Sign Up For The 2008 Cookies For The Cure Team!

You may know that one in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime. What you may not know is that you can help these women and thousands of others in the fight against breast cancer.

Thank You for being part of Cookies for the Cure in the past. This year we will be larger and stronger in our fight. Please as you sign up this year, think of at least one other person to join with you. With your help we can easily double our team from last year.

On June 14, 2008, we will be participating in the 12th Annual Komen NC Triangle Race for the Cure in Raleigh with a great team of dedicated people.

Join the fight by registering as part of our team or by supporting our efforts with a pledge contribution. The money raised through the Race will fund vital education, screening and treatment programs for women in our own community and will also support the national search for a cure.

We need your support! Every step counts!

Please join Cookies for the Cure in our fight against breast cancer. If you have any questions, please call me at 919-854-0002, or email us at sweet@asweetreminder.com.

Thank You!

Click here to view the team page for Cookies for the Cure:

www.ASweetReminder.com

Credibility Over Creativity

We hope you visit our news page,( http://www.asweetreminder.com/page.pressroom) to find out the latest news on your favorite cookie delivery company. Why would a gourmet cookie company have a news page?

In regards to marketing a business, being creative can be “cute”. But it begs the most important question-”Does it sell?”. Two of the most memorable advertising campaigns in the last ten years, “Got Milk?” and “Wassup” won many awards and were adored by the public. But were they truly successful? Milk did not become America’s favorite beverage (milk consumption has in fact declined) and Budweiser sales did not increase (eventually Bud Light became a better selling beer).

A strong public relations campaign is key to a marketing plan. The public is flooded with advertising messages everyday and people often are skeptical. A public relations piece from a company (a new hire, a new product, a new partnership. etc) is often seen as more credible. When the public sees a steady diet of positive news from a company, this not only creates a top-of-mind presence with a consumer, but also establishes a sense of trust.

So you may never see crumbs of gourmet cookies on a person’s upper lip on one of our advertisements, but you may hear about our partnership with the Komen Foundation or a new feature on our website. Cookie delivery does not have to be cute, just credible.

Chip

A SWEET REMINDER ADDS SALES MANAGER

Raleigh, N.C. – Cookie delivery service A Sweet Reminder announced the hiring of Gary Buer as sales manager. Buer will be responsible for servicing corporate accounts and new business development.

“Gary has been an incredible addition to our team,” said Cindy Sheats, owner and founder of the company that has delivered cookies since 2003. “His enthusiasm and experience have been most valuable,” she added.

Buer previously spent 31 yrs with IBM working finance, market intelligence, forecasting, marketing operations and supply/demand analysis.

A Sweet Reminder specializes in delivering a delicious variety of fresh-baked cookies, packed with a personalized note in a choice of colorful boxes or decorative tins, which can be customized with a company’s logo for employee or client appreciation.

For further information on A Sweet Reminder, please call 1-866-312-0002 or log onto www.ASweetReminder.com.

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More Chip at the Movies!

March 12^th-Alfred Hitchcock Day–This legendary filmaker never won an Academy Award for directing. Do you know how many times he was nominated for director? Be the 5^th person to e-mail us the answer at sweet@asweetreminder.com and receive a dozen fresh baked cookies delivered in one of our movie reel tins.

 Chip

Cookies Deliverd To The Movies!

The Oscars have been awarded and an inspired Chip Cookie, mascot of A Sweet Reminder, is in Hollywood delivering cookies and  pitching movie scripts. Here are the ten movies Chip hopes to see in a theatre near you: 1) THERE WILL BE COOKIES- A story about family, greed, and cookies, centered on a turn-of-the-century baker in the early days of the business. 2) NO COUNTRY FOR OLD COOKIES- Violence and mayhem ensue after a baker stumbles upon some recipes, a bakery and more than $2 million in Raleigh, N.C.3) CHIP’S ELEVEN- Chip Cookie and his ten accomplices plan to rob the entire Girl Scout cookie bakeries simultaneously.  4) THE COOKIE IDENTITY- A mascot is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to escape mascots assassins. 5) I AM COOKIE- Years after a plague wipe out most cookies and transforms people into cookie monsters, the sole surviving dozen cookies in New York City struggle valiantly to find a cure. 6) AMERICAN COOKIE- In 1970s America, a baker works to bring down a cookie empire, who is smuggling cookies into the country from the Far East. 7) THE 40 YEAR OLD COOKIE- Goaded by his buddies, a nerdy cookie who’s never been “dunked” only finds the pressure mounting when he meets a single cookie.   MILLION DOLLAR COOKIE-A hardened trainer/manager works with some determined cookie dough  to establish the best cookie ever. 9) O COOKIE, WHERE ART THOU?- Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”, set in the deep south during the 1930’s. In it, three escaped cookies search for a tall glass of milk while a relentless lawman pursues them.  10) COOKIE FICTION- The lives of two cookies, a baker, a glass of milk, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.  

