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Archive for the ‘Business’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »Marketers and the RecessionWednesday, July 7th, 2010  Following the spring wave of its Marketing Trends Survey, the CIM has revealed that 57% of marketers surveyed claim their business has had to adapt its product or service due to the economic climate. This is an increase of 11% in 12 months. And, disappointingly, optimism about the state of the UK economy has fallen since the previous wave of the survey. Six months earlier, 51% of those surveyed expected the economy to become stronger in the coming year; this figure has now fallen to 43%. Seventeen percent actually predict that the economy will deteriorate. On a slightly more positive note, however, almost half (48%) of marketers questioned expect a better year ahead for their own businesses.
Marketing Strategies vs. Marketing TacticsWednesday, March 3rd, 2010
This article by Stefan Stern in the Financial Times this week caught our eye. It makes the point that marketing services have become the butt of procurement teams who are eager to save money and feel that this fluffy subject of marketing is fair game. We know the feeling! This is, of course, a tactical move and we wonder what the effect will be in the long-term of cutting back on marketing spending. In the article Stern leans heavily on Philip Kotler who is always good for an insight or two. Kotler believes that marketing professionals in corporates are better at tactical rather than strategic decisions. He postulates that maybe it would be better to split the marketing teams in to one working on current products (and therefore be responsible for tactics) and another team looking longer term (and therefore be responsible for strategic moves). These are interesting thoughts. By Stefan Stern It is easy to see why, of all the services that a company might buy in from outside, marketing is likely to be the most energetically haggled over. Chief executives have long bemoaned the difficulty of knowing exactly what value they have derived from their marketing spend. Out of that frustration arises a natural desire to be extra tough on the costs of marketing activity. But it is not as though marketing has got any easier in recent times. The opposite is true. Experienced consumers in mature markets have been exposed to just about every trick in the marketing playbook. Cynicism over the claims made by businesses for their products can be deep. Unsurprisingly, marketing departments can find themselves becoming a convenient scapegoat for the leaders of struggling businesses. But in a downturn the real difficulty lies simply in selling anything to world-weary customers who may be satisfied with good-enough but unexciting products. One person who displays no world-weariness at all is Philip Kotler, the 79-year-old “father of modern marketing”. I met Professor Kotler in London recently and, even after five decades pursuing his subject, he was eager to look ahead and consider new directions for the discipline. While the current economic climate was not making life easy for marketers, Prof Kotler told me, the crisis had brought one refreshing development: “At least it’s the finance people who are getting blamed for a change.” Wise-cracks aside, Prof Kotler has chosen this moment of crisis to ask some big questions about what marketing actually does. “Is marketing the enemy of sustainability?” was one of them. For years the task for marketers was to persuade customers that the latest upgrade, the newer model, was a must-buy. But it is time to challenge that orthodoxy, he said. In a resource-deprived world, businesses cannot hurl more and more product at customers, supported by extravagant marketing budgets. Prof Kotler recalled the message of a book published three years ago, Firms of Endearment, written by Rajendra Sisodia, David Wolfe and Jagdish Sheth. The authors found that some of the most successful companies in fact spent much less on marketing than their weaker rivals. But they used the word-of-mouth effect of unpaid advocates – loyal customers – to boost their reputation. Marketing needed to think not just about the company’s “share of wallet”, but also its “share of heart”, these authors said. “Earn a share of the customer’s heart and she will gladly offer you a bigger share of her wallet.” Prof Kotler plans to develop this idea in his latest book – called, perhaps inevitably, Marketing 3.0 – to be published in two months. Another challenge for marketing is to assert itself at the heart of the company’s strategic thinking (an idea also suggested by London Business School’s Nirmalya Kumar in his book Marketing as Strategy). “If you have the right people in marketing it could become your engine for growth,” Prof Kotler told me. But while they might be quite creative on tactics, he added, not so many marketing professionals can do the strategic work. So why not split the department in two? A larger, downstream marketing team working on current products, with a much smaller, strategic team looking at new markets and new ideas for the coming two to three years. This could work – as long as the interests of customers do not fall between the cracks of organisational silos. As Harvard Business School’s Ranjay Gulati has shown, for all that businesses talk about being “customer-centric” (and marketing is supposed to represent “the voice of the customer”), many simply are not. “They look at customers only through the lens of existing products,” Prof Gulati says. Right now marketing needs to aim high. That is what Prof Kotler is urging people to do. And he was happy to concede that, as so often, Peter Drucker was ahead of everyone on this topic, too. He even provided a handy mission statement. “The aim of marketing,” Drucker once said, “is to make selling unnecessary.” Business SuperbrandsMonday, March 1st, 2010 
