Carrefour's Green Ideas

Carrefour's stores in Spain no longer put customers' purchases in disposable plastic bags, part of their move to get greener in four categories: (1) develop and sell responsible products; (2) use responsible sourcing; (3) reduce stores' environmental impact; and (4) reduce logistics' environmental impact.

As the largest retailer in Europe--and the second-largest on the planet, after Wal-Mart--Carrefour have many opportunities to improve environmental conditions. The CEO also recognises that customers care about green initiatives. "Carrefour’s implication in social and environmental responsibility will become a distinct criteria in our customers’ decision making," he states in the company's most recent sustainability report.

In that report, covering full-year 2008 operations, Carrefour say they reduced the number of disposable plastic shopping bags they distribute to customers by more than one-third in just three years. Other accomplishments include cutting energy usage and increasing the range of eco-friendly products offered to customers. Will smaller retailers follow Carrefour's example and go greener in the coming years?

Fast-Fashion Retailing

Although many consumers have slowed their spending due to the current economic woes, fast-fashion retailer H&M still reports profits from selling up-to-date styles at budget prices.

Competitor Zara, owned by Spain's Inditex, recently reported lower profits . . . but its expansion continues as it opens dozens of new stores in China and Russia.

Japan's Fast Retailing--parent of Uniqlo--is also growing quickly and bringing value-priced fashion apparel to shoppers around the world.

Once the economy recovers, will fast-fashion retailing be as attractive?

King of Shaves Raises Marketing War Chest

The King of Shaves is selling bonds directly to consumers to raise money for its "marketing war chest." The idea is to raise money from people who will then become brand ambassadors for the company, which competes against Gillette and other big-name firms. This decidedly non-traditional approach to funding marketing is explained on the firm's web site. Founder Will King ends his home-page explanation this way: "My word is my Shaving Bond."

Will consumers lend King the cash? Will they buy enough products that the King of Shaves can pay back its bondholders? And if this scheme works, will others follow King's lead?

L'Oréal vs Copy-Cat Brands

In the legal battle between L'Oréal's distinctly identifiable branded perfumes and the copy-cat producer Bellure, which makes lookalike fragrances packaged very much like those of L'Oréal, the winner is . . . L'Oréal. (This updates my Chapter 6 coverage of packaging and branding.)

According to Brand Republic, "The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of cosmetics company L'Oréal in its trade mark battle with Belgian perfume manufacture Bellure, in a case which sets a precedent for penalising look-a-like products for free-riding on the marketing of those they copy."

Bellure had been marketing low-priced copy-cat perfumes very similar to the famous L'Oréal fragrances, which L'Oréal said was an unfair advantage. L'Oréal is one of the world's largest cosmetics companies, with an annual turnover of 17.5 billion euros and 23 global brands that each earn 50 million euros or more in any given year.

The Financial Times quotes Geoff Steward, a partner at the London law firm Macfarlanes, as saying: "The L'Oréal decision should sound the death knell on look-alike and own-label products."

What's next for name brands and their copy-cats?

Vinnie Tells It Straight

Fox's Biscuits should be happy to have Vinnie on their side. The panda with a gangsta attitude appears in TV and radio adverts and he's all over the Internet--on the brand's web site, on his own site, on Facebook, on Twitter and (Fox hopes) in e-mailboxes of millions of fans who send messages from Vinnie to friends and relatives far and wide.

Vinnie is one popular guy, with 8800 fans on Facebook. And Fox's Biscuits know how to engage brand fans. They're inviting brand fans to send in photos of a "Fox's Moment" and to vote for their favourite biscuits. They're offering downloadable avatars, wallpaper and--of course--recipes. Vinnie tells it straight, which makes him a YouTube star. Lots of fun.

Koenigsegg + Saab = ?

Will Sweden's Koenigsegg buy Saab from General Motors and restore the brand to its former glory?

After all, Koenigsegg is a very young company and its expertise is super-fast sports cars (see above); Saab's focus is vehicles for mainstream consumers (see left). Will the merger be completed--and, if it is, what is the future of the Saab brand?

Lamborghini Goes Green

How fast can a sports car speed toward eco-friendliness? Lamborghini has pledged to cut its vehicles' CO2 emissions by 35 per cent within six years (possibly by using hybrid engine technology and biofuel). It will also cut CO2 emissions from manufacturing by 20 per cent within the next year.

A photo of its new solar-powered plant in Sant'Agata is shown here. Of course the sports car below it is today's Lamborghini. Will consumers buy a green Lamborghini? Should the new eco-friendly car be green to reinforce its green benefits?

Cadbury's Sweet Marketing

Cadbury has changed its online presence many times over the years (updating Cadbury case from Chapter 6). Thanks to the Internet Archive, we can actually go back in time to see the site as it looked in Dec. 1996 (image at left), 1998, 2004, 2006 and other years.

Knowing that people have fond memories of products of the past, Cadbury keeps chocolate history alive with stories of old favourites such as Amazin' Raisin on its current site. Cadbury also brings us along on the journey toward developing the new products of tomorrow. Sweet marketing.