How we try to market sensitively...
I currently have three blog posts on the go (I think this reflects the state of the WFH/homeschool combo… jobs that you enjoy doing but don’t have to do for the running of a business, get left to last, and then you come back to them later than you meant to). But I WILL post two posts this week. Hope that you’re all doing OK. It’s been a long time of not being normal. It’s not getting any easier (I wonder actually, if it’s getting a bit harder in some ways).
First off is this one… and it’s all about Father’s Day gifts.
Except, really, it’s also not.
I am not a fan of Father’s Day. Since my Dad died three and a half years ago (that’s gone fast), I’ve found most of June sees my inbox filled with gifts for a ‘great dad’ (usually with golf/wine/BBQs as a theme… apparently to be a Dad you must like golf, wine, and BBQing… it somehow makes you more Dad like). Not only are the gifts a bit meh, but I want to shout at my inbox that I don’t have a Dad to buy for. And mine’s a ‘normal’ reason! So many people are estranged from their families, or have more complicated emotional family set-ups, there isnt’ really a ‘one size fits all’ approach for celebrating the Father figure in your life. Though still they try. For a day of the year invented by the card companies*, I often ponder that they didn’t really think it through so much.
*So, bit of history.. Mothering Sunday (which is was originally called) comes from a Christian Festival - hence why is always falls in Lent - and it has been celebrated since around the seventeenth Century. It actually referred to visiting your Mother Church in your childhood home which probably led to a family get together, and explains why it was in Lent. Traditionally they ate Simnel cake and everything. Logically I suppose, with Easter being all about new life, home and childhood would signify this all quite nicely. It wasn’t until the early 20th Century it was reinvigorated, but with that came the commercial side of things. Father’s Day is an American invention, and started in the early 20th Century too.
When I started Harriet and Rose, I knew that I wanted to have gifts for Mums, for Dads, for friends, for yourself, for new babies… but being of a certain age, having two children, and knowing a lot of people who’d had kids (and failed fertility treatment, and miscarriages, and late losses, and stillbirths, not to mention friends whose parents have died, or whom they don’t get on with or see), I knew that I would never focus on the fact I sell these gifts aimed at specific groups. I sell gifts for everyone. If you need them, they’re here. If you don’t (or worse, are actively avoiding baby/parent related things for whatever reason), then you don’t need to see them shoved down your throat.
I haven’t been out a lot in the past few weeks (with the exception of my daily Post Office runs), so don’t have the gauntlet of town, resplendent with Father’s Day banners to run. Honestly, it’s a relief. Three and a half years on, it’s definitely a bit easier to deal with, but it’s something I’d rather not have to handle. That first one was brutal. It doesn’t mean we don’t give the Dad in our house a nice breakfast and the kids always make him a card - I don’t for a moment think Dads shouldn’t be celebrated, but I am suggesting that the marketing is… well a bit more sensitive? My mailbox is full of companies trying to sell my stuff for my Dad… the only one who I’ll definitely be giving my business to in future is the one that offered me an ‘opt out’ of all Father’s Day marketing (they do the same throughout the year)… that’s sensitive marketing for you.
I used to have a blog that was essentially me ranting about whatever had riled me that week. It was good fun, and I do love a rant. But what I wanted to do, was to tell you a bit more about the way I market Harriet and Rose, and how I communicate it to you. I’m not perfect. Not by a long shot. I’m always seeking to improve, and when we’re allowed to get out and about again, I’ll definitely be working on my marketing. I just think it’s really important for you as a customer to know the kind of business this is, and that includes how we promote ourselves… and perhaps more importantly,to reassure you that we try to be ‘trigger’ free when it comes to promoting what Harriet and Rose is about. That doesn’t mean that I’ll always get it right, but I’m always willing to listen to your feedback, and I’m always willing to learn.
For now though, we sell Father’s Day cards if you want them. And there’s lots of lovely gifts that would be great for a Dad across the site (with nothing to do with golf! Though we do have some BBQ stuff…).