The survey, compiled by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA), takes an initial list of 1,200 brands, of which 500 are shortlisted by a panel of 25 branding and marketing experts. More than 1,700 business professionals then rate each of the 500 shortlisted brands before results are combined and a final ranking is assigned. Rolls-Royce maintained its second place ranking, and Blackberry (42nd place in 2009) and Virgin Atlantic were strong climbers to complete the top 5 Superbrands this year. Hotel chain Premier Inn was the biggest grower overall, moving up from number 437 to 240. Insurance company Aviva also rose impressively, from 315 to 144. The full Top Ten is shown below:
I.T. Sector InsightMonday, January 11th, 2010 
Because Information Technology is one of the sectors we specialise in researching, we always keep an eye on the latest news and industry trends. Marketing Magazine has recently published a sector update, which we thought might of interest to some of our readers: These are tough times for PC and laptop retailers. Technological development may mean that manufacturers are constantly introducing products, but pressure on prices has been fierce. As a result, many sellers rely on sales of peripherals and accessories to make a profit. Specialist shops have faced competition on several fronts: online retailers; manufacturers such as Dell selling direct to consumers; and mixed goods retailers, including Tesco and Argos. Spending on PCs was down 8.8% in the first quarter of 2009, according to Mintel, but the fall is expected to be 5.7% for the year, with information-processing equipment sales as whole worth a total of £5.3bn. As well as price deflation, the market has been hit by the wider economic climate, with many shoppers cutting back on unnecessary expenditure or delaying bigger-price purchases. However, with laptops available for as little as £300, the market has been opened up to those who might have been deterred by the cost in previous years. Online retailers have an advantage over bricks-and-mortar stores because they can carry much bigger inventories. In the face of undercutting by generalist stores, specialists must differentiate themselves through their service and expertise. Apple’s stores show how the retail environment can become an experience in itself with the right investment in interiors and staff. PC World, owned by DSGi, dominates the specialist sector and has a market share of about 26% through its 160 stores and website. It has adopted a cross-channel operation and has invested in advertising support, explaining to shoppers that they can buy online and collect in store if they choose. Apple has expanded its retail operation significantly so that, with 24 stores in the UK, it has doubled its market share in the past two years to 5.7%. Dell, the PC manufacturer that broke ranks by selling direct to consumers, has also widened its distribution network, and in 2008 began to sell through third-party retailers such as Tesco and Currys. The arrival of the US market-leading electrical products retailer, Best Buy, into the UK next year is expected to shake up the sector. While it will bring economies of scale, Best Buy’s investment in Carphone Warehouse means it will also have the benefit of the mobile-phone retailer’s customer insight. Mikro Anvika remains the biggest of the independents with 10 stores, most of them in the London area, but its turnover has recently been declining. Notable online stores include Dabs and Ebuyer, but they are not focused solely on computing, also selling other equipment such as cameras. The products offered by retailers affect the market and the introduction of netbooks – smaller, stripped-down laptops – has lowered the entry point for consumers. Thus, while these products have offered a boost to the market in terms of volume, they also represent down-trading. Industry estimates put netbook sales at 15% of the market in 2008 and some ISPs have started to give them away as a means of extending their reach. Netbooks are also easier for non-specialist retailers to sell, as their reduced functionality requires less expert knowledge among sales staff. Recovery in this market is going to take some time. It will not be until 2014 that the market will return to near 2008 levels, according to Mintel. Between 2010 and 2014, growth is predicted to be 4.9%, which means that value will reach £5.6bn in 2014. If PC specialists can find a way to address the requirements of the older generation, this growing demographic may help their position.
