Local identity and presence key for the new BankWest

The odds are very much against the survival of the BankWest brand now that the bank has been bought by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.


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Smart Thinking: by Gabi Woolgar

Having a good idea is one thing: bringing it to commercial reality is another kettle of fish altogether.

(Features interview with Michael Smith, this article is taken from the July 2009 issue of P[&]L Magazine, published by the Australian Institute of Management WA)

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What do we mean by “Strategic Marketing”?

We define marketing as a process based on understanding the opportunities offered by market and responding in a competitive manner to achieve the organisations goals.

The notion of strategies is generally defined as being highly important to an intended objective. That is the main levers and initiatives to achieve the most important goals.

Strategic marketing is then how the main levers will be operated to achieve the most important marketing objectives.



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Are brand values and corporate values always the same?

The short answer is not always but alignment, where possible, is a good thing.

The most obvious example of where corporate and brand differences are often different is the house of brands. Companies such as Proctor and Gamble have a series of brands owned and promoted by the corporation. These brands sit in the market under their own name with no obvious attachment to the parent.


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Beyond the strategic toolshed

Management consultants lead the production and employment of strategic and business tools. While the ever increasing armoury of these tools is generally to the great benefit of business we need to look at the problem / opportunity first, and the tools second.

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Brand valuation - what is your name worth?

The idea that brands, and reputations, have measurable value has been around for 20 years.

In some jurisdictions brand names have been formally placed on the balance sheet.

The most recent example is the sale of the Fosters brand for what is essentially the European market for A$750 million. This is for a recipe and the right to use the brand.  This transaction astonished financial pundits given that they were expecting a value of A$200 million and even this seemed ambitious to some when the net contribution of the Fosters brand in Europe was running at an annual rate of $10 million EBITA.



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Planning to win share

Most organisations operating in contestable markets are after growth.  A large part of this growth is often associated with winning additional market share.



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PRICE - The dumb thug of value

Value is represented by a family of elements with price as one of the most prominent members.  As loud, noisy and powerful the price can be it is unless masterfully handled a blunt instrument that can have a highly destructive effect on margins and the business.



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RESEARCH: How to recover from a bad first impression

We know first impression’s count, so how do we recover if the first impression is negative?

Interesting new research indicates that recovering from this poor start requires a different approach than if the first impression was positive.



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Service strategy for risky purchases

One of the most important teachings of consumer behaviour is the idea that buyers behave differently depending on the degree of personal risk they associate with the purchase. This has major implications for service strategy for companies providing these riskier purchases.



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Exploring Web Site Use by Western Australian Schools

This paper uses Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 1995) to explore web site adoption by Australian primary and secondary schools. A content analysis (Krippendorf, 1980) of features on thirty-nine randomly selected Western Australian schools found two main uses of the sites - marketing the school and communicating with the school's community.

The majority of schools - especially private schools - used their web site for promotion, providing brochure-type information to prospective parents and community members. Fewer schools used their sites for communication, providing up to date information on school activities targeted at parents, students and staff. The results suggest that social pressure and competition - especially for public schools - fuel web site adoption. Schools seem to use their sites in an unstructured process that fails to consider the web site's role in marketing the school and communicating with interested parties.  

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