Costa Loyalty Card Case Study

My untidy desk just reminded me of an excellent case study on Costa in this week's copy of Marketing Week (6th October 2011). Costa is an unusual example of a brand which is flourishing. Here are a few snippets :

1.Costa won the Brand of the Year Trophy this year (awarded by Marketing Week)
2.Costa set up a loyalty card last year and managed to get 6 million in ciculation very rapidly(bucking the trend of loyalty card fatigue)
3.The company claim a high uptake of loyalty card use ( 41% of all transactions)
4.The company is extending the loyalty card scheme internationally ( for example in the UAE)
5.Costa has 700 outlets outside the UK (including China, Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe)
6.The average age of the UK customer is 44 (28 overseas)
7.The younger customer abroad may be more influenced by advertising on Social Media (Facebook etc)
8.Other coffee chains such as Caffe Nero, Starbucks also operate in the UAE ( a good example of globalistion)
9.Variations for local markets include spicier snacks and haloumi panini
10.Costa's biggest rival, unsurprisingly, is Starbucks. Pub chain Wetherspoons has also successfully broken into the Coffee market.

e-books celebrate their 40th Birthday

I'm hoping that one day I'll be sitting in a Quiz when they ask 'What year was the first e-book published ?'

Unbelievably e-books have now been around since 1971 when Michael Hart (who died recently) typed the American Declaration of Independence into the mainframe computer at the University of Illinois.

Thus was born the first digital library : Project Gutenberg, named after the inventor of the first printing press. Hart's aim was to make books as widely available as possible, and to "break down the bars of ignorance and illiteracy"

Project Gutenberg is still going strong, making freely available out of print materials.

Wot no bookshop ?

I was disappointed when Luton's only bookshop (Waterstones) closed recently. The site is still unoccupied.

However Luton is, of course, not alone.

Nearly half of the UK's High Street bookshops have closed since 2005. A total of 580 towns do not have a single bookshop.

Campaigners warned yesterday that the loss of bookshops, coupled with threats to close thousands of libraries as part of council cuts, will lead to "book deserts" across large areas of the country.


Hall, J (2011) Internet and supermarkets kill off 2,000 bookshops, Daily Telegraph
2nd September

British Brands not the only ones to get taken over....

If you are doing the piece of work on British brands which are disappearing spare a thought for Foster's lager...

The company is currently facing a hostile bid from SAB Miller ( formerly South African Brewers ). They make Peroni and Grolsh....

Charter Airlines - Have they a future ?

Students studying the Airline Industry ( in particular Monarch )should be aware that the journal Tourism and Hospitality Research contains some useful information. It is available both in print and electronic formats.

Overall the picture seems glum (as the above title indicates)

Other sources of information (all electronic) include
FAME ( Financial data available to compare Monarch and it's competitors )
Keynote and Marketline Use Airline and Airport reports, but also consider related areas such as trends in Travel & Tourism
Newsbank Particularly useful statements from Monarch's CEO about the company's strategic direction

More on bikes....

At the risk of becoming fixated on the bicycle market here's a story about a British Brand which is doing well which might also be relevant. Bromptons make a folding bike, and are apparently doing well at the moment. I have seen quite a few of these on trains between Luton and London recently, although I'm not sure if there are any restrictions on taking them during the rush hour period.

The company which manufactures distinctive folding bikes ( pictured )at a plant in west Twickenham, saw its profits rise more than a quarter last year. The number of Bromptons sold in the year just ended - the majority of which go for export - was 80%up on the total four years earlier.

Without using FAME for detailed profit and loss accounts, it is now possible to check digestible company financials using the Keynote Database

Cycling Statistics

Following my last blog post about finding some statistics about the number of cyclists in the UK I discovered for myself just how tricky it is to get hold of figures.

Firstly the National Statistics website itself proved difficult to search and showed me no obvious results. I remembered attending a user group a couple of years ago suggesting that looking for official figures was best done on Google. This may have worked better.

Newsbank proved more rewarding, although alot of cycling stories are about horrific accidents or the UK cycling prospects at the 2012 Olympics. Both of these topics were interesting, and potentially useful. No wonder people are reticent to use a bike in London I thought. Then again, success at The Games, and some cyclig superstars might be a boost for the bike. Do people really call Boris Johnson Bo-Jo by the way ?

Then I struck gold with an article from the Sunday Times.

