The recession is taking a toll on the business models of premium and luxury retailers. According to the Los Angeles Times, faced with sales declines at their full-price stores, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom are lavishing more dollars and devotion on their outlets which are performing better than their traditional stores. According to Robert Wallstrom, president of Off 5th, Saks Inc.'s outlet division, "These days, customers are saying they want a brand, customer service and a deal." Outlets may just be the lifeboat needed by some of the brands to get through the current downturn, with the mix…
The organic movement has touched a variety of products, including clothing, cosmetics and home products. Possibly the most emotive area is organic food, because food products are directly taken into the body while other products have a limited and external contact. In a sense, before the appearance of industrial agriculture and the application of synthetic nutrients and pesticides, all farming was organic. In fact, the traditional Sanjeevan system of India dates back several millennia. Even the existing organic farming movement has been around since its founding in Europe in the early-1900s. This was initially treated as fad and its proponents…
We're all for new business ideas and guerilla marketing tactics. However, it is a fact that some work, and many don't. Here's one idea that raises some question marks. It's a business called freepapercups.com that provides free paper cups to offices carrying the ads of other companies who pay for the cups. The company's proposition is that everyone wins - the recepient office saves on paper cup expenditure, coffee service providers get a new tool to save their customers money (and for themselves to possibly gain some share or the revenues?), and the advertiser gets to penetrate a previously untouched white-space. Who…
RetailWire's Al McLain has asked, "What changes in consumer spending habits do you see as providing retailers and manufacturers with the most opportunity? Which habits do you think will stick around once the economy improves, and which won't?" Well, "the only thing certain (and permanent) in life is death..." Economic changes - including recessions - are not permanent (unless the society itself collapses), so the market mood will shift towards spending again. Consumer sentiment may not lead the recovery but is likely to follow it. Given that, value-consciousness will stick, even after the market turns upwards. So my reading is…
George Anderson asks: what medium, what message will it take to break through the clutter and influence consumers to buy whatever it is that is being pitched? Rocky Gunderson, co-founder and vice president of marketing and network development for SeeSaw Networks, believes that digital signage networks are the solution. The dynamism of digital video display has the potential to make ads more impactful but, from my experience, most of the advertisers and the agencies have little clue about how to really make it work. So many companies are using digital displays as animated billboards, with the same messages in a different…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
