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Pick n’ Fix

Woolworths: pheonix from the flames

Woolworths is dead, long live Woolworths. Here’s a great example of how bricks and mortar, or should that be bricks n’ mortar, is not part n’ parcel (okay, I’ll stop that now) of a brand. The new owners of the brand, Shop Direct, asked people what it was they loved about Woolies. The answers included Ladybird children’s clothes and Pick n’ Mix sweets. And so the brand was sharpened and brought to the online marketplace with lower overheads.

Of course, this could have happened years ago in parallel with the high street operation. If the previous owners had done this they would have had options, as other retailers have who did. Of course there’s no guarantee they would have got it right. So perhaps the best thing for the brand was to change hands and benefit from an injection of new ideas and expertise.

Either way, let’s just celebrate that the Woolworths brand, on death’s door at the ripe old age of 99, has made it to 100 after all, looking younger and fresher than ever. That’s the Wonder of Woolies.

What do you think about Woolies brand? Leave a comment.

 

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Brand, Touchpoint. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Pick n’ Fix”

  1. Rob Hook Says:
    July 1st, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    Great blog Nigel.

    In 2000 whilst studying for an MBA, we did a case study on Woolworths as a brand . Even then it was a basket case as we could not define what it was and how it could engage with the High Street.

    What is shows is that a brand is not a logo and that being famous isn’t enough when it comes to extracting hard earned cash from the pockets of shoppers.

    A brand has to generate an emotional attachment within the mind of the shopper which in turn generates loyalty and increases the client life time value.

    Rob “The Business CoPilot” Hook

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