Tag Archives: Marketing

Death of Marketing Giant Eddie Stobart

Consumerism, Economy, , , , , , , , , ,

Stobart’s Company Hit Jackpot

What was it about Eddie Stobart and his medium-sized haulage company that was so successful? At 56 years old, Eddie Stobart’s son (Edward Stobart) the man behind the Stobart Group (incorporating Stobart Rail, Stobart Ports, Stobart Air, Stobart Biomass, Stobart Ireland, Stobart Brand, etc.), passed away at University Hospital, Coventry, due to heart problems. But he sure did leave a huge legacy behind him. In fact, it has been said that Eddie Stobart was “a man responsible for one of the UK’s most idiosyncratic brands.” The father remains alive, in his eighties, but his son at 56, died suddenly.

What’s fascinating about the Stobart empire is that it was basically “offering the same product as its competitors” but totally sky-rocketed past any of them, becoming “a much-revered British institution.” Thus for companies looking for top marketing expertise and business success, the Stobart empire has to be the place from where to take lessons.

Stobart History

The Stobart haulage company basically began in the 1950s as an agricultural business, became a haulage company in 1976 (Eddie Stobart Ltd.). Around 20 years later “the brand was known throughout the land.” Big-known companies associated with Stobart include: Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Proctor and Gamble and Tesco. It thus might not be such a big surprise that Stobart has around 25,000 members in its fan club.

Stobart Success

Whenever you were on any motorway journey throughout the whole of Europe, you would probably catch a glimpse of a Stobart truck; they really became household names of such. Today, the company is run by Eddie’s brother William Stobart who “continues the family involvement in his role as chief operating officer of the Stobart Group.” One of the things that made the company stand out perhaps was the fact that rather than the name truck drivers had accrued for themselves over the years of being somewhat sloppy and unkempt, the Stobart drivers were very smartly dressed. That for sure made them stand out.

Stobart Marketing Lessons?

So for those wanting to take their companies from average to something top notch by Stobart, one way to do this is by standing out from the rest. Do something different. Get yourself known for being the company that does it right; that does it better; that really takes pride in its work. That attitude sure did work for Stobart.

PTJ: Post Traumatic Japan

Consumerism, Economy, Japan, , , ,

Japan and Travel

The question on everyone’s lips of course is, how is Japan faring, post trauma? What does its road to recovery look like? According to Tourism Australia, pretty good. It looks like the company is going to begin marketing in the country next month again since “officials claimed they were confident of a swift recovery.” Marketing in Japan was put on hold last month by Tourism Australia but that things will be speeding up, pretty much because the company’s MD Andrew McEvoy sees how it is “in the Japanese DNA to travel,” so they won’t be sitting still all that much longer.

Japan isn’t set to sit in the sidelines forever. Indeed it is thought that the country is going to recover fast and “get strong again,” leading to increased growth. There doesn’t seem to be the need to be placing any ads but there are already notable signs that people want to start traveling again.

This is especially timely since next week it is Golden Week, traditionally a very major travel season for the Japanese. As well, schoolteachers were looking at Australian tour opportunities via Tourism Australia. Clearly the Japanese are not living in the past; in fact they are heading out to the future with enthusiasm.

Japanese Industry

As well, news today in Japanese industry is that as the country recovers, demand will increase in Japan for beef, copper and iron ore. According to Melbourne’s National Australia Bank Ltd’s commodities economist Ben Westmore, building up the country again could “drive demand for steelmaking materials and metals used in construction.” Given that the local protein supply was damaged, this will probably result in an increased need for imported dairy products and beef as well.

Further, there will probably be the need for more food imports due to the possibility of radiation leaks from the nuclear plant in Japan. So it looks like in general there will be more business inside of Japan and more travel outside during the coming months as the country goes from strength to strength following its recent travesty.

Even Hollywooders Need Savvy Business

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Hollywood Not Living Happily Ever After?

It’s not always a case of happy ever after, even for those in Hollywood. Although the industry is making tons of money still, it has been deeply criticized for its inability to market itself, according to Hollywood’s newly appointed chief lobbyist, Christopher Dodd. While it knows how to sell movies, it needs to work on self-marketing, he said.