Laurance(2011)notes that in the 1940's one third of all vehicle trvel was by bike. This figure has now declined to less than 2% . Two thirds of the population never cycle, or get on a bike less than once per year.


There was also some good news. But I'll save that for another blog-post.

Laurance, B (2011) Cycling hits the wild side as Britain gets back in the saddle, Times, May 29th. Accessed via Newsbank [online] http://library.beds.ac.uk on 9th August 2011

Bicycle Market....

When students were set an assignment on bicycles last year Peter and I struggled to find much information. Neither Keynote, nor Marketline have produced a report on this market. The Mintel Report which we traced was unfortunately very expensive, and we feared that it may not reach the library shelves in time.

I recently found a article in a print journal which looks relevant ( albeit two years old ) about a UK manufacturer of cycles and the challenges that they face. The article is available in the LRC in print.

Lawell, F (2009) Raleigh : cycling to success ? Business Review Vol 15 (3) p. 16-17

The article got me thinking about a SWOT analysis of the whole Market

STRENGTHS
Cycling is being promoted for health purposes
Road congestion, improved cycle-paths, "Boris Bikes" might encourage people to try it
A cheaper option than your car ? And if the roads are congested, quicker too ( over a short distance ? )
WEAKNESSES
Most people still prefer their car - low uptake - I would try to back up this point with some statistics
Cycling in cities seen to be dangerous
Accidents and smog make it an unattractive option
OPPORTUNITIES
Government support of green transport
Bike Loan Schemes
Cycling charities
Reports on health benefits
THREATS
Government funding might be cut
Cycle manufacturers ( eg Raleigh ) may suffer in the recession
More production moving abroad ( most made in Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Eastern Europe and Vietnam )

Scientific Management

This stern looking man is F.W Taylor, originator of the theory of scientific managagement. Whilst doing some Refworks sessions recently I came across a good summary of his work here...

Harrison, S.(2004) F.W. Taylor and scientific management Business Review Vol 11 No. 1 p 16-17

This article does not appear to be available online, although there are other critiques of Taylorism on Business Source Premier.

Taylor's original theories date from 1911, but Harrison(2004) notes that he heard echoes of them in 2003 when Toyota's managing director spoke of the need to make car factory employees "follow rules and standards as if they were second nature"

If you are doing the annual assignment on Taylor's theories this may be worth a look.

The original publication ( as it is now out of copyright ) is available on Google Books. Thanks to my colleague, Alan Wheeler, for this information

Wetherspoons Profits to soar ?

After a disastrous couple of weeks for high street companies there may be some relief when Wetherspoons announces a trading update on Wednesday (13th July). The previous day the company opens it's latest pub The London Hatter in Park Street, Luton.

There are now two Wetherspoons outlets in Bedford and two in Luton. Cheap beer, meals and coffee, plus an extensive breakfast menu seem to be behind the success of the chain.

WH Smiths Results buck the trend...

Smiths results are not as bad as some others recently. The company issued a trading statement yesterday which showed profits rising by three per cent, although predictably sales were down.

Franchises at airports, railway stations and motorway services will help the company.

A future stategy is to abandon dvd and cd sales ( HMV has already decided to do this ). Personally I never really associated Smiths with dvds, and it is many, many years since I bought a CD there.

In Luton WH Smiths is now the only remaining bookshop (unless you count The Works ). I wonder if University of Beds students will buy or order their text books from the store ?

Or will Amazon get even more trade ?

Thornton's Chocolates .... more details

Still no clue in the Luton Mall about the fate of the Thorntons shop there. Apparently details are to be announced when staff have been informed, within the next fortnight.

Thorntons operate 337 UK stores and are closing at least 120 of them. Where stores close they are hoping to open franchises nearby ( maybe in Debenhams or similar I imagine ?)

Strategy for the future ?

More products for less than £5, and in-store tasting sessions !

Christmas, Valentines Day & Easter are seasonal peaks for chocolate sales, but Thorntons additionally stressed that hot weather in May affected business.

I wonder if headlines like the one above didn't help. Maybe we are eating too much fruit these days ?

High Street Meltdown

Lots of stories in the papers this weekend about the crisis affecting the UK High Street. This one seems a particularly good summary of the situation....

