talking trade
Monday February 4 2019 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM
In the eye of the storm
It’s tough out there – and less predictable than ever - but strive to enjoy it, says Roger Morgan-Grenville, director of housewares supplier Dexam
2. Know who you want to sell to. And I’m not talking about classic channel management. I’m talking about the end consumer. Who are they? What are their values? What do they want from you? How can you best provide it? How and where do they buy things? Then put yourself where they are. They are your future, whoever you are.
3. Less is more. We live in a lifestyle world, not a commodity world. This means that the old days of a consumer needing to see a choice of 12 cheese graters have gone. Now, they see a look they like and can buy into. If they want a cheese grater, and they trust your brand values, and the way you show things off, a choice of one from two is quite enough. That goes for communication, too. One of the beneficial effects of GDPR is the slow death of the saturation email splurge. Say it well, once - rather than shouting it a thousand times.
I
t should be so easy. The economy is growing (no, really), unemployment levels are at an all-time low, and food
has never been sexier. We have hundreds of hours of terrestrial and
satellite TV programmes about cooking, diets, food and healthy eating. Talented young chefs are appearing in
restaurants up and down the land, and ‘menu’ companies like Gousto and HelloFresh are encouraging a whole new demographic to get into the kitchen and give it a go. Companies are developing new products of
real excellence, and marketing them expertly, for both physical retail and online. But it’s not easy. In fact, it’s unremittingly
tough. Anecdotally, it’s tougher than 2008/9 after Lehmann, and it’s less predictable now than it’s ever been. Why? I’ll tell you, even though you probably
know as well as I do. It’s because of structural change; and it’s because, if you’re reading this article, the chances are that your business is being squeezed between huge companies answering to mainly institutional stockholders, over whom you have about as much control as you have over the weather. And it’s happening to you, whether you are a
retailer or a supplier, and its effect is to reduce genuine choice. You can run, but you can’t hide. Because, for all the fine Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) bits in their annual reports,
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for all the soft focus, brand building, customer- centric advertising, they have to drive ‘value’ - which means making more money this year than the year before, and probably squeezing your margins in the process. Almost whoever you are. And you can debate the economics and politics of it all you like. You can rail against the takeover culture, the unreal director salaries and the occasionally less than courteous treatment. You can hark back to a time when things were more civil, more predictable, and where relationships and quiet professionalism really counted for something. But when you wake up tomorrow morning and stare into your coffee, they will still be there, still be a part of your life, and you had better have a plan to deal with it all. Here are seven random ideas:
1. Be famous for something. This doesn’t mean running naked across Westminster Bridge or going into space. It means making sure that you know exactly what it is you want your company to be recognised for, and doing it as well as you possibly can. And it means being able to walk into that buyer’s office, or stand in your booth at that trade show, and encapsulate in a few words why they should be dealing with you. Because, remember: if they decide to deal with you, they will probably have to drop someone else.
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HousewaresLive.net
4. Buy British. You might consider stopping the effort to compete on price on products coming out of more and more distant factories across the Far East because, please understand, there is nearly always someone bigger, stronger and better connected than you, who is getting the best deals. See what you can make locally, or in Europe. Go out on a limb and make a point of difference.
5. Save the world. That’s going to be the big story. And like quality ingredients, good fashion and great design, it’s a sustainable trend, and it’s not going to go away. Less of a footprint on the environment. Less packaging. Less built-in obsolesce. More respectful.
6. Stick to your values. Now, more than ever, is the time to remember why you came into this business. Amazon, which has a market capitalisation of $800 billion, was as small as you were only a few years ago. Stick to what you believe in, and do it as well as you can. In the end, you can’t do better than that.
7. Strive to enjoy it. Even when it’s tough. Finally, take a moment to congratulate yourself on still being here. Navigating through the last decade of unfettered change is a huge achievement, and you deserve a drink.
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June 2018
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