Last week How-Do caught up with some leading marketers and agency folk to discuss branding issues facing marketers in these uncertain times… and Debbie Robinson, director of food retail marketing at the Co-operative prepared some data for the round table discussion.
Prior to the How-Do ‘branding’ gathering, Tangerine PR commissioned some original research from Clickback which conducted an online focus group exploring various branding issues in these ‘credit crunch’ times.
The results of this revealing session can be seen by clicking here.
Sandy Lindsay, MD of Tangerine ran through the results of the survey at the round table gathering. No one will be surprised to hear that the members of the online panel (comprised of individuals from Manchester and London earning from £30k to £100k+) shared one characteristic in particular – they were spending less on non-essentials. There was less impulse buying, more staying in (the new going-out) and - even with the festive season approaching - reducing credit card bills weighed more heavily on peoples’ minds than increasing the use of plastic…
Talking about plastic, Ginette Unsworth of Encams, the organisation behind Keep Britain Tidy, told the gathering that they had commissioned Manchester Business School to undertake some research into the litter dropped in town and city centre centres, in particular the packaging that was dropped and which companies the litter related to. The potential for a big negative publicity story in the dog days of January quickly became apparent to the gathering…
The increasing trend towards buying ‘own-brands’ was also apparent although when it came to breakfast cereals, there was unanimous consensus that no one makes cereals as good as Kellogg’s! Robinson reminded everyone that the US cereal giant steadfastly refuses to supply any retailer with product which is not Kellogg’s branded.
One stat shared with the gathering was that own-brands now typically account for circa 55% of total supermarket sales rising to over 60% at the ‘metro’ stores of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op.
The rise of the discounters, the performance of M&S and the fall of Woolies also generated animated discussion.
The warm place which Woolies occupies (occupied) in everyone’s memory was generally held to be have been usurped by a more current perception of an out of date and confused retail offering and its demise had surprised no one.
Aldi, Asda, Morrisons and Lidl had all benefited from middle-class consumers ‘trading’ down but it was also observed that Aldi’s overwhelming successes on the continent hadn’t yet been mirrored entirely here as the German retailer after 15 or so years in the UK still only has a fraction of the grocery market share.
Morrisons hugely successful move (recent like-for-like sales were up circa 10%) to style itself as a national (Southern rather than Northern?) retailer won plaudits despite the loss of business for Northern marketing services folk that followed the company’s change of direction.
Simone Peter of digital agency Mando told the gathering how one of their clients, clothing discounter Rare Fashion, was enjoying buoyant trading conditions and indeed following a recent plug on TV by Lorraine Kelly, the site had been struggling to cope with the level of traffic and demand. Rare’s experience was echoed more broadly by another Merseyside-based discounter, TJ Hughes which was also expanding its market share in the current climate.
Debbie Robinson then shared some thoughts with the guests through both actual research findings and anecdotal evidence.
Robinson summarised 2007 as a year of ‘Indulgence and Health’ while 2008 had become ‘Value and Health’. As for 2009, she felt that despite the climate, ethical policies would come gradually even more to the fore.
She supported this view by adding that both the market and consumers’ behaviour were more complex than people realised.
“The Co-op has stores in some of the most affluent corners of the UK and some of the poorest neighbourhoods. Interestingly sales of our Fairtrade products don’t vary that significantly between the two extremes. In truth, many shoppers in the poorer areas perhaps feel an empathy with those they see as disadvantaged in their own environments and are more prepared to acknowledge and support the difference.”
Following the acquisition of Somerfield, the number of Co-op stores will rise from 2,200 to over 3,000 resulting in the Co-op becoming the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer.
With the prospect of the current 12 million plus customers a week rising yet further, Robinson surprised the guests by adding that “one of the most interesting things about the past few years (of her 20 years with the Co-op) has been the success we’ve enjoyed with our acquisitions as we bring these companies into the fold and share our approach with them which does seem to pay healthy dividends.” Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
Sponsored links:
|
