Home Sweet Home Magazines

It’s really encouraging to hear that the homes magazine sector is doing well, as discussed by Isobel McKenzie-Price, editorial director at Ideal Home and housetohome.co.uk, in today’s campaignlive.co.uk article.

Only a few weeks ago, I blogged about home interest magazines and how they are as popular as ever since we can no longer afford to move and so want to make the most of what we have.

It’s very encouraging therefore to hear that Isobel believes in homes mags and their role in helping their readers to get what they want when decorating their homes. I love nothing more that flicking through the latest issues and gaining inspiration from the latest trends and clever ideas for getting more for less, particularly as I will probably be in my current home for a few more years yet.

What’s interesting about this interview is the shopping trends of the readers at this time. With consumer confidence at an all time low, we’re spending more time deliberating about our choices before committing – as Isobel says, ‘we’d rather buy once and buy well’.

This ethos will certainly make brands consider how they communicate their differentiation, quality and service as they all vie to be chosen by today’s critical homeowner. We are less loyal to brands than ever before so price and believability will become key.

This latest insight into the home magazine arena proves yet again how PR’s too need to work even harder to get into the good graces of the consumer press as if they buy into a product or service, then their readers are more likely too. However, competition is fierce and PR’s need to do everything they can to convey why their client is exactly what they’re looking for.

The sweet smell of scent marketing

I read a fascinating piece from Christopher White in the Independent this week about the use of smell to promote products and reinforce brands, particularly when it comes to food and drink.

Apparently smell is fast becoming the third sensory tactic in marketing alongside old favourites sight and sound. The article told how a mini-mart in America saw coffee sales rise by 300% after it started pumping the aroma of fresh coffee beans into the store, and how the use of cinnamon smells where cinnamon buns are on sale makes people more likely to buy them. Even the new M&Ms megastore in London pumps in a smell of fresh chocolate to tempt customers into a purchase.

As White puts so well, scent marketing compares well to “fast-food outlets displaying photographs that bear no resemblance at all to the limp lettuced burgers actually on sale.” I’m no expert but I would suggest it won’t be long before this trend moves out of retail locations and into our homes. Just don’t let the pet food companies get a whiff of the idea!