Veg Plotting

Decide to put your house on the market Research thoroughly the best Estate Agent* to get you the swiftest sale and best price for your property Agree to have a For Sale sign placed outside (not everyone does these days) Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice that Scott really does need to use his full Christian name in his advertising Et voila ! * = Realtor if you're reading this over the Pond Gosh, I see it's nearly 5 years since the last How Advertising Works , it's great to be back! NAH and I have a list of examples similar to Scott's e.g. Sue Wellings' signature at the swimming club became S Wellings and he was at school with Terry and Steve Potts (S Potts and T Potts). Do you have any examples to add to the list? 😉

It's Bank Holiday time for us to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and amongst the usual Union Jacks and bunting, Chippenham has put its own special touches to the celebrations. Like many communities we have some special postbox toppers and I found the one above earlier this week gracing one in Monkton Park. I know our Knatty Knitters have other plans afoot, so I'm off to explore the centre of town later today. The Museum has had a couple of Jubilee projects I've been involved with. The Young Photographers group worked hard on their '70 Years, 70 Faces' and found at least one face per year of the Queen's reign. NAH and I went along to see ours at the Yelde Hall and add a new meaning to 'we were beside ourselves'! You may recognise a couple of the faces as Mark Allum (below me) and Lisa Lloyd (top right) from Antiques Roadshow live in Chippenham. I think NAH has fared particularly well in the photos, but then I'm biased! I - along with my WI...

Realise you need to say something about social distancing on your High Street Find distinctive places for it to go Get the new signage printed and installed Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice it says the magic word  Welcome Et voilà ! There are so many reminders out there these days on what we must do in public places in our new normal. I applaud Chippenham for being that little bit different by also taking the opportunity to welcome everyone. It was heartening to walk into town yesterday during our first weekend of Lockdown 2.0 to find it was quieter but still relatively bustling. Fingers crossed it remains that way after this annus horribilis .

Decide to revamp the opening titles to Antiques Roadshow Use some of the artifacts owned by one of the show's experts Film close to said expert's home and in the surrounding area Wait for a blogger with a PrntScr key on their computer to notice a tweet about it Et voila ! I'd wondered for ages why the opening credits to the Antiques Roadshow looked familiar and finally twigged why on a recent WI treasure hunt around the town. NAH and I watched the opening credits closely the other day and we reckon one of the other locations used (when the garage door is opened) is either on our own estate, or our old one over at Pewsham. As well as his involvement with the Antiques Roadshow , expert Marc Allum is trying to find the actual location of King Alfred's hunting lodge by hosting a regular archaeological dig in St Mary's Street. He got a little more than he bargained for recently when Roman remains were found in his garden  instead. It even made some of t...

Set up a Business Improvement District (BID) to promote your town Install wi-fi in the centre of town and promotional flags at key entry points Create a John Lewis-style video to promote local businesses for Christmas 2015 Wait for a blogger to spot she can't embed the good news into her blog Et voila ! I wanted to make this a good news story, I really did. There's much to applaud in an organisation dedicated to show the good things Chippenham has to offer. However, I can only give you a screen grab plus  a link to our local paper's article about Chippenham's Christmas advert , rather than sharing it directly with you. NB it's worth a scroll down the article then a click on the video to have a look at the town at its best. There isn't quite enough time at the end to see all the local businesses involved (unless you freeze the frame), so here they are: Amelia Classics (bridal wear) Butlers Butchers Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre (say hel...

Design your latest range of seasonal clothing Make sure you have all the advertising material you need Let customers know what's in store before they've even got there Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice you've forgotten there are workmen around Et voila ! I giggled when I saw this Saturday. I'm not sure how many customers will take advantage of the new 'service' available.

Decide to ramp up your party's campaign for the forthcoming General Election Design a snazzy leaflet outlining your plans for the Chippenham Constituency Arrange delivery to every household in said Constituency Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice the accompanying photos are of Bradford on Avon Et Voila! To be fair Bradford's part of the Chippenham Constituency too, but my inner imp was intrigued by two parties choosing to show an image from a much smaller town than the main one. It might turn out to be the only thing they can agree on ;) For balance, I was going to wait and see what the other parties came up with before writing this post. However, they're being much tardier with their leaflets - I've had these two for ages. Chippenham already has form with its election publicity backfiring despite the current Constituency only being in existence for this and the previous election. It was the subject for How Advertising Works #15 and #16  in 2...

I had to do a double take last week when I spotted this young gentleman outside a florist shop in Darlington. The sign reads: Girlfriends know each other's favourite flower I'm sure the world would be a much better place if boyfriends knew it too ;) What's your favourite flower? Mine changes with the season and my mood. Right now I'm particularly enjoying the scent from the petunias in the new hanging basket by our front door. It's a great welcome home.

