News Archive - January 2013
Marketing experts reveal goals and challenges for 2013 - 21.1.2013
Businesses and brands that focus on their customers and getting the basics right will be most successful in 2013, according to experts at a recent business network and marketing event.
The advice from various marketing experts, including YouGov and Marketing Week Magazine, also said that businesses with strong brand values - beyond the purpose of selling - were likely to fare well in the year ahead.
Commenting on what were considered the best brands of 2012, the event panel highlighted that simple strategies were often the best. Long-running campaigns were similarly felt to demonstrate consistency and attract mass audiences.
YouGov's Tim Britton said: "Those that stick to the basics and do the basics well are guaranteed a degree of success."
Demonstrating a brand's value, as well as communicating its brand values, is also now a major factor for gaining consumer trust, said AMV BBDO's Cilla Snowball.
This was also echoed by Samsung's Andrew Garrihy, who said: "For a brand to be truly great, it has to be aligned behind a higher purpose. It has to pursue the activation of that purpose in a really authentic manner. The brand has to be generous, humble, relentless, passionate and successful."
Tightening budgets were considered the major challenge facing marketers in 2013, with marketing often seen as an overhead rather than a revenue-generating function.
"This year, more than ever it's about being more accountable and really focussing on the numbers and on the return," said Garrihy. "Never before have companies needed marketers like they need them now. But we need to help them understand that."
The panel suggested that gathering evidence and measuring business performance were key to marketing success.
The advice from various marketing experts, including YouGov and Marketing Week Magazine, also said that businesses with strong brand values - beyond the purpose of selling - were likely to fare well in the year ahead.
Commenting on what were considered the best brands of 2012, the event panel highlighted that simple strategies were often the best. Long-running campaigns were similarly felt to demonstrate consistency and attract mass audiences.
YouGov's Tim Britton said: "Those that stick to the basics and do the basics well are guaranteed a degree of success."
Demonstrating a brand's value, as well as communicating its brand values, is also now a major factor for gaining consumer trust, said AMV BBDO's Cilla Snowball.
This was also echoed by Samsung's Andrew Garrihy, who said: "For a brand to be truly great, it has to be aligned behind a higher purpose. It has to pursue the activation of that purpose in a really authentic manner. The brand has to be generous, humble, relentless, passionate and successful."
Tightening budgets were considered the major challenge facing marketers in 2013, with marketing often seen as an overhead rather than a revenue-generating function.
"This year, more than ever it's about being more accountable and really focussing on the numbers and on the return," said Garrihy. "Never before have companies needed marketers like they need them now. But we need to help them understand that."
The panel suggested that gathering evidence and measuring business performance were key to marketing success.
Calls to adopt 'Small Business Saturday' to UK high streets - 8.1.2013
Labour is calling for a US-style 'Small Business Saturday' to encourage consumers to shop at small, local independent shops in the UK.
The initiative, suggested by shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, has already proved successful in the US and comes as figures from the British Retail Consortium this week revealed that online shopping has overtaken the high street in both visitor numbers and sales.
Small Business Saturday has taken place in the US since 2010, falling on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving - one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Consumers aware of the initiative, which is promoted via social media sites and celebrity endorsement, spent a total of £3.4 billion on the day in 2012.
This side of the Atlantic, Small Business Saturday has been suggested for the 7 December to coincide with the Christmas shopping rush.
Chuka Umunna said more must be done to celebrate the contribution small businesses make to the UK economy and encourage more people to shop at them: "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, play a hugely important role in our communities and add to the unique character of each locality."
"A Small Business Saturday in the UK is something all local authorities, whatever their political persuasion, could support and promote."
The continuing rise in online shopping, supermarket competition and the wider economic crisis have all affected small retail confidence, according to the Association of Convenience Stores, which said a quarter of its members expects sales to fall in 2013.
Mr. Umunna has already met with the US Small Business Administration - the body responsible for promoting the initiative in the US - and written to American Express - who conceived the original concept - to see if the initiative could be extended to the UK.
The initiative, suggested by shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna, has already proved successful in the US and comes as figures from the British Retail Consortium this week revealed that online shopping has overtaken the high street in both visitor numbers and sales.
Small Business Saturday has taken place in the US since 2010, falling on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving - one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Consumers aware of the initiative, which is promoted via social media sites and celebrity endorsement, spent a total of £3.4 billion on the day in 2012.
This side of the Atlantic, Small Business Saturday has been suggested for the 7 December to coincide with the Christmas shopping rush.