Walsh,K & Shah, O (2011) High noon on the High Street, Sunday Times, 3rd July Focus Section p.5

It has been a disastrous few days for the following companies :

T.J Hughes - discount department chain, has gone out of business. 57 stores and 4,000 staff face a bleak future.

Jane Norman, the youth fashion chain went under on Monday night. 200 shops and 1,600 staff lost.

HMV finally gave up with the CD market and will now concentrate on live music and gadgets. Sales sank by 11% this year, and the company only survived, many think, by selling off Waterstones.

Thorntons, the chocolatier, is closing many high street shops. We are not sure whether the Luton and Bedford branches have survived the chop.

What are the reasons for these poor results ?

1. Internet shopping
2. The financial crisis means that consumers are changing from a 'want' culture to a 'need' culture
3. Giant supermarkets are now selling everything, including Thorntons chocolates and CD's.
4. Lack of consumer confidence ( consumers may have the cash to spend but they are worried about their future )
5. Conspicuous consumption is no longer fashionable. People feel guilty about spending ( despite this some luxury brands are still manageing to prosper )
6. Customer service is no longer valued as much as it was formerly. This may be partly because people have so much information about the products they are buying available online.
7. Discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl are doing well.

Employment Appeal Tribunals

If you are a Human Resource Management student or doing an AMP which involves Employment issues you may want to look at the freely available judgements available on the site below.

These may concern issues such as racial discrimination or (mis)use of social networking sites at work. The blog post mentioned below, about a pub manager who was csacked for maligning her customers on Facebook, is not included at present.

It should be forthcoming soon I anticipate.


http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/employment-appeals/judgments.htm

Social Networking, Privacy, Wetherspoons and the Law

For those of you doing an AMP topic about privacy and social networking, don't forget to look at any relevant legal cases.

In Preece v JD Wetherspoons plc an Employment Tribunal found recently that a pub manager was fairly dismissed for when she made inappropriate comments about her pub customers on Facebook.

This breached Wetherspoons’ internet policy. Many employers are not aware of the risks of commenting on either their customers or their managers !

This behaviour has led to a new phrase....Anti-Social Networking. I think we may be hearing lots more about this in future.

For help with finding relevant law cases ask
alan.bullimore@beds.ac.uk

Sample AMP Topics

We have seen the following topics come up several times over the past couple of years, and although there are several new questions in June 2011 some are quite similar to these :

Will Toyota, the former legend of the car industry. lose the game ?
( All about market position, and how a company which has had a difficult time can overcome it. The case study may be someone like BP in the future, and how they might recover from their disastrous year. General information about the company could be found on Newsbank. You will have to use theory from books and journals to support your arguements )

Will advances in mobile telephone technology and applications herald the end of cash ?
( You need to think about how the cash-less society might develop, and look at how quickly technology is moving in this direction ). Are there time where hard currency cannot be replaced ? Will the situation develop in all countries at an equal pace ? Are there analogies to printed books being replaced by their electronic counterparts ? Look at general work about visions of the future, eg the Rough Guide to the future book, a recent addition to stock at Park Square.

How could a high street retailer survive the down-turn economy ?
( Although the obvious "Aldi Effect" is that the cheapest will prosper, how to explain the current good results for Waitrose ? )

Aldi Effect

The term "Aldi Effect" has been used to convey the idea that during recessionary times shoppers will dessert Tesco and Asda is order to save money.

Instead they will visit Aldi and Lidl, cut-price supermarkets which have recently prospered.

Although the arguement is a tempting one it does not explain the recent success of the more upmarket chain, Waitrose.

Figures to support these theories can be found on the Newsbank database.

Look at shops which have disappeared in Luton or your local town lately.

The Effect of Drought on Business

According to Chemical Business NewsBase Wednesday, December 31, 2008 the
Australian biotech market has had recent difficulties securing capital due to the global recession. Many desalination and other green projects have been put at risk. There are about 130 listed life science companies in Australia and an estimated 420 private companies. In 2008, two companies, Apollo Life Sciences and Portland Orthopaedics entered administration.

Thus, although green strategies can help to overcome the effects of climate change the effect of the global downturn has an even more marked effect.

