It's the nuts and bolts of any promotional activity which matters and not simply the publicity which attends campaigns such as My Shop Is Your Shop with its unique theme of Local And Proud Of It.
"How will this activity help my business?" That is one question, which the wholesaler and his customers, family businesses and sole traders, can legitimately ask.
The wholesale industry is mature enough to understand why Bestway can be selected to demonstrate how one major wholesaler, emphasising its support and care for its tens of thousands of independent c-store, newsagent and rural shop retailers, promotes MSYS and NIW in a very commercial manner.
In keeping with the company's well-earned and long established reputation for basing its offer on value and range, Bestway used its three-week promotional mailing to inform customers of the MSYS strategy and the importance of NIW as the first event of its kind to be mounted nationally supporting their business.
Every three-weekly promotion is supported by mailouts to customers, retail POS kits and branch POS material. Every item in these mailings carries the now iconic MSYS roundell logo.
In its Everyday Essentials package, for example, the 2litre Coca-Cola display material for retail stores, with its price offer of £1.59 each or two for £2.49, carried the MSYS logo as did all the other similar material for that promotional period which was sent out to retailers.
The shelf sticker for Hellmann's mayonnaise, 400g at £1.39, also showed the logo as did all the other stickers in the promotion. Thus the logo achieves substantial exposure - as it does from similar promotional activity undertaken by many other wholesalers.
One striking feature of the Bestway support for MSYS and the way in which the company uses the NIW platform to help its retail customers - and their consumer customers - is the link it provides to the Daily Mirror and Daily Record (Scotland) money-off coupon promotion for the week.
In its promotional booklet, Bestway announced the supportive brands which were participating in the tabloid feature (which was published on June l just ahead of NIW) and publicised its special offer prices for the money-off products.
Bestway was just one of many major wholesalers supporting NIW 07. The trade press has generously covered these activities which ranged from support for street parties and in-store theatre to depot promotions and visits by top executives and managers to customers' shops during the week.
MSYS and NIW are in their infancy. The campaign focuses consumer and trade attention on the value to the community of the retailer "living over the shop". It's a footfall driving activity for local shops as Bestway and fellow wholesalers increasingly recognise.
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