Archive for November, 2006
“Grand Central Storage is said to be enhancing its security after the units of several renters were violated in a series of overnight thefts,” according to the Times Record.
I both hate and love to see those headlines. I love that the facility is enhancing its security. I hate that they waited until their name was splashed all over the local newspaper before they took action.
These types of stories perpetuate the old-style of self-storage facilities. We need to combat this with proper actions, like security installations, followed by letting the world know we’re safe. That demands media and public relations.
How about some stories about how a burgular got caught trying to break into a facility but couldn’t get through the rock-solid security. Wouldn’t that be refreshing?
November 30th, 2006
Big Yellow Group Plc, the largest UK publicly traded self-storage operator, said fiscal first-half profit advanced 35 percent as the company opened sites and the value of existing ones increased.
The company last month agreed to franchise a network of stores in the United Arab Emirates. Big Yellow will open its first store in the region in Dubai in the first half of 2008. The company may start franchises in other countries.
This company as an unmistakable brand: it’s yellow! It also maintains consistency with its bright brand. It’s web site bleeds yellow. It’s facilities prominently feature yellow. There’s no mistaking who you are dealing with here.
Of course, a brand is much more than a color or even a logo. That’s only the outward appearance. A brand is a promise that has to do with the heart of your company and its service. If Big Yellow’s promise is as consistent as its corporate collateral, then it will continue to post double-digit profits as it invades new territories.
Click here to see Big Yellow’s branding in action.
November 29th, 2006
Kudos to Carol Shipley for getting her name in the Gazette, a Maryland newspaper. It’s admirable and advisable to get your name in the trade press, but it’s a whole new level to go to the mainstream media. This is what the experts in the self-storage industry should be striving for.
Click here to check out the coverage.
November 28th, 2006
I came across this interesting blog post on the Newsfactor Network, a technology news site. The blogger is comparing self-storage to newspaper classifieds. He seems to have a fair understanding of both. As we do a better and better job of educating the media about the benefits of self-storage and its attractiveness as an investment, we’ll see more and more of this.
Are you doing your part? We’re in this together.
Click here to read this blogger’s cogent comparison.
November 27th, 2006
HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. – NOVEMBER 20, 2006 – Marcus & Millichap’s Mele Storage Group has selected Self Storage Promotions as its public relations agency of record.
Led by East Coast Self Storage Specialist Michael A. Mele, The Mele Storage Group has sold over 70 self-storage properties totaling over $266 million in sales. Mele has over $108 million in Active and Under Contract listings and a database of approximately 3,200 buyers seeking to expand their self-storage portfolios on the East Coast. Mele closed more than $86 million in self-storage sales in 2006 alone.
“Self Storage Promotions is the only public relations firm we’ve found that truly understands the nuances of our industry,” said Michael Mele, who is also president of the Florida Self Storage Association. “We are confident in Jennifer LeClaire and her team’s abilities to help us communicate our value proposition to our target audiences.”
Self Storage Promotions will provide comprehensive public relations services to The Mele Storage Group, including press releases, media relations, community relations, web services, corporate communications and branding consultation. Self Storage Promotions will take its proprietary integrated approach to maximizing brand exposure for the Mele Storage Group along the eastern seaboard of the United States.
“The Mele Storage Group is one of the most successful self-storage brokers in the world. The company has a strong track record and strong leadership,” said Jennifer LeClaire, Founder and Creative Director of Self Storage Promotions. “We’re excited about the opportunity to help bring even more awareness to this firm’s outstanding capabilities and achievements in the self-storage industry.”
About Marcus & Millichap
With more than 1,100 investment professionals in offices nationwide, Encino, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap is the largest commercial real estate brokerage in the nation focusing exclusively on real estate investments. In 2005, the firm closed more than $21 billion in transactions. Founded in 1971, the firm has perfected a powerful system for marketing properties that combines product specialization; local market expertise; the industry’s most comprehensive research and analysis capabilities; state-of-the-art technology; and established relationships with the largest pool of qualified investors nationally.
