For someone that’s successfully cleaned up after Harold Shipman a job at Littlewoods should be as hassle free as home shopping. Not quite, reveals new head of external comms Anthony Taylor.
The one thing the Barclay Brothers haven’t been able to control since their £750m acquisition of Littlewoods is the company’s image.
The reticent ‘tycoon twins’ may have impacted powerfully on the business since their 2002 takeover – moving and shutting offices and distribution centres, cutting (according to Usdaw) ‘thousands’ of jobs and shedding the loss-making Index chain – but when it comes to re-invigorating perceptions of catalogue shopping in the internet age… well, maybe even Team Barclay are out of their depth.
Taylor
New head of external comms Anthony Taylor, however, is used to swimming against the tide, and he thinks he can affect a sea change at Littlewoods Shop Direct
Perceived problems
Taylor joined the Speke based retail giant a matter of weeks before joining How Do for his first interview.
The Manchester raised 35 year old, proud owner of a career path that’s far from straight and narrow (read more about it here), has the confident, unflustered manner you’d expect from someone that’s been PR manager at the General Medical Council for the last three years.
“Twenty years ago Littlewoods was part of the fabric of the British high street retail scene and then it lost its way as an organisation,” he states matter-of-factly.
“However, the current board and the new owners are committed to changing that and putting Littlewoods back on the map.
“We’re already the biggest home shopping and internet retailer in the UK, but too many people don’t realise that. They don’t realise how dynamic we are in terms of the product offer and the organisation - and I must admit I didn’t until I started to research the job.
“That’s the challenge,” he admits candidly, “it’s about changing those perceptions and getting people to take a second look at Littlewoods.”
Five million customer accounts
Once you do take a second look at Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited, to give it its full tortuous moniker, it is indeed hugely impressive.
Turnover currently wades in at a fraction under £2 billion, there are 18,000 employees, 85,000 product lines, a stonking five million loyal customers and the firm’s catalogues are leafed through in a surprising one in three UK homes.
But, to the uninitiated (this journalist for example), it still has an air of the lumbering dinosaur – lumbering, possibly, towards eventual extinction.
Isn’t catalogue shopping an anachronism in today’s multi-media climate? A retail format destined to wither and die alongside its aging consumer base?
“Certainly not,” rebuts Taylor calmly. “The catalogue is still an integral part of our business and over the past few years we’ve seen a significant shift in its use. There’s been a trend towards ‘flick and click’; which is people flicking through the catalogue and then going online to buy.”
He continues; “Broadband penetration has rolled out, there’s ever increasing computer literacy and more confidence when it comes to purchasing on the net. With our catalogues, huge brand equity and established delivery network, we’re in a unique position to take advantage of that.”
Taylor stresses that the Littlewoods Direct website now outperforms those of “most high street retailers” and that revenue is far outstripping original projections.
“We’re now at the stage where 35% of our business is conducted online and we’re expecting that to go past 50%. We initially expected it to happen in around about 2010 or 2011, but I think in reality it’s going to be a lot sooner.”
Calling into question the future of the coffee table literature perhaps?
“Not at all,” Taylor replies with a laugh, “as I said, the catalogues will be around for some time yet. They’re not outdated; in fact they’re the primary driving tool for getting people onto the website in the first place.”
‘Home of the big brands’
The other fight Taylor has on his hands is persuading punters that Littlewoods’ stable of catalogues (including Kays, Choice and Great Universal) offers coveted brand names, rather than generic consumer goods.
The square eyed amongst us may have noticed that he’s been joined in this initiative by Trinny and Susannah (comments on the latest campaign below please), but it’ll take a concerted, long-term comms push to really hammer the message home.
“I still don’t think people realise that we offer brands like Miss Sixty, Diesel, Firetrap, Nike, Sony and Apple. There is a real perception gap there and we do need to get people to look again to reassess that.
“That’s where the new strap-line comes from; we’re really trying to make people aware that Littlewoods is ‘the home of the big brands’.”
Strength of mind
The scale of this endeavour would be a serious undertaking for any seasoned marketer and uncharitable observers may be inclined to question Taylor’s qualifications – having previously worked in publishing and the public sector, rather than retail.
“If you have the necessary skill sets as a communicator I think it’s transferable across any industry,” he retorts confidently. “The messages may be different, the audiences may be different, but the skills, the tricks of the trade, the package – it’s all the same.
“I think the fact that I’ve moved around so much is actually a testament to how adaptable those skills are, rather than any form of weakness.”
It’s this sort of resolute strength of mind that helped Taylor manage the fall out from the Harold Shipman inquiry after only three months at the GMC (“a baptism of fire”) and it should armour him well for meeting the Barclay Brother’s expectations head on (is that the first time they’ve been mentioned in the same sentence?).
“The challenges are essentially the same,” he concludes, “at both the GMC and Littlewoods. It’s a matter of perception. Once you win that battle everything else starts to fall into place.”
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