Those of you who know me personally will know I love a good conspiracy theory. And so it has become almost a game for me to discern which of the daily "news" stories are actually news, or are just clever (and sometimes not so clever) PR stunts designed to hook in members of the public and sway opinion in a certain direction.
No-one is better at the latter than Mr TV himself: Simon Cowell.
So it is with amusement that I read today about Cheryl Cole's alleged dismissal (and I say it's alleged because none of those highly paid publicists on either side of the Atlantic are spilling the beans) from Cowell's stateside X Factor project because of her "accent".
Intriguing on a number of levels.
There's nothing better than generating outrage (read: press coverage) amongst viewers for "unfair" treatment, real or otherwise.
Queue: international PR coverage, viewers rallying around Cheryl and (mark my word) her impending return to the show a few weeks down the line because Simon will (probably) feel things are not working with poor Nicola Scherzinger (who luckily has the presenting job to fall back on).
Cynical? Yes.
True. Most probably.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Profits vs People: Ryanair's PR Disaster
Ryanair royally messed up yesterday. In PR terms.
The self proclaimed hero of the people put profits first. And the people didn't like it one little bit.
With the Ash cloud returning to the shores of the British Isles, bullish Ryanair shored up its shoulders and announced it would fly. It was safe to fly. In fact, there was no cloud.
But with all other airlines cancelling their flights over safety concerns, the people didn't believe it's claims that all was safe in the upper atmosphere.
You see, while we might all like to moan about how inconvenient it is not to be able to get from A to B at our allotted time, and how it has temporarily ruined our lives/days/holidays, we would still much rather be alive tomorrow.
Ryanair forgot this.
It takes years to build a reputation and seconds to lose it.
Ryanair may have just lost theirs by making a decision that, clearly, put their profits before their passengers' safety. They may have believed their own hype. But the public know better and have voted with their feet - or not - you won't catch us getting on that plane......
So in PR terms, now what?
Will anyone ever get on a Ryanair flight again without giving safety a second or third thought?
What is clear is that Ryanair's PR department will be busy for days to come, and their marketing department now face an uphill battle to convince consumers that cheap flights are not synonymous with corner cutting on the safety side of things.
A tough one.
The self proclaimed hero of the people put profits first. And the people didn't like it one little bit.
With the Ash cloud returning to the shores of the British Isles, bullish Ryanair shored up its shoulders and announced it would fly. It was safe to fly. In fact, there was no cloud.
But with all other airlines cancelling their flights over safety concerns, the people didn't believe it's claims that all was safe in the upper atmosphere.
You see, while we might all like to moan about how inconvenient it is not to be able to get from A to B at our allotted time, and how it has temporarily ruined our lives/days/holidays, we would still much rather be alive tomorrow.
Ryanair forgot this.
It takes years to build a reputation and seconds to lose it.
Ryanair may have just lost theirs by making a decision that, clearly, put their profits before their passengers' safety. They may have believed their own hype. But the public know better and have voted with their feet - or not - you won't catch us getting on that plane......
So in PR terms, now what?
Will anyone ever get on a Ryanair flight again without giving safety a second or third thought?
What is clear is that Ryanair's PR department will be busy for days to come, and their marketing department now face an uphill battle to convince consumers that cheap flights are not synonymous with corner cutting on the safety side of things.
A tough one.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Faster, Better, Cheaper
I've changed. The recession has finally got to me.
I now want it cheaper.
But who would have known that in the search for cheaper I'd also find better and faster?
As an experiment, for the last 4 weeks I've switched supermarket. Gone are the trips to Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.
I've embraced Marks & Spencer's food hall.
And the results are staggering. It now takes me 20 minutes to do my weekly shop (instead of 60 minutes). The quality of the food is better. And, perhaps most surprisingly of all, I'm saving a LOT of money.
Let's quantify it. My average weekly shop in Tesco was coming in at around £140 in April. For two people: that's a lot.
Now I combine a trip to my local butchers Simon Howie (good, top quality meat) with a weekly shop in M&S. So far I'm yet to break the £100 barrier, a saving of 30% and more on most occasions.
I'm wasting less (so it's greener too), and we're eating healthier as a result.
So there, I've said it. I've converted from being a Railway Children family (Butter or Jam on your bread, but not both) to simply having my cake and eating it.
All in the honest quest of saving a buck or two.
I now want it cheaper.
But who would have known that in the search for cheaper I'd also find better and faster?
As an experiment, for the last 4 weeks I've switched supermarket. Gone are the trips to Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.
I've embraced Marks & Spencer's food hall.
And the results are staggering. It now takes me 20 minutes to do my weekly shop (instead of 60 minutes). The quality of the food is better. And, perhaps most surprisingly of all, I'm saving a LOT of money.
