FT Global Brands Survey
The Financial Times has recently published its annual global brands survey - the results are available here and can be downloaded as an excel spreadsheet.
Internet advertising and the decline of Google?
Has Google passed its peak? Last November its share price hit an all time high, since when the firm’s shares have lost 40% of their value. Is this just down to turmoil in the world’s financial system or something more significant?
read more...»The Business Studies Lessons from Terminal 5
Rarely can there have been a business news story that provides such a rich source of business studies content.
read more...»Farm diversification into ice-cream is not plain, vanilla process
Researching some materials for our revision toolkit for the OCR Applied Business Unit 3, I came across a really useful case study on farm diversification into ice-cream.
read more...»Credit crunch means mortgage providers are turning customers away
It seems that the credit crunch is turning our traditional understanding of marketing on its head. Nationwide, Britain’s second largest provider of householde mortgages is increasing the price of its product to discourage customers from buying!
read more...»Coffins fit for the environment
I was intrigued by this opening line in an excellent Independent article on a fast-growing small business.
How do you persuade people to buy a product they won’t need until they’re dead?
read more...»Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - Examples of TV Advertising
This summer’s AQA GCSE (3132) case study focuses on Kelloggs, with a significant section on market segmentation and advertising. A Kelloggs brand which has developed a reputation for successful TV advertising is Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Take a look at two great examples of these ads in action!
read more...»The Fading Fortunes of ITV
The Commercial broadcaster ITV, once the television channel that dominated the nation, has seen its annual profits for 2007 fall by 35% to £188m after a ‘difficult year’.
The broadcaster has also seen its shares take a dive over the past year, hitting new lows in January and February. ITV has two main problems on its plate: a row about ownership, as rival broadcasters fight over what is left (BSkyB have a 17.9% stake in the firm) and advertising worries.
read more...»A good example of price elasticity of demand
A great news article about the problems faced by Hovis bread would make a useful example of price elasticity of demand for business students.
read more...»Commuter coaches take on the crowded railways
A fascinating news article in the The Times today on a new product from National Express, the UK’s largest coach operator.
read more...»Can Elonex profit from the £99 Laptop?
The Education Show in Birmingham next weekend sees the launch of a product with a price-point that is making everyone in the IT & Education world sit up. The UK’s first £99 laptop is being launched by Elonex, at a price that is less than a quarter of the average price currently being paid for laptops in the UK.
read more...»Government advertising climbs the league table of big spenders
Which businesses spend the most on advertising in the UK? The latest edition of Marketing Week provides the answers. The magazine has produced its latest annual listing of advertising spend, and there is one surprising “business” listed at Number 2.
read more...»Which marketing strategy now for Northern Rock?
So Northern Rock has been nationalised; taken into public ownership to run at “arms length” by the Government. The initial focus of NR’s new management team will be on reducing costs. Significant redundancies are expected, though this will largely depend on the decisions taken by NR about the size of the NR branch network.
In a large financial institution like NR, a potential cost casualty will be the marketing budget. In 2007, NR spent over £6m on advertising. NR is also the main sponsor of Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons (rugby union). Will this sponsorship survive new ownership?
read more...»Grabbing a bigger pizza the action
Our obsession with pursuing healthy eating and better lifestyles is leading to an significant increases in sales of….
read more...»Blu-ray is the colour
The format war is over. HD DVD is dead. Long live Blu-ray.
After a two-year battle between Toshiba and Sony, Toshiba has announced that it is to stop production of HD DVD players. This clears the way for Sony’s Blu-ray to become the industry standard format for high definition DVD systems.
read more...»Cillit Bang Boss Admits He Makes Some Stupid Products
There is some tremendous business studies material in an article in the Guardian today. Bart Becht, the CEO of consumer product conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser, has admitted that no every product innovation by his business is a success. In fact, he admits that some of the group’s brand innovations are “very stupid”.
read more...»Will Advertising spending plunge if the economy gets worse?
I’m reminded by a recent article that ad-spending usually takes a dive when economic growth slows. Will it be any different this time? Usually, marketing spending is one of the first things companies decide to cut when faced with slowing sales.
Although the economic climate seems to be getting darker, some ad-men expect the knife to cut most deeply in 2009 rather than in 2008. This is mainly because three high spend events—America’s presidential election, the Olympics in Beijing and the European football championship—could add as much as 1% of additional growth to advertising expenditure, partially offsetting the damage from weakness in the world economy.
By contrast 2009 does not have big “quadrennial” political or sporting events, and so could be painful.
read more...»Thongs aren’t what they used to be
The bottom has fallen out of the thong market, in a classic example of how consumer demand can fluctuate reflecting changing fashions and tastes.
read more...»Ryanair advert grounded by the ASA
Once again, Ryanair has proved its ability to generate substantial publicity with a newspaper advert that was quickly banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
read more...»The Cost of Prime Time
Last night’s Super Bowl was a classic game with the New New Giants winning with a touchdown less than forty seconds from the end. Whilst the Giants will be celebrating for weeks to come, so too will the TV excutives who raked in the cash for advertising slots during the half-time show. This report from the Telegraph shows just how expensive is a short advertising slot during the Super Bowl coverage!
read more...»Sales on a G String
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching - traditionally a seasonal sales bonanza for card manufacturers, florists, restuarants, chocolatiers and the lingeries industry. But there are signs that sales of exotic underwear are starting to slip.
read more...»A classic comedy advert to brighten a dull winter day (1)
With the wind howling outside and the prospect of a wintry weekend ahead, I’ve dipped into YouTube to search for some classic comedy adverts. Here’s one of my all-time favourites.
read more...»From soap and soup to satnav and sony
A fascinating report has just been issued by the Office of National Statistics on how the level and pattern of consumer spending has changed over the last 50 years.
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