You want everyone to keep the allotment site tidy So you have some very helpful notices made so plot holders know what's what Arrange them prominently so they can't be missed Wait for a blogger with a camera to spot the notice is now more of a 'do what I say, not what I do' Et voila! This notice has been on site for years looking quite normal, but has fallen victim recently to the stormy weather. It's a very minor casualty compared to what some parts of the country are experiencing (and my allotment neighbour whose plot currently resembles a lake), but it felt good to see some storm damage which made me smile for a change. And some sunshine!

Decide your local company needs to get out and about a bit more Take a pitch at Chippenham's Art in the Park event Set up your informative display Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice your product isn't quite needed on the day in question Et voila! It was definitely ultra-warm in Monkton Park last Saturday; the hottest day of the year at that point!

Set up a specialist gardening supply company Hide it away on an industrial estate well away from prying eyes Decide you really want people to know it's there Wait for a blogger with a camera to spot your advert on the roundabout by the estate where she lives Et voila! I've just started to get to grips with hydroponics, so expect more on this subject and possibly Bill and Ben to come :)

Start a local farm shop which stocks plenty of fresh, seasonal veg Add a very popular cafe to your business offering Seeing it's raining and unseasonably cold, tweet what a treat a hot chocolate would be Wait for a tempted blogger with a camera to spot there's a new type of veg on the block Et voila!

Operate your typical edge of town supermarket kinda store Decide something quite different is needed Tell your customers something's happening Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice the sign says in tiny letters at the bottom left: Image for illustrative purposes only Et voila! Since when has an image not been used for illustrative purposes? ;) However, since I took this picture on 28th January all has been revealed. Last week the store had a massive revamp and there is indeed a wondrous new array of vegetables, fruit etc. on offer. It's going to take time to work through all the things I've not heard of :) It turns out Chippenham's Morrison's is one of six stores chosen to pilot the supermarket group's brand new strategy . The link takes you to this week's article in the local paper which tells you more. If this is a success, it'll be coming your way too. Such power in the hands of Chippenham's people! ;)

Publish a popular weekly newspaper for the Wiltshire area Have a regular Your Memories slot which has photographs from days gone by Ask readers to identify and locate the house shown in the latest photograph Wait for a blogger with a camera to spot a house in the Property section in the same edition looks very familiar Et voila! I hope my email to the Gazette and Herald got passed on to Nigel Brown so he can investigate further...

Build your supermarket on one of the town's most popular estates Make sure there's a large, warm welcoming area to get shoppers in from the cold Add several features designed to help them spend more money Wait for a blogger with a camera to wonder since when have coins not been cash ? Et voila ! I know I'm being a little unfair as these are a feature of many a supermarket outside of Chippenham, but it was only when I was in my local one that the penny (literally!) dropped ;)

Form a company tapping into the increasingly lucrative accident compensation market Recruit a number of sales people to bring in the business you need Provide them with a mobile advertising unit just right for temporary high street installation Wait for a blogger with a camera to spot it has an in-built trip hazard Et voila ! Note that the usual blogger with a camera can be seen further down the street on the right. My thanks to NAH for spotting the possibilities and taking the photograph :)

Times are hard, so come up with a new initiative to bring life back to your town's high street Give it the snazzy title Chippenham Alive! Advertise the key businesses involved in the initiative Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice the sole advertisement in the town centre is in the window of an empty shop Et voila ! Chippenham Alive! is the new monthly late night opening initiative, designed to counteract the effects of recent high street closures and massively hiked parking charges. The reaction to the first opening last month was mixed. There was quite a lot of publicity in the local paper, but it would appear not so much on the streets and participating shops themselves. Here's hoping tonight's late night opening which includes the Christmas lights switch on fares much better.

Set up your dental practice Decide to raise awareness of a particular health initiative Create a simple poster for your window Wait for a blogger with a camera to notice the second poster is definitely needed after displaying the first one Et Voila! Joking aside, please do get checked out. Whilst we're on the subject of adverts, you may have noticed a new bit of blog bling at the top of the right hand sidebar. My thanks to whoever nominated me for The Horticultural Channel 's inaugural awards. I'm really chuffed, amongst some very fine company and I wish the best of luck to my fellow nominees. You can go along and vote here - there's lots of your other gardening favourites nominated in the other categories too :)

Start a vintage sales area at your garden centre Acquire some wire salmon fish traps for said area Display them prominently so the blogger with the camera is intrigued by the marriage of two of her interests: fisheries research and gardening Wait for her to notice that the suggested re-use isn't quite as desired Et Voila ! The price was quite eye watering too.

Start a blog Meet local blogging friend who has a thing about quirky 'adverts' Blogger with a camera spots something contradictory about adverts in financial advisor office Et Voila ! This was in the financial brokers office [North Wilts Credit Union - Ed ] next to McColls (post office) and Lee's fish bar off Hardenhuish Lane. The contradiction made me giggle. This is a guest post from Mark at Views From the Bike Shed with a little light editing from me (hope you don't mind!). Thanks Mark, your email was most timely seeing I've had quite a few family matters to sort out this week.