The media reported this as if the exodus were a new phenomen yet anecdotal evidence shows that customers had been voting with their feet long before last Christmas.

Despite the Big Price Drop campaign launched last year, customers have been defecting to Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s as well as to the value chains such as Aldi and Lidl.

It may now be a case of too little too late – Clarke apparently resisted deeper cuts and cutting earlier – so  customers got used to shopping elsewhere.

Or perhaps it is that Tesco had lost sight of what it was offering. The days of Cohen’s ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ are long gone (now replicated by the thriving pound stores). It was no longer the cheapest but neither was it Waitrose.

As has been seen in other retail sectors, the middle ground can be a difficult place as consumers move to the so-called Prada Primark priniciple of purchasing – some luxuries, some basics and little in between.

So Tesco needs to start standing for something again so it gives its customers a reason to buy. Clearly price alone if not enough.

If Philip Clarke learns what that should be then is time amongst the shelves will have been well spent.

Time will tell.

Apparently the devoted middle class ‘yummy mummies’ have tired of the wrap dresses and raincoats offered in every Boden catalogue and, tellingly, complain that the clothes are now ubiquitous and instantly recognisable since the company has not changed its trademark style.

Perhaps the most interesting development is that women have been complaining that the clothes are too expensive in the recession and that the brand has become ’smug’.

When Boden started the clothes were photographed on the friends of founder Johnnie Boden and no-one was closer to their target market.

For many years there were jokes in marketing circles that Boden knew absolutely everything about their customers, even the name of their dog (usually a black labrador)!

Clearly this is no longer the case and Boden has lost touch with its core UK market of affluent middle-class professionals in their 30s and 40s.

And regardless of Boden’s success abroad in exporting a vision of Britishness to America and other markets, they may find it harder to keep their market share in the UK where the middle market has been struggling, due to the so-called Prada-Primark effect in which shoppers buy low-cost, disposable fashion at one end and luxury branded lines at the other, squeezing out the middle.

Sales are still rising (from £133.9m in 2009 to £152m in 2010) so all may yet be well but Boden should not ignore the warning signs in their home market. Perhaps it is time to start talking to their customers again and finding out the name of their dogs!

They could do worse!

Eighteen months ago David Cameron warned that the lobbying industry was ‘out of control’ and in January 2012 the Government published its consultation paper ‘Introducing a Statutory Register of Lobbyists’.

There have been the expected squeals of indignation from the PR industry and much lobbying by the lobbyists themselves. The PR world is particularly incensed that the Government will exclude in-house teams and charities from the proposed register.

However, a new organisation Lobby Transparency (www.lobbyingtransparency.org) estimates that lobbying is a £2bn industry that must now be regulated and become more transparent with a detailed register of all such interests.

Meanwhile, the PR industry is gearing up for another fight since the Government also wants to regulate media relations as well in the light of the Leveson Inquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the press.

In addition, only last week the House of Lords Communications Committee report on journalism called for stronger regulation of the PR industry, suggesting that PR was a threat to the future of journalism! This is a very strange double-standard following some of the findings from the Leveson inquiry.

Over in email marketing the proposals for amendment to the European Data Protection Directive (also published in January) have been causing shock waves amongst marketers. Under the proposals there will be severe restrictions on how marketers can use personal data for marketing purposes.

The key issue is that there will be a ‘right to be forgotten’; people will be able to delete their data if there are no legitimate reasons for retaining it.

Also, wherever consent is required for data to be held, under the proposed guidelines processed, it will have to be given explicitly, rather than implicitly as now.

What marketers are concerned about is that consumers may rush to delete their details from databases, greatly impacting on the CRM process.

Meanwhile, website designers and strategists are concerned over the EU Cookie law which becomes law in May 2012. Basically, it means that websites will have to ask permission from visitors to use cookies. If visitors say no, this could adversely affect the statistics from Google Analytics and other tracking software.

This short video from SilkTide explains the situation very well.

Whatever happens in practice under the EU Cookie Directive and Data Protection proposals, an organisation’s relationship with their customers and potential customers will change.

Engagement will be critical – otherwise they may disappear for ever!

Then yesterday this message came from Google:

“We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.

We believe this stuff matters, so please take a few minutes to read our updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/policies/

They say that their privacy policy has not changed but that it is now going to be easier to share information across all the Google platforms. It all sounds very positive but one cannot help feeling that the ‘devil may be in the detail’!

Last summer it was reported that 100,000 British users deactivated theirFacebook accounts during May, reducing the total number to 29.8 million. And apparently six million logged off for good in America in the same period.

While doubtless some of these had become bored with social media generally or Facebook in particular, anecdotal evidence (from forums and blogs) highlights that many were concerned over privacy issues.

Whatever the truth, the issue of privacy in social media is not going to go away.

Luxury brands are doing very well – witness the recent success of Burberry – while the pound shops and cheap card outlets flourish but, with the notable exception of the John Lewis partnership, many middle market retailers are struggling and may disappear.

There was a time when being in the middle was considered a good thing but now the market seems to have polarised with consumers opting for the so-called Primark/Prada route – bargains or treats.