It’s all about image; according to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s no good that Washington views Hollywood as “red carpets and tuxedos,” as opposed to the thriving industry it is.

Hollywood Getting A Bad Rep

And in other news in Hollywood, it seems Beyonce may be in need of a bit of therapy to discuss her familial woes. The artist has split with Music World Entertainment, owned by her father Mathew Knowles, but there is said to be no bitterness or resentment on the part of either daughter or dad. According to senior Knowles, “I love my daughter and am very proud of who she is and all that she has achieved. I look forward to her continued great success.”

What is more important to Mr. Knowles these days is the gospel/inspirational genre of music his company is now making investments in as well as new artists including Britan Courtney Wilson and Vanessa Bell Armstrong.

In Hollywood it’s often here today and gone tomorrow. That can be good for business in the fast-paced changing world but vis-à-vis it’s credibility nationwide, the industry might be well-advised to employ a good marketing company.

NZ: Marketing and Markets

Consumerism, Economy, Japan, ,

It’s not always the case that the more money spent on marketing, the better your product will well.  That’s what energy-Drink Manufacturer Red Bull New Zealand just found out.  Although the company netted 7.5 percent gain in 2010 sales (its second best since it first launched more than ten years ago), other factors have been at play.  Still, the company can celebrate a tad since a staggering $30.3 million of the caffeine-infused energy drinks were purchased by New Zealanders last year, that is made with taurine (an amino acid that was originally located in bull bile; hence Red Bull).

But it didn’t come cheap.  The company paid for this with larger marketing and administration costs which “wiped out most of its net profit” that plummeted to $888,171 from $10.7 million.  It’s not always in the sales pitch.

New Zealand Market Recovers Following Japan’s Disaster

V – an energy drink produced by Frucor – is in direct competition with Red Bull.  The latter drink has a hold on around 60 percent of the market share, selling approximately $90m of the drink annually.Good news on the horizon for New Zealanders as its dollar just now jumped ahead “recovering the more than US2c lost in the last week in the wake of Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, followed by a nuclear crisis in the world’s third-largest economy.”

According to HiFX Daniel Bell, “Investors have shrugged off concerns in Japan and the Middle East for now to give risk assets a boost with equities, commodities and high yielding growth currencies all benefiting.”

So things are looking up for New Zealanders and manufacturing companies like Red Bull and V are likely to continue making good profits; so long as they’re careful with their expenses and make the right marketing decisions.

Best Marketing Advice: Believe in Your Product

iPad 2, iPhone, Tech News, , , ,

Verizon iPhone 4 Versus iPad 2

We all heard about the craziness for the iPad 2 and how sales went completely out of control.  Apparently not so for the Verizon iPhone 4.  They did okay but it wasn’t “revolutionary.”  It was seen primarily as “just another iPhone 4” with Apple not participating so much in promotional sales, leaving it mostly to Verizon.  At the end of the day the marketing message was clear: “Verizon can’t market its way out of a paper bag.”

Verizon Not Hot on Marketing

It’s not really a surprise when you look at the company’s marketing history.  Even when it came to the Droid, it didn’t do that well and it had quite substantial opportunity since there were plenty of customers who would have settled for it over the iPhone 4.  Verizon should have jumped on the bandwagon and used iPhone for its marketing technique by selling it as an iPhone but ultimately it did quite the opposite and promoted the Droid as “the anti-iPhone.”  Well, that wasn’t going to satisfy anyone.

Learn Lessons Like a Politician

At the end of the day, to really be a success in marketing what you need to do is believe in your product.  Just like the British Labour Party in the 1980s kept trying to be a watered-down version of Thatcherism and that didn’t work, Verizon should have honed in on its own market and those who wanted its product.  Around 99 percent of Verizon’s customers are non-geek and so only required something that was like an iPhone (for a better price).  Indeed before the era of Verizon iPhone, AT&T’s iPhone was beating Verizon Droid sales by a staggering 2.5 to 1 which led to a total flop of Verizon’s Droid marketing.

At the end of the day, any marketing buff will tell you just how important it is to hone in on your own specific market if you really want to succeed in pushing your product.  Marketing Lesson 101 learnt: believe in yourself.