Hospitality is a red ocean, a saturated market (Kim & Mauborgne 2005). And in a rural or regional area, there’s less population to service a business, less wealth, and a concentration of competition.

For example, there are four pizza stores in Bairnsdale, servicing a population of 17,000 people (.idcommunity n.d.). And three establishments that serve pizza in Paynesville, 15 kilometres south of Bairnsdale, which has a population of 6,000. The number of East Gippslanders earning over $2000 a week is about 8.6 percent.

When compared with City of Port Phillip, there is 100,000+ residents with 25.8 percent of the population earning an average income of $2000 per week, and 20+ pizza stores. You can see why every dollar matters in the regions.

Manoeuvring, as noted by Schaefer (2024), is a tactic that can be employed by businesses to gain competitive advantage.

As recently discussed with Moemina Shukur (2024), through social listening, I noticed that people move to East Gippsland and use Facebook groups to find the best businesses to switch to. Cafes, hairdressers, accountants, pizza.

Earth & Soul Pizza sits at the top of the review pecking order, with 5-bubbles on TripAdvisor and 4.8 stars on Google, for almost six years.

But this doesn’t mean everyone recommends our brand. Personal preference enters the equation. Some people just love a thick base with cotto (shredded ham) and lo-melt cheese 🤷🏻‍♀️

So, I devised a collaborator campaign to capture and retain new customers moving to the area.

Teaming up with a local barber, podcaster, real estate agent, premium volume builder, CrossFit gym and homewares brand, paid and earned media was the focus. Collaborators gift their customers pizza vouchers and promo codes.

Launching October 2023, to date 100 vouchers generated $2500 of targeted revenue, with a dozen repeat customers using the promo codes more than once.

Whilst this may seem like a small ROI, it’s a slow burn in the regions.  Word-of-mouth takes time, and not all customers adopt technology.

💡 Now it’s your turn… feel free to share in the comments a time when you needed to manoeuvre in business.

REFERENCES:

Kim C & Mauborgne R (n.d.) Red Ocean vs Blue Ocean Strategy, Blue Ocean website, accessed 26 September 2023. https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/tools/red-ocean-vs-blue-ocean-strategy/

.idcommunity (n.d.) ‘East Gippsland Shire’, Informed Decisions website, accessed 7 July 2024. https://profile.id.com.au/east-gippsland

Schaefer M (2024) This is the most important word in marketing, Mark Schaefer website, accessed 7 July 2024. https://businessesgrow.com/2024/05/20/important-word-in-marketing/

Shukur M (2024) This regional pizzeria’s community-first marketing can’t be topped, SmartCompany website, accessed 7 July 2024. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/hospitality/earth-and-soul-regional-pizzeria-community-first-marketing/