Archive for May, 2010

Brands through recession

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

A fascinating article in yesterday’s Guardian Money has shown how our spending habits have changed through the worldwide recession. Here are some of my favourite highlights:

  • Women are eking out regular salon hair and beauty treatments by another couple of weeks – so good news for off-the-shelf brands – with premium health & beauty brands continuing to hold up (the little ‘lipstick treat’ effect) with only a very small percentage of women trading down to cheaper options, preferring to be more thrifty with their preferred brand. For more on health & beauty in the credit crunch, go to http://tinyurl.com/2w7fkhb
  • 1 in 8 fashion shops have closed and new clothing has taken a big hit apart from the cost-conscious that have rushed to Primark and the stronger fashion labels, such as Burberry. But us women are nothing if not inventive and the recession has caused both a revival of knitting and sewing and a trend for personal looks created from charity shop bargains as well as a strong second hand trade through swishing. One brand busting the trend with record sales is Agent Provocateur, apparently driven by more cosy nights in?! For more on fashion in the credit crunch, go to http://tinyurl.com/39yy9nq
  • The onset of the credit crunch had a marked impact in food retailing with Marks & Spencer and Waitrose customers reputedly trading down to Sainsbury and Tesco and their customers deserting for Aldi and Lidl. What had been a growing demand for quality and healthier foods stopped almost immediately as did sales of the relatively expensive ready meal. Instead the country enjoyed a return to home cooking and the adult packed lunch became a common sight – great news for Thermos. For more on food in the credit crunch, go to http://tinyurl.com/2eg34cl

But a really interesting learning from the recession is that the period of austerity seems to have instilled a return to old-fashioned values with consumers now starting to look for trusted value over cheap and disposable, which is a trend that brands in all areas should respond to.

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Brave new world of the freelancer

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Research for Britain’s Brain Gain by PCG (www.pcg.org.uk), the professional association supporting freelancers, contractors and consultants, shows that there are an estimated 1.4 million freelancers in the UK. Together they apparently contribute £82 billion to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) across all sectors of the economy including manufacturing, services, finance, healthcare and education.

Drawing on these resources, Business link have provided updated guidance for businesses about ‘hiring a freelancer or outside contractor’ at http://tinyurl.com/3ykszoa

Business Link suggest that it is appropriate to hire a freelancer when:

  • You need to employ someone straight away
  • You need the worker to use their professional judgment about the work
  • You know the type of expertise you need but you don’t have time to research and specify the job role
  • The length of time needed for the particular expertise is limited or may be subject to change

This is all undoubtedly true but their reasons seem very safe and risk averse. In my experience, a freelancer can be both a breath of fresh air and a powerful boost to a business owner looking to make a step change to their business. If selected wisely, your chosen freelancer will come into the business with a new pair of eyes and a raft of relevant experience. Outsourcing is a key way for SME owners to stick to what they are good at and contract in specialists in the disciplines where they are not.

But how does it work from the freelancer’s perspective?

Yes, some professionals are forced into freelancing through redundancy or employment change but freelancing is actually a positive career and lifestyle choice, giving business specialists a variety of benefits including:

  • Flexibility – the opportunity to take control, the freedom to choose when, where and how you work
  • Variety – the chance to work for a wide range of clients, building on and developing existing knowledge
  • Higher return – the opportunity to achieve an improved remuneration per hour, based on the perception of your added value
  • Work-Life Balance – the freedom to plan your on time, improving your quality of life

As technology speeds up sourcing, and frees up new ways of working using online platforms, it is now possible to find someone to take on almost any business challenge; in fact, some companies operate as entirely virtual organisations. And the same technology empowers professional freelancers to achieve their business and personal aspirations in this brave new world. So, what are you waiting for?

Posted in marketing quests, SME Business Support | No Comments »

The future brand marketing dilemma

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

We live in exciting times; this year’s election campaign showed just how marketing techniques have changed with the inaugural TV debates completely dominating the views of the electorate and causing huge changes in popularity for the party leaders that took everyone, including them, by surprise. Equally unexpected was that the impact of social media was not as strong as predicted beforehand when people were anticipating the Obama effect. So what does that teach us? Only that we, as brand marketers, can’t dominate the conversation any more.

Even with top class on the job training and continuing professional development, these are challenging times for brand marketers who were trained to believe that their job is to influence consumer behaviour through persuasive brand messages. But is anyone listening any more? The consumer is more powerful than ever before and has access to more information than our predecessors could have dreamed of.

And, where information used to only normally be available from the brand owner, and therefore controlled, the voices that prospective consumers listen to when making a purchase is their peer group, over which the brand owner has no control. The Internet and Google allow me to search for anything and interrogate the information without any recourse to a brand owner.

Then think of the success of comparison information sites such as Trip Advisor; I would never book a hotel abroad now without checking it out here first. I can choose to ignore what other reviewers say, but their comments will form part of my purchasing decision. Then, having made a choice, there are a number of ways that I can exercise that purchase either directly with the brand owner or via a third party, using the internet to compare cost and other parameters of my purchasing decision.

So is it a lost cause for tomorrow’s brand owners? Definitely not! There are still things that the smart brand owner can do to compete in this new emerging marketplace. The first is to embrace the change. Acknowledge that consumers want information and that they will comment on their experience of your brand. Don’t look to try and control all messaging; brand owners that take down negative comments from social media platforms or reviews from websites are just seen by consumers to be out of touch and their actions will further alienate their brand. Instead, engage with your consumers. Respond to negative, as well as positive, criticism. Being seen to be human and honest is a strong start to being seen as a brand for the 21st century.

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