Monday 30 May 2016
Monday 23 May 2016
Deep hair-conditioner - a lesson in brand dedication...?
Back in my marketing days in haircare, Peter, our hands-on sales director, always insisted on trying new product formulations personally, before signing off a brand for launch.
For those not yet into deep conditioning of the hair, the best treatment is a viscous waxy-like substance that needs to be liberally applied after a shampoo, and left in place for a couple of hours, ideally in warm steamy conditions.
Late one evening, having forgotten that he was due to report on the new formulation the next day, he hurriedly showered, shampooed and applied liberal quantities of deep conditioner before climbing into his pyjamas. Given that steam rooms were not a typical feature of even sales directors' homes at the time, Peter improvised by taking a Tesco plastic bag, wrapping it around his head and securing it firmly in place to accelerate the conditioning process.
By eleven he was settled by the fireside when his wife announced that having rained heavily all evening, the build-up of leaves on the flat roof of the garage had blocked the drain, causing floodwater to penetrate the upper floor. Peter hurriedly put on a raincoat over his pyjamas, donned his green wellies, grabbed a torch and climbed out onto the roof with a yard-brush, and began to rod the drain.
Not long after, a police car, silent and with blue light in off-mode, arrived in response to a report of an intruder by a concerned neighbour....
Peter's wife tried to explain, but the police decided that a personal account from Peter was necessary.
Eventually, having cleared the drain, Peter climbed back in the window onto the upper landing to be confronted by two bemused members of the local constabulary...
The next day, new product formulation sign-offs at Wella were henceforth delegated to the marketing department...
For those not yet into deep conditioning of the hair, the best treatment is a viscous waxy-like substance that needs to be liberally applied after a shampoo, and left in place for a couple of hours, ideally in warm steamy conditions.
Late one evening, having forgotten that he was due to report on the new formulation the next day, he hurriedly showered, shampooed and applied liberal quantities of deep conditioner before climbing into his pyjamas. Given that steam rooms were not a typical feature of even sales directors' homes at the time, Peter improvised by taking a Tesco plastic bag, wrapping it around his head and securing it firmly in place to accelerate the conditioning process.
By eleven he was settled by the fireside when his wife announced that having rained heavily all evening, the build-up of leaves on the flat roof of the garage had blocked the drain, causing floodwater to penetrate the upper floor. Peter hurriedly put on a raincoat over his pyjamas, donned his green wellies, grabbed a torch and climbed out onto the roof with a yard-brush, and began to rod the drain.
Not long after, a police car, silent and with blue light in off-mode, arrived in response to a report of an intruder by a concerned neighbour....
Peter's wife tried to explain, but the police decided that a personal account from Peter was necessary.
Eventually, having cleared the drain, Peter climbed back in the window onto the upper landing to be confronted by two bemused members of the local constabulary...
The next day, new product formulation sign-offs at Wella were henceforth delegated to the marketing department...
Thursday 19 May 2016
The Entertainer triples email revenues
One of the UK’s most innovative toy retailers, The Entertainer is using The Message Cloud to power smarter emails tailored for specific personas in their existing database, according to Direct Commerce Magazine. The results, showing a 3x increase in email revenue and 120% lift in mobile sales are worth further analysis, via a tool that can be especially useful in categories where a parent buys on behalf of a child.
The real benefit is in moving from blanket e-mailing - alienation - then refining and converting your existing consumer email data to a 1:1, non-intrusive, more productive dialogue via your existing contact details. Then, having refined the method, a move to a pro-active gathering of additional email details has to provide a basis for further growth…
Time to check out the possibilities re what you already know...?
The real benefit is in moving from blanket e-mailing - alienation - then refining and converting your existing consumer email data to a 1:1, non-intrusive, more productive dialogue via your existing contact details. Then, having refined the method, a move to a pro-active gathering of additional email details has to provide a basis for further growth…
Time to check out the possibilities re what you already know...?
Monday 16 May 2016
wow = WOW! when you realise just 25% of Amazon sales are in Books & Media...
Latest US figures show that e-commerce is still only a tiny part of the overall retail industry, representing a mere 7.2% penetration rate.
However, when you begin to overlay Amazon performance, the threat to other retailers is obvious, as they play catch-up in category after category in the biggest trading opportunity ever...
Are you sure you are doing enough to anticipate the obvious?
Sunday 15 May 2016
Thursday 12 May 2016
BHS Attracts ‘Multiple Offers’ As Deadline Closes
News of five potential bids raises a number of issues for BHS suppliers:
- Having parked the pension deficit, a new owner will need to assess the profitability of every outlet, and sell off those that are a drain on the business, before exploring the viability and potential of the current business model
- (There may be buyers among the secondary bidders seeking sites that are complementary to their current locations)
- Previous suppliers to BHS need to check out possible prices & terms disparities re their relationships with the new owners...
- …but deep down, the real issue will be the extent to which the brand has been damaged – terminally? - by the surrounding controversy…
Friday 6 May 2016
More brands on Aldi’s shelves?
How about Nestlé, P&G and Unilever for starters?
Given the rate of growth of the discounters, primarily at the expense of brands, it was inevitable that major suppliers would begin to find ways of working with Aldi and Lidl in order to compensate for the sluggish growth of traditional retailers...
In fact, a new report by Miloš Ryba at the IGD, gives details of branded manufacturers such as Nestlé, P&G and Unilevers' increasing willingness to list their products on discounters’ shelves in Aldi Germany over the past 12 months.
Nestlé currently offers Nesquik, Smarties and Wagner-Pizza, while P&G lists Blend-a-med, Lenor, Pampers, Ariel, Always and most recently Head & Shoulders in Aldi...
Just last week, Unilever, joined them with listings of Knorr, Langnese-Magnum and Duschdas...
More details in Miloš' article, but the key message for all branded suppliers has to be the need to reassess trade and channel strategies in order to define a non-compromising role for their brands in outlets that will otherwise continue to grow at the expense of brands...
And if the big guys are managing the transition, it must be possible for others...
Given the rate of growth of the discounters, primarily at the expense of brands, it was inevitable that major suppliers would begin to find ways of working with Aldi and Lidl in order to compensate for the sluggish growth of traditional retailers...
In fact, a new report by Miloš Ryba at the IGD, gives details of branded manufacturers such as Nestlé, P&G and Unilevers' increasing willingness to list their products on discounters’ shelves in Aldi Germany over the past 12 months.
Nestlé currently offers Nesquik, Smarties and Wagner-Pizza, while P&G lists Blend-a-med, Lenor, Pampers, Ariel, Always and most recently Head & Shoulders in Aldi...
Just last week, Unilever, joined them with listings of Knorr, Langnese-Magnum and Duschdas...
More details in Miloš' article, but the key message for all branded suppliers has to be the need to reassess trade and channel strategies in order to define a non-compromising role for their brands in outlets that will otherwise continue to grow at the expense of brands...
And if the big guys are managing the transition, it must be possible for others...
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