This weeks inflation figures show that March quarter’s inflation fell to 1.6%, the lowest annual rate since late 2009. Most of our economic commentators are now predicting an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank as a forgone conclusion. But if brand owners are expecting…
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In Australia the department store sector has surrendered almost one third of its market share since peaking in the mid 1980’s (Herald Sun November 8, 2011). They are between a rock and hard place, with online and specialty retailers earnestly chipping away at their customer…
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This year I had the pleasure of a 2 month sabbatical in Europe, with a combination of travelling and cocooning and reading a big pile of business and brand writing. One thing that struck me was that from a brand perspective the time of the…
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Surfing brand Billabong International is moving down stream into retail to better control how its products are sold. An increasing trend amongst the large retail chains is to increase the proportion of merchandise they sell under their own brands. Brands like Billabong can either cop…
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The day of just having beautifully attired mannequins is over. The digital world is opening up a whole new frontier for retailers. New and wonderful ways to engage customers and showcase products. The possibilities are immensely exciting, but the resource requirements challenging. The digital world…
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Over the past couple of years we have been witnessing the demise of the Qantas brand, with its business strategy dictating the brand’s terms of engagement. Every public gesture that the business has made, has reflected an unwavering commitment to taking cost out of its…
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Fashion retailers in Australia are simply devaluing their brands with a seemingly unrelenting reliance on price discounting. In Melbourne we have not yet officially hit winter but many of our fashion retailers are hitting the ‘sale’ panic button. In the past week I have had…
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There is nothing like the mother of necessity to inspire creativity. Cigarette brand owners are amongst the most creative brand owners on this planet because they have to be. They will never roll over and die (like many of their customers!), they will simply fight…
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I read with interest an article in The Australian newspaper this week (22 March 2011) which featured the ‘Sportsgirl Likes’ collections. In Australia, Sportsgirl as a younger woman’s fashion brand, occupies an enduring and esteemed positioning, the result of not sitting on its laurels. The…
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Each year I expect that the delivery of my Yellow Pages print directory will surely be the last. I appreciate that at least you can now go online (yes note online!) to request that one is not delivered, but it is an interesting phenomena witnessing…
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I was reading with interest recently that Samsung Electronics has taken the wraps off a new, larger version of its popular iPad rival, the Galaxy Tab. The Australian Financial Review was suggesting that many see it as the biggest challenge yet to Apple’s dominance in…
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A recent report by CHOICE in Australia has once again highlighted the difficult road that brand owners have when they have a product with legitimate health claims. The difficulty does not reside with articulating the health claim, rather with whether target consumers will believe the…
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