Upheavals

Who will pass the L’Oreal test?

About 18 months ago, I argued that one of the greatest dilemmas facing companies as we headed headlong into recession was going to be how they coped with what I called at the time “the loss of pace”. Who would find impetus in deceleration? Who would use the sudden lack of customer demand to rethink and rescope, and who would apply “ostrich economics” and carry on trying to do business the way they always had, even as their revenue engine spluttered and in some cases stopped beneath them? Read on

category: Recession | posted: 26/07/2009

Taking on Washington

Surely no-one can be that surprised that GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner has been asked to leave. After all, the company has lost a huge amount of its value under his watch. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 30/03/2009

The dangers of typical innovation

I’m always fascinated when organisations see and recognise a direct threat to their business model but then do little or nothing to take the initiative because … well, I’m not sure why. It’s a phenomenon I’ve referred to before as ostrich economics. Companies see a threat, they know it’s there, but they seem to prefer to just ignore it and hope it goes away. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 22/03/2009

History lesson

A nice round-the-sectors piece by Brandweek looks at prospects for a wide range of brands, concluding this will indeed be a year of mixed fortunes: Read on

category: Recession | posted: 30/01/2009

What’s in a name?

The recent buy-up of brand name Linens ‘n Things for around a million dollars proves three things in my book. First, a brand name can have a monetary value. Second, it’s nowhere near as much as we were led to believe (a bit like house valuations in that regard) since the company was bought for $1.3 billion just three years ago, and not all of that can have been stock. Third, the brand name is independent of the business itself. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 29/01/2009

Jailhouse rock

The way I see it the multi-billion dollar rescue packages being proposed to support the so-called “cornerstones” of the American economy are less a bail-out and more a “fail-out”. That old adage - when you owe someone a hundred dollars, it’s your problem, but when you owe them a million, it’s theirs - has never sounded so true. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 10/12/2008

The new up

I grinned from ear to ear when I saw this quote from Wenda Harris Millard of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia at the EconWomen Conference: Read on

category: Recession | posted: 4/11/2008

Lessons from the kitchen

It wasn’t so long ago that the key concern for many businesses was “how can we keep up with demand?” Now that momentum and organic growth has evaporated in many sectors, there’s a new question, which in many ways is much more puzzling – “How do we go slower and stay profitable?” Read on

category: Recession | posted: 31/10/2008

Was, not is?

Perhaps the CEO of Harcourts, needs to read Black Swan. If he did, perhaps he’d be less disappointed than he says he is that recent house sales haven’t held up to the way things usually are in September. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 22/10/2008

Eight lessons from luxury

The Brand Strategy Magazine’s blog has a very useful summary of the Luxury Institute’s eight tips on how to survive the recession. They’re great ideas – and with a little adaptation they’re as true for a small business as they are for the high-end high street. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 20/10/2008

Let them eat soup

Seems one of the few stocks not freefalling on Wall Street on 777 day was Campbell’s Soup. In fact it was the only stock – excuse the pun – on the S&P 500 to rise that day. And then again on Tuesday. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 2/10/2008

Hitting the Wall … Street

The much vaunted financial Wall Street bailout appears to me to be a bit like President Bush’s expedition to Iraq. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 26/09/2008

Reducing the intake or tightening the belt?

According to Business Day, the concerning thing about the closure of 61 Starbucks stores in Australia is not just the fact that one international company is experiencing problems, it’s that things are seriously awry when the food sector starts shrinking. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 5/08/2008

Unprofitable – or just one of those sectors where you can’t make a killing any more?

Could the world’s most (in)famous security company be feeling a little … insecure? According to Associated Press, Blackwater Worldwide, the guys with the security contractors in Iraq, say they want to get out of the security business and more into areas like training, aviation and logistics. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 23/07/2008

What’s the plural of sale?

How successful is a sale when everyone else is in sale too? I wondered about this as I walked through a mall yesterday bedecked in Sale signs. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 11/07/2008

The joy of flying … or perhaps not.

I think it’s a sad day for all concerned when an airline decides that it’s going to stop showing movies inflight to try and save costs. That’s exactly what US Airlines are talking about – apparently they feel pressured into doing this because of rising fuel prices. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 10/07/2008

Have done … or has been?

It’s interesting reading what’s happened to newspaper analysts. Seems plunging valuations and a lack of investor interest have seen analyst numbers halved. You can read the obvious sector implications into this: the US newspaper industry can’t keep up with the online glut for advertising, so who needs to analyse the industry? Which kind of has a rather large Exit sign attached to it somewhere. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 7/07/2008

Mindsets

Just a quick reminder to all those who are currently dismissing the whole concept of recession as a mindset divorced from reality that has been talked up by the media. So were the boom times. What’s your point? Read on

category: Recession | posted: 16/05/2008

This is no time for presence

News this week from the Agenda crew that some of the most expensive and well-managed luxury brands in the world are doing very well thank you. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 28/04/2008

Looking to succeed

In a new survey by Landor Associates and Lightspeed Research there’s news that this year bodes well for some in the online space, but other icons of the American retail scene will truly struggle. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 13/02/2008

Reaping riches

According to Agenda old money is fighting back. Fed up with the democratisation of luxury, those in the elite 5% are looking for ways to put distance between themselves and the 40 – 60% of all consumers that make the “new luxury” movement. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 11/02/2008

Fighting recession with joy

From a marketer's point of view, numbers don’t drive recessions. They may start them. They may justify them. But they don’t actually make them happen. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 25/01/2008

It’ll never happen to them …

Noticed yesterday that one of the cafes near work has closed. It’s only been open about a year. Strange thing is that the café that was there before them, on the same site, also closed. And the one before that. Clearly this is not a good site. It’s right on a corner. There’s no parking. And most of the competition is about a block away, so there’s no clustering effect. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 1/03/2006