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Are brands going too far in their efforts to appease pressure groups?
Marketing: April 2010. By Matt Conner, Client services director, SFW.
Marketing: April 2010. By Matt Conner, Client services director, SFW.
Asda has decided to consult influential online community Mumsnet on whether it should sell an item of children’s clothing following a row over Primark’s padded bikini top for seven-year-olds.
Asda’s creation of the Mumsnet stamp of approval is a fabulous example of being quick to act and in touch with your audience. Instead of clearing the shelves of anything potentially inappropriate overnight, it has given Mumsnet users activate involvement (and endorsement) in selecting what they will willingly buy for their kids. It seems like a very savvy idea to me.
There is also a big difference between what Asda has done proactively to gain competitive advantage and the way other well-known brands have reacted to swathes of attack over their practices. Many stick their heads in the sand and hide behind the press team, waiting for the storm to pass.
Take Nestlé, for example; according to the Guardian, it is the UK’s most-boycotted brand, but will the company feel any long-term pain from it? I’ll be very interested to see whether the recent exposure for Kit Kat has a lasting effect or just becomes a minor blip on an econometric model.