The battle of Wellingtons
3 January 2012 | 
Author I was chatting with a friend over Christmas. She is the finance director for a UK fashion distribution business that deals with some cool brands. Apparently an average of 105 debtor days is the norm for them. So they may get their Christmas revenues in about Easter time then.
Today I saw an interesting article in The Daily Telegraph about how the behaviour of a few celebrities or a Royal can change fortunes. Look at this for an example:
Hunter, which lost £300,000 on sales of £4.3 million in 2006, made a £16 million profit on sales of £56 million in 2010.
You can read more about this here:
via Will Kate kick off a war of the wellies? – Telegraph.
And so £300 a pair for boots seems to be the new going rate! Excellent.
Posted in Marketing | 
Tags: celbrities, Daily Telegraph, fashion distribution, Hunter, Royal, wellies, wellingtons | 
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Google driving its business
"A key question is whether Google is using its market power to steer users to its own web products or secondary services and discriminating against other websites with which it competes," Senators Herb Kohl and Mike Lee wrote.
via BBC News – Google search home page revamp promotes other services.
I do hope so! They are a business after all.
Visa Europe launches exclusive UK offers portal
Visa Europe yesterday launched an exclusive new web portal offering deals and discounts from popular retail brands exclusively for Visa cardholders in the UK.
The site can either be accessed directly at www.visaoffers.eu/uk/ or via Visa’s Golden Space website at www.visa.co.uk/goldenspace.
The new site creates a unique destination for retailers to engage with a huge base of consumers. At launch, Visa cardholders in the UK can access discounts from over 40 brands tailored for the festive period, such as 30% off Hallmark, 15% off Goldsmiths, 10% off a £20 order at I Want One of Those, 10% off all electronics and accessories for over £49 spend at Dell, and free delivery for over £50 spend at Hamleys.
More on this story >>> Visa Europe launches exclusive UK offers portal.
Posted in Marketing, UK retail marketing | Tags: deals and discounts, Dell, Golden Space, Goldsmiths, Hallmark, Hamleys, I Want One of Those, retail brands, UK, Visa, Visa cardholders, Visa Europe | No Comments »
My favourite marketing quote of 2011
Marketing have published their top ten quotes of the year. My favourite is from Sir Terry Leahy, former chief executive at Tesco.
You have to break out of a straitjacket, one that is slowly wrapping around you in your organisation; how you see yourself, the world, business, customers. You’re framed by habit, by the budget, comparison with last year, last month, last week, meeting targets. These can all slowly suffocate you and your ability to see things fresh and new. You should take a fresh look at yourself, your customers and, above all, the opportunity.
Posted in Marketing | Tags: Marketing, quote of the year, Terry Leahy, Tesco, top ten | No Comments »
OFT orders banks to be clear on holiday money charges
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) told the banking industry to make charges for overseas transactions more easily understood by improving credit card summary box information and by revamping websites so that customers will be able to see, at a glance, all the fees that apply.
There is an alternative…get a prepaid foreign currency MasterCard or Visa card and the terms and fees are clear upfront. This may be a case of selecting the right tool for the job. Caxton Fx and Travelex are the ones I’ve used.
Posted in Marketing | Tags: banking industry, Caxton FX, credit card, foreign currency, MasterCard, Office of Fair Trading, OFT, prepaid, Travelex, Visa | No Comments »
HMV ‘may sell’ the part of it’s strategy that is working
In 1921, the Gramophone Company opened the first HMV shop in London, England; the composer Sir Edward Elgar participated in the opening ceremonies.
Today we are on possibly seeing the last Christmas for HMV. I hope not, but things are looking dire for them. HMV has said it may sell its live music division to raise funds, as it battles with another drop in sales.
My view on all this is that it’s too little and too late. Back in the late nineties was the time for HMV to broaden their delivery of entertainment across other formats. The recent successful foray into live music is making money but is one of the few assets they can sell to prop up the business.
When the live music business goes, and the retrenching to a CD/games retailer is complete, why should we shop at HMV? Amazon does pretty well for me, as does iTunes and Spotify thank you.
How about flipping the strategy? Keep the profitable live music business and sell off/close the loss making shops. Just a thought.
Posted in Marketing, Music marketing | Tags: Amazon, Edward Elgar, entertainment, Gramophone Company, HMV, iTunes, live music, Spotify, strategy, UK retail | No Comments »
Report assesses prepaid market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Research and Markets today announced the availability of a new report on the prepaid payment card market from Global Prepaid Exchange, “Prepaid Market Assessment: Germany, Austria, Switzerland.”
According to the report, the major prepaid opportunities in the DACH region are government disbursements, transportation, gifting and corporate incentives and benefits. The sector most likely to see the strongest growth in the next five years (15-20 percent annually) is government prepaid.
via Report assesses prepaid market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland | ATM Marketplace.
Posted in Global Prepaid Exchange | Tags: Austria, DACH, Germany, Prepaid Market Assessment, Research and Markets, Switzerland | No Comments »