Material on Inter Library loan

This is the site which you will need to use to obtain material ( Books / Journal Requests etc ) from elsewhere. We normally get your requests from the British Library. You need to keep a check on your university e-mail as a journal article link may be sent directly to this address.


http://lrweb.beds.ac.uk/guides/resources/researchers/document_supply

Material on Interlibrary loan

Flexible Working

Williams, G (2011) Part-time and Flexible working : a new approach Business Review 17 (3) p.30-31

This article in a recent print only publication is a good summary of the popularity of part-time work in the UK, despite negative conotations of the word. A good explanation too of Charles Handy's sc called shamrock organisation :
Core workers
Contracted Specialists
and Flexible workers providing the leaves !

The relevant legal regulations are also looked into, and these could be followed up on our Law Databases such as Westlaw and Lawtel ( without getting too bogged down in the detail )

Rough Guide to the Future

Recent addition to stock in the LRC. This book may be relevant to AMP groups looking at Climate Change ( particularly water shortages ) and the effect on the business of the future. We found lots of research on desalination when we looked at this topic earlier in the week.

Business Review

Another plug for my favourite print only journal, Business Review (ISSN 1354-1110. Having seen many AMP project groups this week I know that several of your topics have been covered recently in this journal.

Online advertising, Future of the Post Office, Flexible Working, Social Networking are all there.

For those doing case studies on Entrepreneurs there are several case studies here.

And just to repeat - this stuff is only available in print !

Business Ethics

If you are attempting an AMP Question on business ethics ( particularly about the ethics of advertising harmful products such as cigarettes ) bear in mind that you may find information in health and social science journals which you do not normally use ( as well as titles like Business Ethics )

Here is an example of an article which I traced using the ASSIA database

Assessing the cumulative impact of alcohol marketing on young people's drinking: cross-sectional data findings

Gordon, Ross; Harris, Fiona; Mackintosh, Anne Marie; Moodie, Crawford

Addiction Research & Theory, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 66-75, 2011

ISSN 1606-6359

Case Studies in Marketing

Another new addition to stock, AMP students are advised to beat the Autumn intake to this 2011 publication. The author is from nearby Cranfield University. It contains plenty of up-to-date case studies as indicated by the logos on the cover !

AMP Marketing Students

Beat the rush to this new text which we have recently added to stock. It's going to be the recommended text on MAR-005-3 Marketing in Contexts 2011 from next academic year so we are expecting a high demand.

Super Injunctions and Social Networking Privacy

The recent stories in the newspapers about privacy has meant that there are lots of stories in the newspapers recently about social networking sites. I found this one on the Newsbank Database by combining Social Network in the headline and Privacy in the story. Here's one example.



Nigel Morris and Cahal Milmo

Media freedoms in the balance - News Cabinet to consider legislation including privacy law and regulation of social media Watchdog may be unleashed to police social networks

Independent, Wednesday, May 11, 2011
( Accessed via Newsbank Database on 10th June 2011 )

Why so glum Sir Alex ?

Business Management Students working on the Olympics Effect on the UK economy might like to think about last weekend's Manchester United v Barcelona Champions League Final.

According to a Mastercard Survey this was one of the most lucrative games ever.
110,000 Spanish fans descended on London spending money in bars, restaurants, at tourist attractions ( and for the lucky ones at the game itself )

£320 million was generatated
£42 million went into the London Economy
Wembley proved a good host, capable of hosting this kind of game admirably.A good omen for 2012 one would imagine.

I was in A supermarket during the day where several trolleys were being filled for the game on TV.

Ruddick, G (2011) London nets £42m from final, Daily Telegraph, 28th May (accessed via Newsbank through library.beds.ac.uk ) 1st June 2011

Worth their Weight in Gold ?

This Sunday ( 8th May ) sees the publication of the Sunday Times Rich List. We usually recommend a look at this for students doing the assignment :

Are celebrities worth their pay ?

For about £2 the Sunday Times should last you all week....

Good News for Luton ?

First the Daily Express moves to the town. Then van production restarts. Now a story from the Daily Mail ( 25th April 2011, p. 42) that hat sales are up by 20 %.

Luton was once famous for its hat factories of course, and streets like Guildford St were lined with factories.

These days few remain, although it is possible to buy a hat and a fascinator in Eastex Factory Shop ( part of the Alexon fashion group ).

Eastex celebates it's 60th Anniversary this year, and they must be particularly pleased with news of increasing sales.

Heart NY

Endlessly copied from the original campaign in 1977, the heart symbol ( can't see it on this keyboard ) has finally appeared in the new Oxford English Dictionary.

