Speedo Part 2

I wrote about Speedo only a month ago on how I was impressed that they had used real customer insight on women’s actual shapes to design a new range of swimwear.
Well I’m back this month on Speedo since the brand is unveiling a new pan-European campaign.

It will focus on personal relationships with swimmers, promoting Speedo as a brand that understands that every swimmer is different. So far so good. This ties in with a range that suits different types of bodies and suggests that the brand wants to reach all types of swimmers and bodies, not just those we traditionally associate with Speedo. That is to say the ultra sporty types who get a size smaller so that they can stretch their costume onto their bodies like an elastic band that is about to snap. You know – the type of costumes that for “normal” people, dig into your hips and make your legs look like jelly.

Then Speedo International Head of Marketing Communications Chris MacDonald goes on to say: “As the world’s leading swimwear brand, we understand the benefits that swimming for fitness and relaxation can bring. Our objective for this campaign is to engage with our consumers and explore their relationships with swimming. Speedo’s new brand campaign is striking, emotive and will prompt swimmers of all levels to talk about why they like to swim.”

Marketing speak anyone? “Engage with consumers”, “explore their relationships”, “talk about why they like to swim”. I am a practical marketer. That doesn’t mean I am not strategic but I like a brand to be straight forward in its promises to consumers and then deliver it flawlessly. I love lots of brands and still think they have a huge role to play in marketing, but when I hear this kind of speech, I groan because this type of statement gives us marketers a reputation for creating flowery concepts over long lunches.

What about the product Speedo? What are the costumes like? Why are they the best? Why should I trust your brand to get it right? Is your range super cool and fashionable? Or just really comfy? Or the best materials that make you go faster? Or the widest range, a costume to fit any shape or size?

Do you really care that my relationship with swimming is the following: I swim up and down my public pool to keep fit and I wear a costume occasionally on holiday.

Here’s an idea for you Speedo if you really want to engage with me as a customer – put money into cleaning up my public pool, the changing rooms are skanky. “Speedo cleans up public pools and makes swimming a better experience”. That will really please me. Oh and make a costume that looks good, fits well and keeps its elastic for a few months. Ta very much.

KFC = Kan’t forget the customer?

KFC – I never eat it, haven’t been for over 10 years. But I do know what they are about. It’s clear, it’s in your face, it’s junk food in a bargain bucket. It tastes good and they don’t care. I love it.

I am already tired of all the TV programs, magazine articles and gym membership leaflets coming through the door. Just as silly season has ended, the mad diet season begins. We must be healthy, we must purge our Christmas sins, we must avoid sugar and fat and run around the park.

But one TV ad caught my eye. It followed the new DVD from the latest newly size 8 celeb, and it was for Kentucky Fried Chicken, or as it is now known KFC.

Chicken, fries, bakes beans, creamy coleslaw and wait for it, full fat coke for a special price. Why cook mum when you can give them what they want?

There must be about 5000 calories in one of those meals. OK I exaggerate, but not much. But KFC don’t care, they know that when people want junk food, that is what they want.

I have to admire this brand for sticking to their principles. While MacDonalds was promoting salads, and Pizza Hut was re-branding to a healthier Pasta Hut, KFC never once waivered from their proposition. Chicken junk food, Finger lickin good. And who can forget the Colonel, an integral part of the KFC brand identity since forever. You have got to hand it to them, they never bowed under the pressure, they just give the customers what they want.

However, new owner group Yum! have in my opinion, entirely missed the point by trialling grilled chicken in the US. What’s more they have reportedly spend over ¼ billion dollars pushing it, offering a free piece to every customer.

The franchisees in the US, who are clearly more in touch with their customers than their parent company, disagree so strongly that they are suing their own company. They believe the brand is losing its focus.

You might not agree with junk food advertising and like me, you may believe that UK has a very serious obesity issue but these fast food places are not the issue, we are, as a society. You also have to admit that the marketing team in charge of KFC have had the (chicken) balls to stick to the brand values thus far and I think they should be allowed to continue.

Jimmy Choo's or Shoe Zone?

We’ve had the Kate Moss collection at Top Shop , Lily Allen for New Look and recently H&M featured a special Jimmy Choo’s selection.

Seduced by a lower price tag for one of Britain’s best loved designers, I popped into a London store to take a look. (It was limited stores only and lowly Peterborough didn’t make the grade).

Of course I wasn’t expecting to find much left over after the initial rush but there were a few pairs. I was surprised however to see how awful they were. Not the design so much as the quality. They would have fitted in nicely into the Shoe Zone’s bargain basement range. With a £50 price tag these I thought that they could at least have used leather, not plastic.

So what does this say about one of the hottest brands out there?

I understand that high end fashion has to reach down to the masses. It’s a financial reality with rising costs at the supply end and a recession that is hitting even the richer end of the customer spectrum. However, where Top Shop got it right, Jimmy got it wrong. The Kate Moss collection starting at about £120 and going up well over £200 is pricey for Top Shop but you’ve got to give the public something to aspire to. Too affordable and it just isn’t desirable.

Your average Jimmy Choo’s are about £300 a pair, so if H&M had priced their collection at £120 for example and used some decent quality materials, I would have said that would have been a better choice.

Yes I am sure they sold well and some members of the public are chuffed with themselves but what about the core customer? What about the ones that pay £300? Do they really want to see a Tesco checkout girl sporting plastic Jimmys with the same label as them? I think not.

Luxury branding is about aspirations. As the recession continues to bite I wonder if more brands will let the prospect of good sales figures turn their heads and stamp on their core customer?

If anyone has seen the current Sonia Rykiel collection, let me know if it is any better.