Let's quantify it. My average weekly shop in Tesco was coming in at around £140 in April. For two people: that's a lot.
Now I combine a trip to my local butchers Simon Howie (good, top quality meat) with a weekly shop in M&S. So far I'm yet to break the £100 barrier, a saving of 30% and more on most occasions.
I'm wasting less (so it's greener too), and we're eating healthier as a result.
So there, I've said it. I've converted from being a Railway Children family (Butter or Jam on your bread, but not both) to simply having my cake and eating it.
All in the honest quest of saving a buck or two.
The Forgotten P
There has, over many years, been much discussion in marketing circles about how many Ps there are.... this is (academically) a big deal. We started with 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion), someone then added a fifth (People), and subsequently others have tried to increase it to as many as ten (I'd list them here but there are too many to even remember).
Being involved in the marketing of businesses and events on a daily basis, it surprises me, in fact worries me, how many organisations seem to forget about one of those Ps more than the others.
It'll be no surprise that the Ps most discussed with me are Promotion, Price, People and (occasionally) Place. But rarely, and I mean rarely, does anyone pay much attention to the central proposition: Product.
Now it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that we're in the middle of a recession here. In recessions, customers are a cash strapped, price conscious, fussy lot. In the nicest possible sense, of course.
In simple terms, consumers become more discerning. They judge us differently. They alter their behaviour. They change their patterns of spending. And all of this happens when firms are fighting like dogs over a smaller share of the money pot than was previously available.
So it's important to be different. To be better. To offer value for money. To stand out from the (increasingly large) crowd.
Yet most firms just tinker round the edge. Stubbornly refusing to look at their core product or service. It's a bit like the Emperor's New Clothes.
But now is the time. Now is the perfect time to review. To innovate. To charge ahead of your competitors.
A business we've been involved with for quite some time did just that. Around 18 months ago, with the bottom literally falling out of their market, they took a cold hard look at their whole business model, their products and their target market. And they changed. They changed drastically. New product lines, fresh branding, new target market.
The results are staggering. Instead of a downward sales curve, it's now firmly pointing in the right direction. Instead of diminishing profits, they are now making money. And the good news is, that it's early days - when the bounce back comes they'll be ready to take advantage.
So if you are facing challenges in this difficult economy, and are looking to review your marketing, start with the first P, the most important P, before you go wasting money on all the others. It might just be the making of your business.
Being involved in the marketing of businesses and events on a daily basis, it surprises me, in fact worries me, how many organisations seem to forget about one of those Ps more than the others.
It'll be no surprise that the Ps most discussed with me are Promotion, Price, People and (occasionally) Place. But rarely, and I mean rarely, does anyone pay much attention to the central proposition: Product.
Now it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that we're in the middle of a recession here. In recessions, customers are a cash strapped, price conscious, fussy lot. In the nicest possible sense, of course.
In simple terms, consumers become more discerning. They judge us differently. They alter their behaviour. They change their patterns of spending. And all of this happens when firms are fighting like dogs over a smaller share of the money pot than was previously available.
So it's important to be different. To be better. To offer value for money. To stand out from the (increasingly large) crowd.
Yet most firms just tinker round the edge. Stubbornly refusing to look at their core product or service. It's a bit like the Emperor's New Clothes.
But now is the time. Now is the perfect time to review. To innovate. To charge ahead of your competitors.
A business we've been involved with for quite some time did just that. Around 18 months ago, with the bottom literally falling out of their market, they took a cold hard look at their whole business model, their products and their target market. And they changed. They changed drastically. New product lines, fresh branding, new target market.
The results are staggering. Instead of a downward sales curve, it's now firmly pointing in the right direction. Instead of diminishing profits, they are now making money. And the good news is, that it's early days - when the bounce back comes they'll be ready to take advantage.
So if you are facing challenges in this difficult economy, and are looking to review your marketing, start with the first P, the most important P, before you go wasting money on all the others. It might just be the making of your business.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Sloppy Selling Sucks
Sloppy selling has always been a personal bug bear of mine. So many sales people think that "sending" the communication is all they have to do.
Newsflash: that's what we call marketing.
The sales process (and there's more than one step) actually involves doing more than sending an email and hoping for the best. That's just sloppy.
Last week I recieved just such an email, from a completely unknown person, at a (sort of) unknown company. It was, you could say, a "cold call" but of an electronic variety. I won't tell you what they wanted to sell, but I am (most definitely) in the market for buying their services. In fact, annually, I spend tens of thousands of pounds every year on the kind of service they offer.
