‘A trillion here, a trillion there, soon we will be talking about real money’

The eurozone's bailout fund now stands at one trillion euros (£880bn or $1.4tn) after a deal was thrashed out in Brussels by European leaders. A trillion is a number - 1,000,000,000,000  – we all need to factor into our trade strategies! In fact the Namnews team are currently exploring the possibility of increasing the Namcalc cell-size to accommodate more up-to-date number sizes….

However, the real issue is how to keep the sheer scale of a trillion front of mind, lest we end up ‘signing off’ our entire future through over-familiarity..

One way to enhance understanding is to divide a big number by the number of people affected, so if the population of the eurozone is about 330m, then a trillion shared represents about 3,000 euros for each person. Another way is to count the numbers one at a time, one per second. A million seconds is 11 days, a billion seconds is about 32 years and a trillion seconds is 32,000 years.

For those in sales and marketing, the use of 'trillions' in our general conversation can be seen as part of a trend towards linguistic inflation or 'bigging up'. This means that some words are used to the point of exhaustion and need replacing with others in order to maintain the strength of expression. So 'heroes' are now 'superheroes', we're not just angry any more, we are 'incandescent with rage'.

This suggests that it may be time to take a fresh look at your brand and concession-value claims in a search for new superlatives?

Finally, those working on future trade demands may appreciate the following definitions

Trillion - 1 + 12 zeros

Quadrillion - 1 + 15 zeros

Quintillion - 1 + 18 zeros

Sextillion - 1 + 21 zeros

Septillion - 1 + 24 zeros

Octillion - 1 + 27 zeros

Nonillion - 1 + 30 zeros

Decillion - 1 + 33 zeros

CASH CONVERTERS: an alternative route to consumer?

Yes and no, in that your brand may reach new consumers, second-hand…

SECOND-hand goods retailer Cash Converters is opening a new store in the UK every nine days thanks to the harsh economic climate and aims to increase its number of stores five-fold to 1,000. 

Cash Converters International Limited is a worldwide pawnbroking franchise company, listed on the ASX and London Stock Exchange. They also offer small financial loans to people.

The purchase price of the goods on show can be ascertained by looking at the price ticket which will have a code on it relating to BLACKSMITH = 1234567890. For example BH = £10 Some stores use differing codes such as BLACKWHITE or MONEYTALKS. This code can then be used to bargain with sales staff, an item will generally be let go at twice purchase price, regardless of marked price.

Easy to miss on a normal storecheck, cash Converters began trading in the UK in 1992, New Zealand (1993), South Africa (1994), France (1994), Canada (1995), Spain (1995) and the USA (1994).

Key categories are consumer durables, but little reason to exclude consumer packaged goods, as the sector develops… 

A new option for the savvy consumer as pre-owned goods increasingly take up consumer demand in austerity?

Debenhams launches first virtual pop-up stores in the UK

Customers with an iPhone or iPad2 can now virtually try on invisible Debenhams'party dresses at cultural hotspots around the country.

After downloading a free app from Apple, customers standing in Trafalgar Square can scan the area using their camera function, until they discover the 10 invisible party dresses nestling between the famous bronze lions or peeping out from behind the pillars of the National Gallery.

Shoppers can then virtually try on the dresses without changing room ordeals, and make a Facebook upload for an instant reaction from friends.

Virtual stores will be popping up from today until October 29 in Glasgow (George Square), Birmingham (Centenary Square), Manchester (Albert Square) and Cardiff (Cardiff Castle), all at a 20 per cent discount.

Just imagine the excitement generated by groups of shoppers in simultaneous engagement on an evening out, or even properly ‘out, out’ (Micky Flanagan)

Ever get the feeling that yesterday’s ‘normal’ shopper-engagement initiatives have just been rendered a little passé?

Despite that, why not have a really engaging weekend, from the Namnews Team!

World's First Diamond-Dispensing ATM Launches in India

The Gitanjali Group, which claims to be the world's biggest integrated manufacturer of branded jewellery, opened the machine in a luxury shopping mall in Mumbai last Sunday and said that it already served a "substantial number of customers."

It hopes to roll out 75 more of the ATMs -- which also sell gold and silver coins -- in shopping malls, airports and at Hindu temples.

A pointer for other countries and categories?

"NAM-flu" is real to a fifth of British women!

One in five British women believe that the debilitating "NAM-flu" disease which temporarily leaves male sufferers prostrate on the sofa watching televised sports is real, according to a new study.

The survey, which questioned 2,000 British adults about health and wellbeing, showed that misconceptions and old wives' tales, including the myth that eating carrots improves night vision, prevail among the population when it comes to beliefs about common illnesses.

More than a third of people said that sugar makes children hyper, and 37 percent said they believed we lose most of our body heat through our heads -- the most popular misconception of the survey, despite millions spent on consumer health and education.

However, the survey is weakened somewhat by its endeavours to show that when illness strikes, almost half of people agreed that men exaggerate their symptoms to get attention, with 38% also believing that men take longer to recover from illness than women.

NB Additional indepth research on man-flu diagnosis and treatment now available

Have a gentle, comfy weekend. From the Namnews Team! 

Waitrose & Co-op demand price-cuts from suppliers

The retailers’ recent demands for up to 5% reduction on future payments has major implications for suppliers’ profitability following years of absorbing energy and ingredient cost increases.

A supplier with sales of £1m to a customer, on a net profit of 7.5% needs incremental sales of £666k to fund the reduction….

i.e. 5% of £1m = £50k = 7.5% of the incremental sales required to generate £50k. i.e 50k/7.5 x 100 = £667k

A retailer on 4% net profit receives a benefit equivalent to incremental sales of £1250k i.e. £50/4 x100.

It can therefore be seen why they do it, and why it will be difficult to insist upon fair share negotiation.

The numbers may help…

NamCalc shows how…

Sharks make Aussie golf course lake a real hazard

KAMs not wishing to lose contact with day-job sharks might wish to consider a weekend round of golf in Brisbane Golf Club?

Following flooding in the 1990s, the new lake was found to contain six man-eating bull sharks, each over 2.5m long, making ball-recovery a hazard.

The sharks have become renowned in the region and there is even a monthly tournament called the "Shark Lake Challenge."

Have a swinging Jaws weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Adding value to Sainsbury's instore braille initiative

Having becomethe first British supermarket to incorporate Braille signage, Sainsbury's could perhaps move further ahead by linking with Nokia’s touchscreen device that puts braille at the fingertips of the visually impaired.

Nokia and collaborators at the Tampere University in Finland have come up with a braille app for the blind and visually impaired.

It captures received SMS messages and brings them to the foreground for reading using braille and tactile feedback

An opportunity for all retailers to provide real value to disadvantaged customers?