Making ideas work in the KAM role

In the same way that objections should be regarded as buying signals, so too should degree-of-resistance be seen as an indicator of ‘goodness’ in the spread of ideas. Fear of plagiarism can also be a constraint, however, as per Howard Aiken:  "Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats"

Have a persistent weekend, from the Namnews Team!

Going into Administration, what then?

Given yesterday’s news of Peters Bakery collapse into administration, together with today’s report in DIY Week that Allders of Croydon are ‘facing administration’ it might be useful for NAMs & KAMs to explore the possible consequences and implications of such moves.

As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under UK insolvency laws. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – an alternative to liquidation – means a company in administration is operated by the administrator (as interim chief executive) on behalf of the creditors as a going concern while options are sought short of liquidation. These options include recapitalising the business, selling the business to new owners, or demerging it into elements that can be sold and closing the remainder.

Options for Peters Bakery
In the case of Peters Bakery, it might be assumed that the owners have already explored the options of recapitalising and/or selling off the business, leaving the option of demerging into elements that can be sold, i.e. the bakery and the shops (The mobile sales operation might remain with the bakery as the better option).

The bakery
The bakery with its relatively new plant and its supply arrangements with major retailers could be attractive as a buy-out by management or takeover by  another bakery where increased scale/synergies might add appeal, and some negotiation muscle ref the multiples.

The shops
Meanwhile, the 54 shops with their regional brand equity could also present viable options in terms of either management buyout or acquisition by another retailer. Given the parallels with Greggs shops in terms of positioning, possible acquisition might be worth adding as an agenda item  at the next meeting of the Greggs team…

Which options do you feel are best for Peters Bakery?

Walmart, P&G QR-Code Initiative, the back-story...

Yesterday’s NamNews’ most downloaded news-item raises some interesting implications:

• This month-long initiative features virtual "pop-up" QR stores at Chicago bus stops and a "food truck"-style mobile hub in Manhattan, featuring P&G products was led by P&G, but in reality attempts to drive sales to Walmart’s online facility
• This innovative combination of mobile, social and real-time commerce appears to be an attempt by Walmart to neutralise Amazon’s increasing dominance in urban areas, a place where quick delivery is more convenient than access to big-box retailers
• (Amazon: think €36bn sales, growing at 46% p.a., 1-click purchase and ‘instant’ delivery…compulsive!)
• For P&G, a way of getting large packs into the hands of consumers, ultra-conveniently…
• ….apart from the peripheral impact of some extra on-street advertising in high-traffic urban areas..

Do you think the WM/P&G initiative is the shape of things to come?
In fact, which supplier-retailer combination will be first in the UK?  

Auchan opens first bio-supermarket Coeur de nature

Auchan has opened its first organic supermarket in Bretigny-sur-Orge. The supermarket has a sales area of ​​1,000 square meters. "We offer everyday products that consumers need to eat organic," says Guy Verdier, CEO of Coeur de Nature. There are in addition to the obvious products, natural products, cosmetics, and baby products. A total of 13,000 products in store, including 2,000 of the house brand.

We have deliberately chosen to sell mostly products of specialized brands in the store. The family business wants to make organic goods more widely available to everyone, although the price remains the biggest obstacle. That is apparent from an examination of l'Agence Bio. For 77 percent of consumers who do not buy organic products, the price appears to be the main obstacle.

Source: Le Figaro

Morrisons feeds Big Brother, really!

In a UK supermarket first, the new deal allows budget-conscious housemates on the show to buy groceries from Morrisons in their weekly shop, delivered on screen in the supermarket’s trademarked bags…

This link with the UK’s most down-to-earth grocer should help keep some of the most extreme housemates grounded, thus minimising the possible emergence of the “Truman Show” Delusion now becoming more common in the US…

“Truman Show” delusion?
In fact, psychiatrists are seeing an increase in the number of patients who think they are the unwilling star of a secret reality show. This “Truman Show” delusion may be the first mental illness to come out of the 21st century's obsession with quick and easy fame.

The First Lawsuit
Nicholas Marzano believes he is the subject of a secret reality show, and everyone in his town of Hillside, Illinois is in on it. He's suing TV company HBO in federal court for, in his words, "filming and broadcasting a hidden camera reality show depicting the day-to-day activities of plaintiff" without his consent. His suit, filed in April, alleges that HBO has hidden cameras throughout his home, installed controlling devices in his car, enlisted the help of local police, and recruited actors to portray "attorneys, government and law enforcement officials, physicians, employers, prospective employers, family, friends, neighbours, and co-workers," all so that their show about his life can continue. Marzano also says HBO is keeping him from getting a job or paying his bills, so that he will be forced to remain on the show…..
(See a further 5 case studies here.)

For NAMs and KAMs with a compulsion to read all of the source material, the real article is available for sale by the journal Cognitive Neuropsychiatry

A reality wake-up call?
The real issue is the extent to which we are all in the process of emerging from a 30-year ‘unreality’ show, with growth built on credit, a world where forecasting meant adding 10% to last year’s figures, and a combination of inflation and devaluation, all ably managed by trusted politicians and bankers, helping to sustain unreal levels of ‘feel-good’ consumerism…

This unprecedented wake-up call means we are all now playing for real at having to think for ourselves, unwilling to outsource our decision-making to retailers and marketers, determined to settle for nothing less than demonstrable value-for-money, ever again….

Have a really nice weekend, from the NamNews Team!

If the Numbers Don't Add Up, They Probably Don't

Following a global financial crisis that has left governments floundering, business managers have lost confidence in both bankers’ and politicians’ ability to reverse downward spirals in economic performance at country level.

This in turn is causing middle management to have to choose between denial and confusion as they attempt to move the business forward, where many of the numbers no longer appear to count.

Given that denial is obviously no longer a viable option, it remains for NAMs and KAMs to attempt to make workable sense of the unprecedented chaos in the market, as a basis for building customer strategies that have some chance of delivering acceptable returns on investment, while others naively await some guidance from the system…

Our latest guidance available free  

Pound shop revolution hits the big supermarkets!

More than one-in-six products being sold in supermarkets are now priced at exactly £1 or £2, highlighting how the pound shop revolution has started to affect long established rivals.

Supermarkets, and also chemist chains, have started to rely on distinctive red stickers, and very clear £1 or £2 prices in a bid to attract shoppers on a budget, as well as those consumers fed up trying to work out complex deals.

The combined demand by pound shops and the Big Four has to be a driver of both scale and relative permanence of the £1 offer, until a prolonged bout of inflation morphs it into £2, the new £1…

Welcome back to the post-Jubilee realities, from the NamNews Team! 

World's biggest boxes of pasta on sale in Turkey

Given the Jubilee Weekend and the possibility of extra friends dropping in, why risk running out of the basics?

Simply pick up a half-tonne box of Barilla spaghetti now on sale in Turkey.

Too heavy and too big for the shopping trolley, delivery is included in the price, at Turkey's Migros Ticaret supermarket chain.

The mega box of penne pasta, sells for 999 Turkish lira ($560), for charity.

The boxes at 1-and-a-half meters high and well over a meter wide, are for sale at supermarkets in Istanbul, Edirne and the resort port city of Bodrum. All revenues from the sales of the massive cartons will go to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

As with some ‘one-off’ promotional ideas, what happens if the half tonne carton really takes off and becomes a ‘must stock’ line, complete with listing fees, availability KPIs and returns allowances…apart from becoming an irresistible challenge for the professional shop-lifter...

Have a giant Jubilee weekend, from the NamNews Team!