Home and recreational goods sales by value (£m)
Source: National Statistics/Mintel
Types of computer bought by price
Base: 2000 internet users aged 16+, June 2009 Source: GMI/Mintel
Computer retailers by sales and number of outlets
To find out more about our I.T. market research capabilities, please click here. Impact of Recession Loosens its Grip on London EntrepreneursWednesday, January 6th, 2010  Following Monday’s blog entry we can report that recent market research by B2B International shows that London’s entrepreneurs are more optimistic for 2010 London’s small businesses report that the recession is now having less of an impact on their business and levels of optimism and resilience remain high after the final quarter of the year, according to Business Link in London’s latest Business Confidence Index carried out by B2B International. Although 69% of entrepreneurs tell us they are still affected by the recession, the impact is less significant – only 13% reporting they are extremely affected. This is a significant drop from 21% in July 2009. The quarterly business confidence Index measures business sentiment of over 3,300 small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This unique survey takes into account variations such as industry sector, sub-regional location, business types and business ownership (gender, Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME), Deaf and disabled). Commenting on the Index, Patrick Elliott, Chief Executive of Business Link in London said: “Small businesses have always been resilient during times of economic upheaval due to their ability to adapt quickly. This flexibility, combined with their survival strategies and optimism, are likely to have shielded some businesses from the full force of the recession.” Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added: “For the second week running another survey shows London’s small businesses can see light at the end of the tunnel. We have been working hard on their behalf and it is rewarding to see this sustained growth in confidence and to hear that, as we start turning the corner, our businesses are optimistic for the future.” Mr Elliott continued: “However, entrepreneurs are not yet immune to the continuing tough economic climate. A note of caution is necessary to manage the months ahead.” Reduced customer spending and sales generation are still key problems faced by established businesses. However, their impact on businesses has dropped significantly with only 20% concerned with customer spend in October, compared to 36% in July. The food and drink sector is fairing better than it was in July due to increased customer spend. However, we are seeing a gloomier picture for the retail sector as customers cut back on purchases. Declining profits and sales and cashflow constraints top the list of business activities hardest hit by the recession. More home businesses are optimistic than ever before. They are telling us that they are marginally less affected by the recession than other business types (42% vs. 44%) and that they’re inclined to be slightly more optimistic about their overall future (17% vs. 14%). Growth and optimism remain high on the agenda for the majority of those surveyed. The number of businesses looking to grow has increased from over half (59%) in February, to 63% in October. Levels of optimism remain unchanged since July (73% vs. 75%) with almost three quarters of those surveyed continuing to be optimistic about their overall business success. “This cautious optimism is exactly what we advocate. The Index shows that entrepreneurs are refusing to get bogged down in the doom and gloom. Their strategies to tackle the worst impact of the recession are paying dividends,” continued Mr Elliott. Online sales and trading have emerged as popular choices for growth over the next twelve months, making their way into the top 5 strategies considered. Despite this, increased marketing remains the top tactic favoured by businesses. The manufacturing and property sectors are least likely to grow which suggests that they are simply concentrating on survival. Two in five respondents are not planning on making further changes to their business to deal with the recession, an increase of 16% since July (40% vs. 24%). This is further evidence that businesses feel closer to recovery. If you are a London based business and interested in taking part in the next quarterly Business Confidence Index then please e-mail: dbci@b2binternational.com « Previous Entries Next Entries » |
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