How is everything….really?

So you are in a restaurant, eating a less than spectacular meal. Your sever swings by your table to refill your beverage.

 ”And how is everything?” asks the server.

 ”Fine,” you reply.

 The sever nods and moves onto to the next table. Is that the answer you really meant? Is the server’s reaction really what you wanted? No and no. Basically, you told the sever it was sub-par and not what you expected. The server acknowledged that, and since you did not praise it or criticized it, the server moved on. Think about it. If it was really bad, you would have a few more choice words or you would have sent the meal back. If it was really good, you would have raved about it over and over. Instead you went with “fine”, and in the cookie delivery business, that just won’t cut it. “Fine” is not exceeding expectations and therefore, A Sweet Reminder has not succeeded.

 We use “fine” as opportunity to learn from our customers and thus create a “better” customer. A customer who will not only get cookies delivered again and again, but one who also refer us to others. Basically, an opportunity to regain a “one and done” or  potentially lost customer and gain new ones.

This blog is a tool for online feedback. We encourage our customers share their experience, good or bad. The bad comments may sting, but we take it as an opportunity to learn about our customer’s experience. Heck, if they care enough to take the time to send us an e-mail or post on this blog,  then we should listen , respond and follow up. 

So the next time you hear “fine” don’t just nod in agreement. Dig a little deeper. Ask more specific questions. Enjoy the praises of the “It was really great!” response  or look for an opportunity in the “It was really bad!”. Either way, you know where you stand and know what to do next.

Chip

www.ASweetReminder.com

Cookies Delivered Around the World!

This is a great friend of A Sweet Reminder, Zareen Modi. Here she is rockin’ one  of our Cookies For The Cure t-shirts at the Great Wall of China! Thanks, Zareen!

Cookies Delivered For The Cure!

In the early days of A Sweet Reminder, our founders discovered they had much to be thankful for after facing and defeating breast cancer. That’s why we make a very special box of cookies with the sweetest ingredient of all — hope. For every pink box of fresh-baked cookies we sell, A Sweet Reminder donates half the profit to breast cancer research.

http://www.asweetreminder.com/feature_product

Milk and cookies,

Chip

Stick with your target market!

O.K. , we gave the “seasonal target market” thing a shot. We went against the grain and marketed towards males for Valentine’s Day. We advertised on a sports radio station, did an e-mail campaign to guys, etc. In the the end, our usual target market (female online shoppers and corporate) placed more orders.

What did we learn? Stick by the plan! What if we had slightly altered the copy and ran spots on station with a high female demographic or did an e-mail campaign towards women? Fortunately, we did not spend a bundle on this experiment and at least it proved to us our true target market .

Marketing 101-know your audience and speak to them constantly!

Chip

Cookies Delivered For The Procrastinators!

We did some research last summer and discovered our target market consists of females, 18-34 who shop online. For Valentine’s Day we went against the grain and focused on a “seasonal ” target market….procrastinating guys. We started a viral marketing campaign aimed at our favorite proscrastinators. We created a phantom domain, www.wedelivercookies.com, ran some radio spots on a local sports radio station and created some cards with that read “Because love isn’t quite enough complicated as it is.” on the front and www.wedelivercookies.com on the back. We dropped these off around sports bars, golf courses etc. I also had my husband post on the message boards of sites such as www.AskMen.com

Sure enough, there was a flurry of orders today and we imagine tomorrow will be the same. Guys can place and pick up orders on V-day as well, so Thursday will be a zoo.

Ah, men

Cindy

www.ASweetReminder.com