Weekend Round-Up September 21, 2009
Several big brands are beefing up their images as competitors steal a march on them: Vodafone's on the marketing offensive as the potential T-Mobile/Orange merger threatens to push it back to third, behind market leader O2. It is revamping its brand message, swapping its old "Make the most of now" tag being replaced by "Power to you."
Starbucks is considering opening revamped, non-branded stores in the UK to refresh its flagging fortunes. The coffee chain's been hard hit by the recession and its uniform decor and branding have failed to catch the mood of cash conscious customers. UK and Eire MD Darcy Willson-Rymer admits to putting process before customers but claims the fundamentals are still "fantastic". (Channel 4, too, is catching the public mood: outgoing chief executive promises less reality TV and less swearing in future.)
Fewer City commuters could spell trouble for London's Tube upgrade.
"Forget GDP: happiness is the secret of success" -- the economics of happiness are revisited by French president Nicholas Sarkozy, of all people.
By contrast, former BSkyB boss Tony Ball's request for pay approaching £20m to revitalise ITV seems out of step with the public mood. Certainly, investors are baulking, with ITV considering its director of TV, Peter Fincham.
Job search getting you down? Former steelworker John Evans, 46, has just landed his first job after 26 years and 300 failed applications, says the Mail on Sunday.
Former consultant Matthew Stewart skewers his former profession in this extract from his book, "The Management Myth: Management Consulting Past, Present and Largely Bogus", in the Independent on Sunday.
A Royal Bank of Scotland survey predicts a comeback for the UK flotation market in early 2010, according to the Independent on Sunday.
Motor industry represenatives are none to happy that the government's "cash for bangers" scrappage scheme is due to end in October, once the £300m runs out. More than 200,000 orders have been taken since its launch, but it's generally believed that without it, most buyers wouldn't have stretched to new wheels in 2009.
Is "Fred the Shred" back? The News of the World reports the maligned former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland was spotted out and about near the bank's HQ in the City of London.