Café marketing with no budget
My preferred café is closed over the holiday season so I’ve been visiting the slightly less fashionable one down the street. It’s run by a Turkish lady and her business partner. They’ve bought this place at considerable financial risk. Business is less than hoped for, in spite of the fact that she cooks very well and they make good coffee. The place is an old house; large. Ugly. No other word for it.
Today, after asking some questions about her clientele, I gave her some unsolicited marketing advice on how to improve business.
1. Remove ugly signage

2. Work your strengths
The strongest area is the side path along the left hand side of the building; dappled light, intimate but barely noticeable from the street. There are about 8 tables for two behind the two front ones.
I suggested she needs to draw attention to this area by creating a bamboo wall (say) from the front of the house to the street, so that the path is the same width all the way. Re-orient the tables and chairs so they face the same way as the ones down the back; that will exaggerate the visual connection.
3. Garden full of furniture; house full of plants
We should visually join the inside of the premises (which are quite friendly) to the outdoor area. Because of the tinted window it’s not clear that there is seating in there. So remove the tinting.
4. Atmosphere is not necessarily expensive
The predominant view walking past the premises is this white wall. Note ugly pipes:

But look closer; there are colourful flowers on the ground:
These need to be put on blocks so that they are eye level or at least cover the pipes. This and an understated wall feature higher up will do the trick. The owner likes gardening. I told her to go crazy. Tiny vase on each table. Visible flowers in that front area will add massive appeal at practically no cost.
I’ll update via the comments if she implements and advise of the results.



It’s an entertainment precinct which is down on its luck. The most visible sign of that is, um, the signage. Barricaded shopfronts, peeling paint, old decaying signs. Not to say there aren’t some well-presented businesses; the Dome, Oliver’s Restaurant, The Elephant & Wheelbarrow, the Brass Monkey all have attractive street presentation. Yet well-established businesses like Kakulas Bros, the Greek Taverna, Nandos, Cinema Paradiso, The Re Store and Tony Barlow, have faded signs, missing letters and facades that signal neglect and indifference. To me, those businesses degrade the precinct; they have the capacity to lead and they don’t.
Without a strong commercial interest group or re-development authority there is only local government to rely on and the City of Perth probably have other planning priorities. Left to its own devices it will continue its slow decline as the City of Perth foreshore develops and the western suburbs snare all the stylish restauranteurs.
Now you have four identities you can build on, each in a defined area, each of which can be separately marketed. You’d theme each quarter; street furniture, signage, art and walk trails.
The resignation of Foster’s CEO Trevor O’Hoy, previously their CFO, was accompanied by an admission that the company paid too much for Southcorp wines. The rise of the Australian dollar was also mentioned. But I believe the company’s woes have more to do with a lack of dynamism in wine marketing. 