About Self Storage Promotions
A division of Revelation Media Networks, Inc., Self Storage Promotions is the industry’s only integrated marketing communications firm. Whether you need a quick press release, a complex web site, grand opening event management, or some other promotional service, consider Self Storage Promotions your one-stop shop for strategic solutions that bring results. For more information, visit www.selfstoragepromotions.com.
November 25th, 2006
Vandalism at two storage facilities has left one business in “total ruins” and another requiring thousands of dollars in repairs, according to the Times-Tribune in Scranton, Pa. Vandals set fire to storage units and two vehicles at an Allstore facility and then went on to vandalize a dozen units at Mt. Cobb Self Storage. Total damage was in the millions.
Besides the insurance claims and the business interruption, these sorts of events are just bad for the industry as a whole. It reintroduces the concept that self-storage isn’t a safe place to leave your property. We need to fight against this with security systems — and with public and media relations efforts that communicate why those security systems will protect the consumer.
Of course, you already know this. But are you doing it? Are you communicating security as one of your brand’s value propositions? If not, it could be hurting your business. Together, the industry can band together to continually communicate safety and security. When incidents like these happen in Scranton, it sounds an alarm to which we must all respond.
November 25th, 2006
“Gordon Swanson thought about the question of whether his new self-storage center on Wooded Acres Drive will be the largest in Waco.‘The only one that might be bigger is John Hoyt’s HGS Self Storage on Hewitt Drive,’ Swanson said.
Swanson will build a 105,000-square-foot center that will house 615 storage units. Land-clearing is well under way on Wooded Acres Drive near Valley Mills Drive, behind the Waco Dodge-Hyundai dealership.”
That’s the lead to a story about Aaron’s Self Storage’s latest planned facility in Waco, Texas as featured in the Waco Tribune Herald.
Don’t you wish it was your self-storage facility? It could be with the proper media relations campaign. I gaurantee you the reporter didn’t just dig out the information himself. Someone tipped him off.
Swanson may have even sent out a press release. And when they called to interview him, he was media savvy and had all the information at his fingertips.
You could follow in his foosteps with a media relations campaign.
November 24th, 2006
Storage Investment Advisors, along with its marketing partners at The Streetview Group, have launched an initiative to help those in our communities who need it most this holiday season. Through the Giving Season Initiative, SIA is reaching out to friends, colleagues and clients in the self-storage industry to ask for support in in the form of donations to organizations that serve homeless residents and child abuse victims in Houston, Los Angeles and Indianapolis.
This is a brilliant strategy, but it wasn’t widely picked up in the mainstream media (perhaps because they didn’t know about it.) This is where community relations comes into play. When you do something good, the communities that benefit should know all about it.
November 23rd, 2006
The REITs are at it again. InStorage has acquired two additional self-storage properties.
What’s a mid-sized operator to do? Prepare for acquisition or rethink their competitive strategy.
The industry is consolidating on one hand and expanding on the other as REITs gobble up properties and developers build new ones. Either way, it’s getting more competitive. It may be time to stop and sharpen the saw to become more effective in a changing industry…we can help.
Visit the Strategic Counseling section to learn more about this service.
Click here to read more about InStorage’s latest acquisitions.
November 22nd, 2006
Simply announced that it has acquired a self storage portfolio from EZ Storage — 48 properties in six states. The portfolio consisted of 3.7 million rentable square feet and 30,800 units in Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island.
The CEO modeled the way with a declaration of teamwork that is important to corporate morale.
“This acquisition and those already closed this year makes us one of the leading operators in the self-storage sector and is a direct result of all our team members’ hard work and performance,” said Kurt O‘Brien, CEO of OB Companies.
Simply Self Storage did a few things right here. First and foremoest it publicized the acquisition. You’d be surprised how little self-storage companies utilize the press. Second, it told us what it meant to the industry. It shaped the message it wanted to tell and told it well. Third, it illustrated that the corporate culture is teamwork. That will help them attract the best and brightest to their ranks as the company continues to grow.
This press release wasn’t long, but it was effective. It could have offered more meat to help the journalist, but overall it’s a job well done. Click here to read it for yourself.
November 21st, 2006
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