Chuka Umunna said more must be done to celebrate the contribution small businesses make to the UK economy and encourage more people to shop at them: "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, play a hugely important role in our communities and add to the unique character of each locality."
"A Small Business Saturday in the UK is something all local authorities, whatever their political persuasion, could support and promote."
The continuing rise in online shopping, supermarket competition and the wider economic crisis have all affected small retail confidence, according to the Association of Convenience Stores, which said a quarter of its members expects sales to fall in 2013.
Mr. Umunna has already met with the US Small Business Administration - the body responsible for promoting the initiative in the US - and written to American Express - who conceived the original concept - to see if the initiative could be extended to the UK.
Boxing Day record for online retail sales - 2.1.2013
Consumers made 113 million visits to retail websites on Boxing Day, making 26 December 2012 the busiest day ever for online retailers, according to information service Experian.
The record number of visits saw a 17 per cent increase compared to last year, although the figure was 13 million lower than originally predicted.
Early sales during the Christmas break also led to the busiest online sales period recorded with 84 million visits on Christmas Eve and 107 million on Christmas Day - both up 86 per cent and 71 per cent respectively - as shoppers went online for last minute gifts and early discounting.
Earlier in the month, Monday 3 December - dubbed 'cyber Monday' - had been the busiest day for online retail in the UK. Companies such as Amazon, eBay and Argos accounted for a 30 per cent share of all online retail visits on this day, with 62 per cent going to the top 100 websites in the industry.
Two mobile websites also accounted for the third and sixth highest share of visits, indicating the increased appetite for the medium.
James Murray, digital insight manager at Experian said: "Boxing Day set a new British record for online shopping with 113 million visits going to retail websites in a single day. However, with a number of the major retailers bringing their sales forward to Christmas Eve, the impact of that was that Boxing Day was slightly muted and not as prolific as we forecast.
"Christmas Eve has traditionally been one of the poorest performing days of December for online retailers, but this year there were 84 million visits - on a par with last year's Cyber Monday. The UK ‘sales creep' continues to advance so that now the post-Christmas sales are starting before Christmas! Five years ago we called it the January sales, before it became the Boxing Day sales, now retailers have to call it the winter sales as discounting starts earlier to encourage higher spending."
Shoppers made the most of the high street sales on Boxing Day, but commentators said that many heading out would have already browsed online to search for the items they wanted.
The British Retail Consortium said Christmas trading on the high street had not been exceptional.
"Overall, Christmas hasn't been a boom time for UK retailers but it hasn't been complete doom and gloom either," said the BRC's director general Helen Dickinson.
"There are big variations in individual retail performances but, when the final sums are done, total spending is likely to be up modestly on last year though only broadly in line with shop price inflation."
The record number of visits saw a 17 per cent increase compared to last year, although the figure was 13 million lower than originally predicted.
Early sales during the Christmas break also led to the busiest online sales period recorded with 84 million visits on Christmas Eve and 107 million on Christmas Day - both up 86 per cent and 71 per cent respectively - as shoppers went online for last minute gifts and early discounting.
Earlier in the month, Monday 3 December - dubbed 'cyber Monday' - had been the busiest day for online retail in the UK. Companies such as Amazon, eBay and Argos accounted for a 30 per cent share of all online retail visits on this day, with 62 per cent going to the top 100 websites in the industry.
Two mobile websites also accounted for the third and sixth highest share of visits, indicating the increased appetite for the medium.
James Murray, digital insight manager at Experian said: "Boxing Day set a new British record for online shopping with 113 million visits going to retail websites in a single day. However, with a number of the major retailers bringing their sales forward to Christmas Eve, the impact of that was that Boxing Day was slightly muted and not as prolific as we forecast.
"Christmas Eve has traditionally been one of the poorest performing days of December for online retailers, but this year there were 84 million visits - on a par with last year's Cyber Monday. The UK ‘sales creep' continues to advance so that now the post-Christmas sales are starting before Christmas! Five years ago we called it the January sales, before it became the Boxing Day sales, now retailers have to call it the winter sales as discounting starts earlier to encourage higher spending."
Shoppers made the most of the high street sales on Boxing Day, but commentators said that many heading out would have already browsed online to search for the items they wanted.
The British Retail Consortium said Christmas trading on the high street had not been exceptional.
"Overall, Christmas hasn't been a boom time for UK retailers but it hasn't been complete doom and gloom either," said the BRC's director general Helen Dickinson.
"There are big variations in individual retail performances but, when the final sums are done, total spending is likely to be up modestly on last year though only broadly in line with shop price inflation."
