Retail Remedy

Driving Sustainable Profit Growth

June 6, 2010

Consumers and the Brand

After a retail strategy meeting, we sat Phil Dorrell down and asked him for his take on consumers’ focus on brand.

More and more, consumers look to the brand and its brand values for reassurance as to quality, security and value for money. Consumer spending will focus on ‘reason to buy’, not ‘impulse to buy’. The brand is the key element in the purchasing decision.

Brand awareness is desperately important but it’s not the whole story – in the States, everyone knows General Motors, trouble is no-one is buying their cars! Consumers are responding to brand differentiation – attaching meaning and value to the brand to increase its weight in the purchasing decision. Brands need to stand for something; they cannot afford to be vague in their offer. Developing brand differentiation is the key to improving long-term sales growth and customer advocacy.

So, Phil, how do we achieve brand differentiation?

The landscape for any brand tends to be misted over with a cloud of generic features claimed and owned by all players. To rise above this cloud means convincing the consumer that you are different from the crowd, that your offering is the one to meet their requirement or their hopes.

You can’t just add statements of value to your marketing – if you make any statement about your offering, they have to be believable and authentic. Consumers are becoming ever more sophisticated and see through insincere claims and inappropriate endorsements. Any retail strategy has to be built on recognising that consumer engagement only comes with authenticity – and engagement is the key to sales. Brand building is a precious endeavour and Companies need to ensure that nobody in the organisation delivers less than the brand values, consistent delivery is essential.

If that’s the case, how do we deliver ‘authenticity’?

Do you mean ‘we’ as in retailers or retail consultants? Be specific about what you deliver and make sure all the people in your organisation support this 100%. The amount of web-sites now offering no differentiation between one retailer and another suggest everybody is playing too safe and there is definitely space for some bolder claims.

New technology is now not only the product, it is the medium as well! The online experience is less and less under the control of retailers or corporations, the market now exists as a series of communities. Social networking, Ebay, business networks all present massive opportunities – especially if you can gain endorsement from the community itself, recommending the brand. Ignoring or misusing these markets and the way they operate cuts off the blood supply to the brand. Twitter users will spend more money on the internet than non-users. We (now I really mean retail consultants!) need to show retailers how to integrate this customer orientation into every aspect of brand building and customer care – then we can strengthen and lead brands into the future.

So, how should Retail Marketeers respond to these challenges?

Retailers need to deliver on three main areas in order to capitalise on the changes that the internet offers:

  • How clear is the brand differentiation and how consistent is this delivered? What is the brand promise?
  • What platform is most effective to your current and future customers?
  • How does the brand promise get delivered in the real world and what is the buy-in from the front line customer service staff?

I would urge retailers to be bold, get buy-in and build a brand that stands out to your customers!

June 8, 2009

Is cost and price reduction the only way to survive within a recession?

Most retailers (who are still trading) have responded to the recession through cost reduction and margin improvement programmes, which, as a retail improvement consultancy we applaud, albeit with caveats.




As consumers become more restrictive on what and how they spend.  Retailers, who invest in their brand through a recessionary period, have the opportunity to profit whilst others fail.  It has been proved time and again that a strong brand is the most important asset a company has when recession strikes.  In fact, retailers with strong brands can profit from recessions, as lesser companies turn inwards and fail to spend.


Look at Intel!  Intel’s famous campaign, using the ‘Intel Inside’ slogan and labelling, began in July, 1991, right in the middle of the recession. That did more for Intel’s branding than any single campaign before or since. They weren’t the only ones, and success at that time came to those with the balls and the acumen to do it. The same will be true of this current recession.


Harvard Business School professor John Quelch, writing in The Financial Times, says: “Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession.” Quelch also points out: “It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.”


When it comes to branding through the downturn the key to success is in maintaining focus;


1. Continue to deliver a positive brand image within your sector

2. Maintain or increase your brand visibility within the market place

3. Communicate brand stability to your existing audience

4. What are the opportunities to share your risk with brand partners


The following points may be obvious to most retailers, but reflecting on them is always of value;


1. What are your customers looking at your brand to deliver for them at this specific point in time?

2. What is your completion doing and are you in a position to anticipate what they will do next?

3. What emphasise are you placing on your core proposition and its value to your customer?

4. Are you maintaining the quality of your products and services?

5. Are you keeping your customer base engaged


We all need to make the most of every dollar spent in supporting our brand through this challenging period, but also have to consider that without effectively communication we simply become another brand on another shelf!