After months of falling sales, Dave Pringle, a second-hand car salesman from Yiewsley has revealed that a moment of marketing inspiration has helped him put his business back on track. ‘It came to me in the bath one night – must have been all those bubbles rising up to the surface that kicked it off, I suppose,’ he said, ‘but it was then that I realised that everyone loves colourful balloons and that it might just help me shift some of these knackered old, er, some of these classic vehicles.’
Helium-filled party balloons are now drifting in the air above the cars in Mr Pringle’s plot beside the A4 in Slough but even he can’t believe just how well it’s worked. ‘People can’t get enough of my cars now, and I’m struggling to find enough salesmen to work the yard.’ he said. ‘At first I tried a mix of red and white balloons, without too much response, then green and pink and a couple of others, but it was only when I discovered blue and yellow as a combination that, well, what can I say, after that the sales just went through the roof.’
‘I’ve driven past that showroom hundreds of times without even a flicker of interest,’ said local woman Elaine Cod. ‘But somehow seeing all those new balloons dancing gaily above that rusty old BMW; well, despite it being eleven years old and having 650,000 miles on the clock and a gasket about to blow, something inside me just screamed ‘Yes!’ and before I knew it the cheque book was out and I was signing an additional warranty form for if components that aren’t actually featured on this model ever go wrong. It’s a lovely car which is just being fixed at the moment – new gearbox, but the balloons are still there tied to the aerial, and I couldn’t be happier.’
‘I think you can put it down to something that just cheers people up and that’s surely something to celebrate,’ said Mr Pringle, but urged that his secret marketing strategy should not be passed on to his competitors. ‘I don’t know how long we can keep it up though,’ he said, ‘what with the way helium’s going up these days, but we’ll stick it out as long as we can.’
But other local retailers have already taken note of Mr Pringle’s success and have scrapped signs saying ‘70% off’ which have been up for weeks but which haven’t been producing the effect they had hoped for. ‘We’ve put some balloons up now too but it’s not easy and perhaps yellow and blue isn’t quite the right colour combination for the shoe market,’ said local shopkeeper Abigail Spender, ‘But we’ll keep going. It’s purple and lime green in the morning. Wish us luck.’
That Mr Pringle’s strategy is working was emphatically spelt out by another satisfied customer. ‘I didn’t even realise I needed a car’, said John Tobermory. ‘I’ve known for a long time that everything they sell there is rubbish and the salesmen are all totally slimy arrogant little gits, but seeing that balloon display just made me forget myself and seems to have made the world of difference. I’m now the proud owner of a 1997 Volkswagon Polo with wonky wheels. I can’t even drive.’
