Get More Out Of Black Friday By Making It Your Own

Looking at the current Canadian retail scene I can only imagine how it once was for Black Friday in the U.S.  As recently as just four years ago, there were probably only a few dozen Canadian retailers participating in Black Friday; for these early adopters, having a Black Friday sale was certainly a unique selling feature and benefit to their customers.  Over the past couple of years, however, I’ve noticed that Black Friday participation has grown by leaps and bounds. By my estimation, the majority of retailers within Canada will be having some sort of Black Friday event this year. And where the idea of Black Friday was once a point of differentiation, Canadian retailers will soon find themselves in the same position as their counterparts to the south—that being living in a generic sea of black.

What I mean is that Black Friday will go from being a competitive advantage (for a handful of retailers) to an industry-wide commodity.  And it’s already starting.

But Black Friday doesn’t need to be a generic, necessary evil; with a little planning and branding savvy, there’s opportunity to, again, make it a unique opportunity for your business. But this will require marketers to shift their perception and beliefs of Black Friday; they need embrace the idea that Black Friday is no longer the solution, but only part of the solution.  A very important and powerful part, mind you. After all, Black Friday does an incredible job of getting consumers into a buying mood.  They key is to leverage this industry-wide strength while still maintaining your brand’s own unique story.

So how is this done?  Well, you’ll need to imagine Black Friday (and the buying frenzy it generates) as a platform.  By identifying a clear position for your brand along with some relevant offerings AND layering them on top of the Black Friday platform, you’ll give your customers a reason to choose you over the competition—even if you don’t have the lowest price. In fact, research (from @adology) indicated that “83.3% of Black Friday shoppers don’t mind paying more for high quality.”

So Black Friday can become an opportunity, once again, to stand out from the crowd and to boldly state who you are with an offer/message that is unique to your brand.

As a retailer marketing agency, we’re putting this theory into practice, ourselves. This year we’ll be leveraging the idea of a Black Friday sale by adapting it into a B2B promotion.  The result is #BrandspankFRIDAY and its targeted squarely at our target market—retailers. It literally reverses the roles for retailers by allowing them to experience what their own customers usually experience—deep discounted savings.

So even though our promotion is built on the hype around Black Friday, it includes a very specific and relevant offer and message and was created to provide perceived benefit to a specific audience. And it’s something that you can do within your own business—regardless of your retail category or the make-up of your customer base.

Without creating a relevant offer/message that sets you apart, shoppers will see no perceived difference between you and your competitors. And if that’s the case, the lowest price wins.  Black Friday is here to stay, and it’s up to you to give your customers a reason to choose you beyond the expected slash in pricing.

Remember, when the world changes, you adjust. And the retail world IS changing, so this is an opportunity to adjust the way you choose to make Black Friday yours.