Guest blog by Hannah Adkins, Marketing Executive at Yale
National Home Security Month (NHSM) has returned this October highlighting the importance of home security to homeowners across the UK.
Research shows that as the evenings turn darker, burglaries increase, with household thefts rising by 5% in the week the clocks go back, Halloween seeing a 160% increase in thefts, and Bonfire Night being the worst day of the year for burglaries*. As a result, NHSM is designed to help businesses increase sales by driving demand for security products over the autumn and winter months.
The Yale sponsored initiative, now in its third year, focuses around weekly themes on different aspects of home security, delivering valuable advice to trade professionals and their customers via a dedicated microsite, social media and marketing activities.
The campaign kicked off in the first week of October with a series of hints and tips highlighting ways consumers can keep their homes, families and possessions safe using simple security solutions.
The focus for the second week is protecting the entry points to the home and ensuring door and window security is up to scratch. For example, did you know a basic euro profile cylinder can be broken in under two minutes? This provides trade professionals with the perfect opportunity to promote British Standard compliant locking solutions to their customers.
Week three looks at how to protect valuables inside the home. Police research reveals homeowners are far less likely to become the victim of a burglary if they have a correctly fitted and well-maintained burglar alarm**, and therefore promoting home alarms to customers during this period of the campaign is a must.
The great outdoors is the theme for week four, giving businesses the opportunity to increase add-on sales with products such as padlocks, anchors and hasps as well as looking at external measures including CCTV systems.
The final week of the campaign focuses on smart security, looking at the latest security gadgets. With the evolution of the ‘smart home’ there is a wide range of products available that have been designed to make life easier.
David Herbert, Head of Marketing for Yale, said: “Research continually indicates that the autumn and winter months are peak time for sales of home security products as theft rises. Through NHSM we aim to help trade professionals take advantage of this opportunity by promoting the importance of keeping homes protected.”
Coming up this October:
- w/c 28th September: NHSM is Back
- w/c 5th October: Lock it Up
- w/c 12th October: Keep it Protected
- w/c 19th October: The Great Outdoors
- w/c 26th October: Smart Home Security
For further information about National Home Security Month and to find out how your business can get involved please visit www.homesecuritymonth.com or contact [email protected].
*Aviva
**The Telegraph
