END PEG - BY T&G PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, NICK MARLOW
Where’s this all going to end?
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Publisher Nick Marlow muses the future - is it being forced upon us? P
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Too many eggs in one basket is never a good idea.
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James Robins’ Cadence brand is one of several that have cut out the dealer. Will today’s climate see more follow suit?
eople in business are always looking for ways to cut out the middleman and save costs. The Internet, mobile phones and social media have made it easier for companies to go direct to the consumer. Across industries, diversifi cation is what drives the bottom line. To put it plain and simple: Who would want all their eggs in one basket when competitors are waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of a momentary slip-up? And there lies the problem. In the tackle trade at least, brands are quite literally being destroyed by a retail trade war hell bent on gaining market share. To make matters worse for the brands, dealers are switch selling to their own brand at every opportunity. A casing point is Angling Direct with its Advanta brand. I feel for the brand owners. They spend tens of thousands of pounds promoting their products. Their products are what drive people into the shops. And then at the critical moment, the retailer switch sells for their own brand. What I really do not understand is why the brand owners allow this to happen. Of course, I understand
58 | Tackle & Guns | June 2018
it on a business level, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to pay the bills. But to see your brand being destroyed by price must be soul destroying. And when you know full well that if you carry on ploughing this furrow – it’s not going to end well… So what do you do? Do you carry on watching your brand getting ripped
Cadence brand a prime example – and whilst as a marketer and publisher I’m not a fan – I do see their point. Given the choice between selling direct or putting all of your eggs in the basket of the stock exchange money men… I’d look at controlling my own destiny too. One of the big problems here is that so few people are vocal about the problems. I hear all sorts from the brand owners – but none are willing to go ‘on the record’ because you don’t want to ‘bite the hand that feeds you’. I’ve got news for you ladies and gents… that hand that feeds you is also going to kill you… So is selling direct and inevitability or
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to pieces, or do you, armed with the knowledge that you can market yourself straight to the consumer, look at selling direct? Sadly, I see the latter increasingly likely to happen. In fact I think it’s being forced upon us. We’re seeing more and more brands start up on the ‘direct’ model – James Robins’
can it be avoided? Let’s hope it’s the latter… but if you remain silent, I’m sorry to say it, but you’ve already lost.
www.tandgmagazine.com
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