Maybe You Shouldn't Tie Your Sale Into This Holiday

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. The Global Village Store in Duluth, Minnesota thought it was a good idea to celebrate by putting everything black on sale. Their in-store signage said "MLK Sale! 25% Off Everything Black!" and their Facebook page proclaimed, "Annual MLK Day BLACK SALE! He showed us that the struggle and lookin' super fly can go hand in hand. We salute him with 25% off everything black, Monday January 20th. Much more our style than a Columbus Day sale, no?"

Years ago, this might have just offended a few people locally who happened by the store. In today's highly connected social media climate, it got a huge amount of negative attention. Scott Stratten of Unmarketing sent out an email to his large following last night, along with posts on most of the major social media channels, leading people to a page that called them out and sent people view the company's Facebook post. There were a bunch of negative comments on the UnMarketing page and even more pointed ones on the Global Village Store's Facebook page.

I can understand the temptation to have a sale tied into this holiday. Retailers have trained the customers to shop on natural holidays, as those are when the best deals are. Customers believe it because it's true. Plus, a Monday holiday means more people off of work who have time during the day to go out and shop. But you have to be careful how you tie into a holiday, especially the more reverant and solem ones. Presidents' Day is one you can have some fun with, Veteran's Day is a bit harder to do tastefuly, and MLK Day has shown to be tricky for some retailers.

To be frank, for most of our retail clients, we have adopted the tactic of having a big sale over the MLK holiday weekend but calling it something else or nothing at all. We give customers the big sale offers they want and expect; offers that will help draw them in on their extra day off. But don't let them stray into an area that could create problems – like they did for Global Village.

Take advantage of natural holidays and do the things you need to bring in customers today. Just don't do things that may drive away customers not just today, but forever.

Mike McClure, keeping sales safe since 1983