Strategies needed for growing business in Motueka

June 1st, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

Encouraging Motuekans to use local businesses wherever possible, and creating business strategies to make locals and visitors to feel good about the town, were two of the objectives put to Our Town Motueka by visiting expert in town development Karen Remetis this morning.

She said that towns that are not active in creating new business ideas but are just sitting on what they have will eventually stagnate and wither. Instead, retailers need to focus on "experiential marketing" - marketing the shopping experience by highlighting the positive value of buying local products from local owners.

"The sorts of shops we need most are the ones which reflect local foods, crafts, and the local environment, and are run by local people," she said. "That's what visitors want to see."

Karen Remetis is CEO of Towns and Cities New Zealand Development Group, a non-profit group which advises on developing strategy and business plans for central business districts and community organisations, as well as vision and branding for CBDs. Her work experience includes 15 years in strategic planning for traditional town and city centres.

She was visiting Motueka overnight to talk with Our Town Motueka and other community and business leaders, thanks to some funding from TDC's Mayoral fund. She has personally helped in the impressive revival of the CBDs of several New Zealand towns.

She said most towns have gone through four eras during the past 70 years. In the 1950s the theme was mainly industrial, where towns established their economic identity. In the 1970s it was retail services that grew as goods and commerce took over.

The 1980s and 90s saw entertainment as a key driver, when people used towns to access fun and special services. And in the past 10 to 15 years it has been the creation and incubation of new knowledge that has driven much economic growth.

But strategic work on town centres really began in 1990 when, in the face of the arrival of big-box retailers in shopping malls, the "Mainstreet" organisation began. Within a year about 150 towns, including Motueka, had a Mainstreet group. This has since morphed into Our Town Motueka (OTM).

Karen said OTM needs to focus on a five-point strategy:

Landscape and urban design.
Marketing, promotion and events.
Business improvement, and making OTM and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) a credible voice at district council and government agency level.
Heritage and environment, allowing the town to tell the stories about its people and events, and using local environmental features.
Organisational structure, governance, income streams and strategic planning.

One key, she said, was for all Motueka businesses to get online and use the internet to sell products and services. "Like it or not, online marketing is the way of the future, and businesses must adopt it or die," she said.

This advice includes also using the internet to pay bills, and to do so quickly. The quicker that money circulates around the local economy, the better for all. Invoice settlements of seven or 14 days are now becoming common.

Regarding funding, targeted rating is the key element for change, she said. "It's a way of achieving autonomy, independence and local economic development." OTM and Tasman District Council should be "partners", not fighting each other.

She added that strategic marketing in this area should be part of a "Top of the South" effort involving the joint efforts of Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman. However, it was observed that there are many organisations within this region trying to do similar things, and there is a need to rationalise the use of money and resources.

OTM this year is adjusting its focus to a more strategic approach and aiming to extract more value for its members in terms of bringing more commerce into the town. The visit by Karen Remetis was part of this work.

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