website? You can update your details including trading hours, social media, services, new photos etc.
• Send your special offers via email to info@ camberwellca.com.au and include an image (370px x 270px), offer details, and valid dates. We’ll post this on the website’s offers page and it’ll appear on your trader page.
• Share details about special events or in-store activations. We’ll post this on the What’s On page and possibly the monthly newsletter (8000 subscribers).
• Tag @camberwellshopping in your social posts so we can on-share to an audience beyond your followers.
• Trader packs: We provide artwork to support campaigns and events that you can use as part of your marketing and social media. Helping us to promote these events will attract more people to Camberwell Junction to benefit all traders.
• We provide posters and window decals to support precinct events. Ensure your staff are aware and tell your customers about it to encourage visitation.
• The Camberwell Citizen: We produce three editions of the newspaper annually, with 30,000 copies delivered to local households and across the precinct. Enquire about advertising opportunities for traders: citizen@assemblo.com
Networking events
TRADER AND BUSINESS FORUMS
The next Camberwell Business Forum will take place soon. The Camberwell Business Forums offer local businesses a great opportunity to meet and network. Drinks and nibbles will be provided. Events are FREE for Camberwell traders or $25 for non-members, unless otherwise stated. Details and tickets: camberwellbusiness.com.au
THE CAMBERWELL BUSINESS CLUB
The Camberwell Business Club meets on the first Thursday of each month (from February to December). Meetings are held upstairs at Deco (211 Camberwell Rd) from 1pm – 2pm sharp, and features a guest speaker. Membership packages are available. It’s a great chance to meet fellow business operators over a light lunch. Details: camberwellbusinessclub.com.au
Shop news
Catch up with new businesses, store moves and other news.
CAMBERWELL FRESH FOOD MARKET
519-525 Riversdale Rd
Join Chef Frank Petrone every Sunday from 10am to 1pm as he dives into a world of culinary delight at the Camberwell Fresh Food Market’s demo kitchen. He shares his skills using the freshest market ingredients to create mouth-watering dishes.
CONNECTED CARE
Suite 7, 32-36 Camberwell Rd
Connected Care is a new day care centre that offers support programs for children under NDIS funding and private arrangements. They offer before and after school care, disability and children’s support, dedicated day programs, transportation services, weekend programs and home support.
ERIN BLACKIE SINGING ACADEMY
Suite 6, 493 Riversdale Rd
Previously operating as Jaanz International Singing Academy, Erin Blackie has now taken over direction and brings more than 20 years of experience in the music industry to her business. She specialises in teaching the technique of ‘emotion-centred singing’.
KROL FAMILY BAKERY
375 Camberwell Rd
With four generations of bakers, Krol Family Bakery know a thing or two about baking! Selling sourdough and other artisanal breads, fruit loaves, and traditional Dutch fruit buns, this is a new bakery to the area that you need to try.
MONGKOK
TEA HOUSE
734 Burke Rd
Congratulations to three bartenders at Mongkok Tea House who placed in the top 50 of the Hennessy My Way 2024 global competition. The contest required entrants to showcase Hennessy as the key ingredient in a cocktail. The bartenders are now competing for a spot in the top 10 which, if successful, will see them invited to Paris and Cognac in October for a live global final.
PAWARCHY
953 Burke Rd
Pawarchy provides quality products and services for your furry friends. Whether you’re looking for nutritious pet food with bespoke meal plans for your dog, custom portraits capturing special moments with your furry friends, or unique creations like custom collars and leashes, Pawarchy has everything to pamper your pets.
REGEN SKIN
Salon Studios, 149 Camberwell Rd
New to Camberwell Junction, Regen Skin specialises in cutting-edge skin tightening treatments such as laser therapy treatments, HIFU, microneedling, RF (radio frequency), body contouring and chemical peel facials.
THE FINEST BREW
518 Riversdale Rd
The Finest Brew is Camberwell Junction’s newest cafe. They pride themselves on catering their coffee to the individual. Pop in to enjoy a coffee and welcome owners Roshani and Nate to the precinct.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
PRESIDENT Henk Kelly-Kobes 0412 939 665
TREASURER
Daniel Piciocco Aintree Group 9851 7933
MEMBERS
Wayne Chen
The Gift Bargain Store 0433 159 949
Neil Earle Earle & Company 9882 0233
George Keskerides
Terry White Chemist 9882 6655
VICE PRESIDENT Ray Orr Mail Boxes Etc 9813 2200
SECRETARY
Bev Wooffindin Bookkeeping 0412 480 925
Chris Risteski itsagame 0401 916 082
Milo Barkin Barrel & Roast 9603 0337
Brittany Unwin SC Accounting 8840 9188
Nick Binney Aintree Group 9851 7958
If you would like to become a member of the association or take a role on the committee contact the president to discuss.
SUPPORT FOR TRADERS
All traders are welcome to contact precinct manager Kerry Daly to discuss any marketing or relevant issues. Call (03) 9813 4190 or email kdaly@camberwellca.com.au
STAY INFORMED
The trader’s association sends out regular email newsletters with current business, news and marketing updates to ensure you stay informed about what’s going on in the precinct. If you are not receiving these emails then we either do not have your current email address or you need to check your spam filters. Please contact us if you are having any issues with receiving the email newsletter.
CONTACT US
For further information regarding topics in this newsletter, please contact:
Kerry Daly Camberwell Centre Association Manager
Lvl 1, Camberwell Place, 793 Burke Rd Camberwell VIC 3124
Phone / Fax: (03) 9813 4190 info@camberwellca.com.au