Boden, the multichannel retailer of apparel and accessories,
emerged victorious as the winner of the inaugural Catalogue
e-business Readers’ Award. Announced at the annual ECMOD
Direct Commerce Awards evening, held on 6th April at the
Lancaster London hotel, Boden’s assistant marketing manager Matt
Finn accepted the award on behalf of the business.
Commenting on the win, Finn said that part of the business’s
success and a reason it may be admired among its peers is that
the “brand permeates through the company” and that
founder Johnnie Boden leads the business from the front. In other
words, while Johnnie Boden is the “keeper of the
brand”, the entire organisation lives and breathes
it.
Indeed, of the nominations received for Boden, a common theme was
its innovative marketing methods and branding. One voter wrote,
“The consistent use of their brand is second to
none.” Another voter tipped Boden as “still the best
marketing message in the mail order business”.
Famously launched with only eight products in 1991, Boden is now
a £200-million-plus business with stores, a website, a
catalogue and myriad social channels including an online
community, Facebook and Twitter presence. And there’s more to
come in 2011, including expansion into France, a new customer
magazine, and “hopefully a brand advertising
campaign,” says marketing director Mark Binnington. The
main focus this year, though, is common to every business,
“making our product ranges stronger, getting customers to
love us a little more, and trading through this tricky
year,” adds Binnington.
Its proactive approach has clearly inspired the sector, prompting
both b-to-b and b-to-c readers to nominate it as the business
they hold in the greatest esteem. But as well as calling out its
brilliant branding and marketing, voters also highlighted the
quality of its products and its stellar customer service. A
rare live interview with Johnnie Boden at
last year’s ECMOD Conference and Exhibition showed exactly how
much the business was revered by the sector: extra seats had to
be brought into the conference room to accommodate all the
delegates in attendance. And during the Q&A session there was no
shortage of people ready to fire questions at the incredibly
candid business owner.
Open to all readers of Direct Commerce, then
Catalogue e-business, the Readers’ Award asked
individuals to nominate the direct commerce business they hold in
the highest regard.
After receiving 462 votes, it was too close to call so the list
was whittled down to seven finalists including Asos, Boden,
Charles Tyrwhitt, Kiddicare, Lakeland, Net-a-Porter, and The
White Company. It fell to delegates at the CatEx Round Table
Day-held on the same day as the ECMOD Direct Commerce Awards-to
cast their votes so that the outright winner can be named. Boden
was presented with the trophy as part of the ECMOD Direct
Commerce Awards evening. “Any award is special,”
concludes Binnington, “but one that comes from your peers
is more so.”
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