The interesting thing about this email is that the company office is just three doors down the corridor from my office...... heck, I probably already know the sales person to say hello to - albeit from a watercooler (read: kitchen, coffee machine) type moment.
So I replied and said "Why not pop along the corridor and we'll talk."
And I'm still waiting.
Apparently 3 doors is a step too far.
Note to sales people: the objective of your first (introductory) contact, whether by phone or by email, should always be to get permission to move to the next stage. The second stage is your opportunity to sell.
Failing to follow up is just sloppy sales. And it sucks.
Newsflash: that's what we call marketing.
The sales process (and there's more than one step) actually involves doing more than sending an email and hoping for the best. That's just sloppy.
Last week I recieved just such an email, from a completely unknown person, at a (sort of) unknown company. It was, you could say, a "cold call" but of an electronic variety. I won't tell you what they wanted to sell, but I am (most definitely) in the market for buying their services. In fact, annually, I spend tens of thousands of pounds every year on the kind of service they offer.
The interesting thing about this email is that the company office is just three doors down the corridor from my office...... heck, I probably already know the sales person to say hello to - albeit from a watercooler (read: kitchen, coffee machine) type moment.
So I replied and said "Why not pop along the corridor and we'll talk."
And I'm still waiting.
Apparently 3 doors is a step too far.
Note to sales people: the objective of your first (introductory) contact, whether by phone or by email, should always be to get permission to move to the next stage. The second stage is your opportunity to sell.
Failing to follow up is just sloppy sales. And it sucks.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Every Little Helps..... The Bottom Line
I've been a bit too busy to blog recently. No excuses, work has been very busy recently and, in a recession (as they say), work is work.
But the news today, that inflation was falling, has compelled me to write. Even if it's just a little blog.
Stephanie Flanders, the BBC's economics editor, has today published her blog off the back of a "surprise" announcement that inflation has fallen, when it was largely expected to stay still.
Her article is a startling insight into the possible whys and hows this has come about.
Interestingly, however, she pins the most likely reason fairly firmly on the major supermarkets, both for the unexpected fall in inflation, and (in some respects) for partly causing the "squeeze" in the first place.
Graphs depict how wages (50% of the cost base in retail) have stayed relatively stagnant while food prices have risen sharply in 2008 & 2009. So where did all that extra money go?
Well, retailers margins we are led to believe. Or profit, to you and me.
And quite possibly the evidence is there:
Tesco announed pre-tax profits up 12.5% up in October 2010.
Sainsbury's announed pre-tax profits up 8.1% in November 2010.
Asda announced a leap in profits of 58% in October 2010.
Stephanie suggests consumers are starting to fight back, with over 40% of us now purchasing via discounted offers, as opposed to full price. And, if it's helping drive down inflation, I'm rather inclined to agree that as consumers we should be making a point of driving supermarket prices down.
It is a recession and every little helps, you know.
But the news today, that inflation was falling, has compelled me to write. Even if it's just a little blog.
Stephanie Flanders, the BBC's economics editor, has today published her blog off the back of a "surprise" announcement that inflation has fallen, when it was largely expected to stay still.
Her article is a startling insight into the possible whys and hows this has come about.
Interestingly, however, she pins the most likely reason fairly firmly on the major supermarkets, both for the unexpected fall in inflation, and (in some respects) for partly causing the "squeeze" in the first place.
Graphs depict how wages (50% of the cost base in retail) have stayed relatively stagnant while food prices have risen sharply in 2008 & 2009. So where did all that extra money go?
Well, retailers margins we are led to believe. Or profit, to you and me.
And quite possibly the evidence is there:
Tesco announed pre-tax profits up 12.5% up in October 2010.
Sainsbury's announed pre-tax profits up 8.1% in November 2010.
Asda announced a leap in profits of 58% in October 2010.
Stephanie suggests consumers are starting to fight back, with over 40% of us now purchasing via discounted offers, as opposed to full price. And, if it's helping drive down inflation, I'm rather inclined to agree that as consumers we should be making a point of driving supermarket prices down.
It is a recession and every little helps, you know.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Free Estimates
Free Estimates.
This phrase has always intrigued me. Frequently seen adorning the side of labourer's vans: Free Estimates.
Is this really a unique selling point?
To be honest, if the best you can do is only "estimate" the price, and you're the professional, then surely I shouldn't be expected to pay for that?
Is there anyone out there who does charge, I wonder?
This phrase has always intrigued me. Frequently seen adorning the side of labourer's vans: Free Estimates.
Is this really a unique selling point?
To be honest, if the best you can do is only "estimate" the price, and you're the professional, then surely I shouldn't be expected to pay for that?
Is there anyone out there who does charge, I wonder?
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