CATEGORY - SHOPPING, SUPERMARKETS, RETAIL

Articles

Observer - At the supermarket -

News from the retail front

I have had of late to get a bit closer to the innermost workings of the retail world than is healthy.

And a few things have become clear: the shenanigans of their marketing would do Machiavelli proud, and the corporate structures are so rigid, and the level of fear of making a mistake so palpable so as to make the Russian military look like an anarchists' brainstorming session.

A few months ago we approached the manager of our local supermarket with a proposal to hold a little research on shoppers attitudes to packaging by using the RE:tie as the focus. It would help us get data, him get PR, and the store some 'we care about the future' kudos. Win-win-win.

He was well up for it. But... he needed to run it by head office. To OK a stand in the local carpark.

Several months and countless cross shuntings and requests for more and more info (Ans: 'Er, we'd have a table, and we'd ask if folk would see merit in second use ideas being put in pack designs. Maybe like the way Innocent did it, with a 'Yes/no' bin you pop bottles in. Bit of fun, really. Bound to get the local press covering it') from a bevvy of backside-concerned minions later, we got our answer.. from board level: No, best not.

Bless.

So I wonder how many person hours in meetings this bit of genius required:

The Grocer - Tesco Extra takes bags under the counter

'Don't ask..don't tell'. Hey, it works in the military!

Talking Retail - Tesco Extra pushes plastic bags under the counter

MRW - Tesco introduces 'bag on demand' initiative

PRW - NEW - Tesco points scheme cuts bag use - This, however, adds up

NEWS/Commercial PR - BAG A RECYCLED AD BANNER AT BANNERBAGS.CO.UK

Ok, part of the new 'sreamling'. And having slagged off major news media long enough for sticking up any old bit of PR they get sent as news, here I am doing the same.

Thing is, some are often worth a mention as a decent attempt at 're' or 'eco' something, and sticking 'em in a folder 'til I get round to it just isn't happening (literally). So I'll have to forgo the in-depth provenance check and hope it's all kosher. Not like soem better funded news outlets do much more. Eh, Auntie?

So here you go, with due caveats and cautions of enviROI advised, a cut and paste (maybe with a small edit or comment here and there) job:

Bannerbags.co.uk, the only UK manufacture of fashion bags crafted from recycled advertising banners, is launching a new range based on banners from Liverpool, European Capital of Culture events.

Including totes, handbags, sports bags, courier bags, weekend and laptop bags – all bearing the Liverpool European Capital of Culture Official Logo, the high quality accessories are made from wholly recycled street banners, and each item is an individual product that no-one else owns.

Paul Gilbraith, managing director, comments: “Thousands of advertising banners are produced for festivals, concerts and advertising campaigns using PVC and polypropylene, which do not biodegrade. Instead of disposing of unwanted banners in landfill sites, we turn seemingly valueless items into eco-friendly fashion. The result is a reasonably priced bag that most discerning fashion conscious people would like to carry.”

Gilbraith continues: “We’ve already approached five major supermarkets with our product samples and are keen to work with companies that manufacture or commission banners to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their green profile and profits”.

Seems a 'why not?' to me. Good luck to 'em. And knowing what's it's like approaching supermarkets myself... they'll need it!

But if the idea is good and all concerned make money... plus save the planet a bit better... why not?

Me, too

When it hits the business section more than the environment one, you know things are afoot: I don't believe that going green should cost more, says Asda chief

So I think, with others, we can all be happy to see the guys earning the big bucks and able to make the big differences starting to catch up.

The discrepancy between what the chiefs of our two most significant retail entities say (much less do) is striking.

Who is right, I wonder?

Guardian - Mr High Street - There is a bit about M&S' enviro moves too, if you look hard.

Big Blue mentality

That was a song I wrote a long time ago. It was about the rigid structures and factional infighting that defined IBM and its less than terrific grasp of market leadership in the face of new challenges.

It popped into my head today because I have been blogging about The Apprentice and big corporations such as Tescos. And then, an hour ago, I was standing in our local Morrisons.

There was a scene straight out of a reality TV producer's wettest dream. Senior management. Middle management. Floor management. Minions. All in various degrees of Armani, gel, Specsavers and testosterone. And as for the men...

And the object of this high-powered cabal? A mop display.

All were sincere, with eyebrows furrowed as the man with 2.0l BMW 3-series told the guys with the 1.8l BMW 3-series what he thought. Priceless. meanwhile a little old lady gave up waiting to be helped with the small matter of buying something.

Bet they all have a degree in metrics and have been to customer service courses though.

Swallowing your Greens. That's ratings.

Eco-label will create green standard for food, says Miliband

Will this be run alongside the one from the other retailers, which will be designed to tell a very different set of stories and totally flummox the consumer? Instead of traffic lights what will we have? Eco-stars? Green thumbs up? They are going to have to make the packs bigger at this rate (oh, the irony)! How many lobbyists, consultants and 'experts' will feed off this one for the next decade. Ship-borne dried apricots vs. airflown prawns vs. Spuds shunted from one end of the UK for scrubbing and then back to be deemed 'local' to where they are bought.

And are we going to have sub-sets where there is what is good for local farming, the local MP, the national purse, global environment, targets, media ratings and all the various pulls on green issues that can often be... at odds. Me, I vote less CO2... and unproductive civil servants and other talk-onlys to monitor and debate it all.

This is actually a great idea in principle, but when I see a PR piece floated telling me only something 'will be announced that is to considered' I have to wonder what exactly is going to be done at all, if ever.

For a change.

DEFRA - Mr. Miliband's Speech
Telegraph - 'Traffic light' labels backed by parents
Marketing Week - Parents reject GDA labelling system
BBC - Public want food 'traffic lights'

Out of the mouths of consumers...

Green pallor

When it comes to environmental issues, Ms. Taylor, you can ask a
lot of very good questions. Just don't expect many good answers.
Especially from those we used to imagine were tasked to ask them,
despite ad budgets on media:)

I'm guessing after week you have heard... er... nothing?

It not just retailer greenwashing, it's media-contrived greenwashing:)

Shopping the Supermarkets

I accidentally left my PC TV link on this am, and so when I came to the office I managed to watch this programme: Shopping the Supermarkets

I'm glad I did. What a damning indictment of the system that exists and, indeed, is permitted.

Here's the blurb:

Milking the Suppliers?

We all love supermarkets, but who pays the price for the cheap food we buy? We meet three characters who can tell us first hand. Nigel has been growing lettuces for supermarkets for 27 years but has just been dropped by a supermarket because he can't compete on price; Victoria thinks she makes the best range of pestos in Britain and has one chance to pitch them to Sainsburys; and Somerset dairy farmer Chris is reluctantly selling his cows because he can't make a living from milk.

Having worked most of my life in the ad game, I am well used to the irrational whims that accompany single folk in positions of power within a marketing organisation. This laid bare the consequences.

It also showed up the hoops that decent folk are put though by committees of middle managers, with matrices and other Brent-speek holding sway over loyalty, relationships and logic.

Sickening. It explains, if not excuses, the problems we are having getting these guys to even talk to us. And we are trying to make them money!

My only slight reservation about the programme was who was featured and who not. Sainsbury cooperated and treated their subject ( a woman so destitute she was down to her last new Range Rover) to an order. Somerfield did not and came off badly, though it seemed deservedly so.