The campaign was originally launched by Milton Glazer at a time when the city faced many problems and low morale...

Glazer however made nothing from his idea !

Gaming is serious business

If you are doing the AMP Project on gaming I recommend that you look at the series of talks below, and search for one by Tom Chadfield.

http://www.ted.com/talks/

Tom is the author of the book Fun Inc ( see below )and explains in his talk the positive benefits of online gaming.

Branding and Corporate Identity

If your project concerns anything to do with branding I would recommend this new acquisition to the LRC. The chapter on Brand Identity is especially good and includes 12 most common naming mistakes.

My favourite is EMU ( an Australian airline ) ...named after a bird which cannot fly.

Brands and branding

For those doing their large Project or their AMP and have a topic about branding then you MUST use our WARC database! WARC (World Advertising Research Centre) . A search for brands will bring thousands of results - case studies, research articles, news. If you want to follow up a particular company and see why they succeeded there may be a case study. There are now lots of new features to help you search so make sure you use WARC!
Access it here!

Luton Waterstones to close....

The Luton branch of Waterstones is to close shortly. The only bookshops left in the town will be the discount store 'The Works' and the more general W.H Smith. Very sad for the University Community and especially embarrassing as Luton attempts to obtain city status.

The company blames shop closures on the severe weather recently, and a 'weak entertainment market ' Shares worth £1 last January are now valued at 6 pence.

Surely Amazon and the effects of the recession are the real reason for the shops decline.

Buying British

Not that easy to buy British, as Dominic Pearce discovered. In an article in the Daily Express ( Wednesday 19th January 2011 ) it is noted that even Thames Water was sold off to an Australian Investment Company ( Macquarie ) in 2006.

Roberts Digital Radios make 6 of their models in South Yorkshire. The remaining 54 models are made in the Far East.

Marks & Spencer long ago stopped using the UK as a source for their clothes. Virtually every shirt, suit and jumper made abroad.

Hurrah for the Henry Vacuum Cleaner. Nu Matic the company that makes it is based in Chard, Somerset and employs 800 staff.

Dyson Vacuum Cleaners are now made in Malaysia.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the UK

From the most recent copy of Business Ethics :

Fitjar, D.H ( 2011 ) Little big firms ? Corporate social responsibility in small businesses that do not compete against big ones Business Ethics (20) 1 p.30-41

Article contains some good general definitions of CSR, and makes the point that smaller companies are just as likely to come under public scrutiny as large ones. Having a good CSR policy is thus imporatant in distinguishing one small firm from competitors.

In contrast to large companies however there may be less obligation to make CSR policies public.

Playing Games is a Serious Business

Those of you who are working on the project about the games industry should look out for Tom Chatfield's book Fun Inc which I ordered for the LRC yesterday. Thanks to Alan Wheeler for the recommendation. It should hopefully be with us soon.

Retailing in a recession...

According to an article in Harvard Business Review concentrating on loyal customers may not be the best strategy during a recession ( Favaro, 2009 ). If your loyal customers spend 25 % less in your store you will struggle. An alternative approach is to concentrate on "switchers". These are the people who divide their spending between your store and elsewhere.

Hence in Luton a new store like Family Bargains may hope to take custom from existing shops in the same market ( ie other cheap stores such as the Poundshop, and Wilko's )

Rebranding Unilever...

For those of you doing the Project on Rebranding Unilever, don't forget the Key Note Company Information which will tell you a little about the company's very varied portfolio :

Health care products, ice cream, tea, and cleaning materials !

You are never far from a Unilever brand such as Magnum, Cornetto, PG Tips, Knorr Soup ( once their best selling brand ) or Surf Washing Powder.

The Biz-Ed Database also has a good case study on Unilever.

Keynote Changes...

Lots more financial information is now available on Key Note Database in terms of company financial statistics. 7 million companies are analysed. The information is not as detailed as FAME, but could be useful for general Business students who just want to quote figures to show Tesco profits ( increasing ) or HMV ( delining ).

Want latest information about a company?

Then you should use Netvibes. This wonderful site enables you to set up links to selected sources which keep updating you about your selected company (or topic).
I made a little video recently which introduces you to how to use Netvibes.

HMV Profit warning

The internet seems to be seeing off HMV as 60 stores close and profits decline rapidly. Better get those Christmas vouchers cashed in asap