According to the futurologist James Harkin, as quoted in the London Evening Standard,  what we are seeing is no less than the death thoes of the mainsteam, a process which he believes started in the Sixties.

“The mainstream is no longer seen as quality, it is discredited. The idea that it was good enough for everyone has gone.”

While this may be seen as a good thing and that selling rubbish at an inflated price is no longer possible, it may sound the death knell for middle-market retailers such as Marks & Spencer. The strapline of ‘affordable luxury for everyone’  may no longer work in a market that is happy to mix couture and bargain basement.

Where Catherine Middleton has led others may not follow. The next few months in retailing will prove interesting.

Memorably, Alastair Campbell told the enquiry how he believed that a story about Cherie Blair’s pregnancy published by the Daily Mirror could have been obtained by phone hacking and that he believed the press was “frankly putrid in many of its elements”.

While many may have sympathy with Mr Campbell’s views - and with celebrities such as Sienna Miller whose phone was reportedly hacked – we may also remember that it was the former (when in Downing Street) who used the media to ’spin’ New Labour’s messages. And celebrities continue to use the media to leak news of their new film, book, video, TV show or divorce.

Clearly times have changed. Yet it will probably not be the celebrities or the spin doctors – despite their righteous indignation – who force a lasting change in our privacy laws.

It will be the ‘ordinary’ people like the Dowler family or Chris Jefferies (Jo Yeates’ Bristol landlord) whose lives were adversely affected forever by the actions of the media, who will finally bring about a sea-change in our laws.

The public revulsion at their treatment by a small section of the media promises to have a much greater result than the complaints of the well-known.

Time will tell.

Steve Jobs (Pic: AP)

The recent sad death of Steve Jobs robbed the world of an amazing man, regardless of whether one loves the iPhone, the iPad or the Mac.

The question now is how Apple will survive his loss.

Obviously, the company has been run – and run well – during his absences but it will be interesting to see how it performs in five, ten years time without its visionary leader.

During that time the current ‘news kids on the block’ will have matured and one may be the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

At the moment Apple products are flavour of the month but the test will come with the next new product launch.

But maybe customers will be kind as many seem to have a personal bond with the Apple brand. As one of the tributes on the RememberingSteve page on the Apple website said: 

“I fell in love with my first MAC in 1987, and have been in love with Apple ever since. Steve, your vision of what these products could do enabled me and millions of others to express our creativity in ways we once thought unimaginable. I can think of no greater gift to humanity than helping us all tap into our limitless potential to make art. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sandy”

Few technology products have inspired so much love so maybe Steve’s real legacy will be that the Apple dream will live on into the future.

Time will tell!

However, there is  a new kid on the block – the Refashionista, those who buy exclusively vintage or secondhand clothes and adapt them to current looks.

In recycling terms this is to be admired.

However, is buying this way what the economy needs right now to get us out of recession?

While the average High Street has a plethora of appealing charity shops we also need people to buy new clothes and accessories.

Retailers of all types are struggling – particularly those in fashion.

If being a Refashionista goes mainsteam then retailers will have a problem!

So shop for new clothes now!

Ignore your local charity shop or vintage store – Bond Street needs you!

It was very noticeable that during the riots in August, the retailers that suffered the most – such as JD Sports – were those that had positioned themselves as a desirable, aspirational brand for the under 25s. Other  retailers who suffered included Foot Locker, Debenhams, Boots and Carphone Warehouse.

These riots are clearly a wake-up call for brands that actively cultivated a “gangster chic” image as they found themselves targeted by looters across the country.

The issue of good brands attracting bad customers is one that must be exercising the minds of many Marketing Directors right now in the wake of the riots. We may well see a radical ’repositioning’ of some brands in the near future.

Meanwhile Abercrombie & Fitch has taken a different route and recently offered money to ‘Jersey Shore’ star Mike Sorrentino to stop wearing their clothes. 

The 29-year-old ‘Jersey Shore’ star – who is regularly seen in the brand – has been asked by the retailer to stop because it could be ‘distressing’ to its customers.

The company was quoted as saying ‘We are deeply concerned that Mr Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image.’

Time will tell if other brands follow suit. Whatever happens it is going to be a costly exercise.

Image from International Business Times

As marketers we often tell clients that they should encourage everyone in the organisation to ‘live the brand’.

This covers everything from the way staff answer the telephone to the colour of the plants in Reception, the idea being that the (positive) values of the brand are expressed at every touchpoint between the organisation and the outside world.

Such seamless expression is fine when the values of the brand are positive but the reverse may be true if the values are negative. The recent sad death of the talent singer Amy Winehouse is such a case in point.

Her struggles with alcohol and drugs have been well-documented and it was startling to see that – amongst the floral tributes and cards outside her Camden home – there were (full) bottles of vodka and other drinks, cigarettes and doubtless drug impedimenta discreetly tucked away at the back.

Sadly, it seems that Amy the brand had negative values to which her fans responded wholeheartedly. Certainly she seemed to relish those negative values herself in the latter years of her short life – and became her own brand, living it to the full.

While this is probably a unique situation there is a lesson here for all brands, particularly those  in alcohol, music and leisure.

Beware of how your brand values are being perceived by your customers – it may not be how you imagined it!