Thursday 29 October 2009

Problematic Postal Picket

Below are the details from LONDON (Reuters) website about the postal strike action:

More than 40,000 postal workers began a second wave of one-day strikes after Royal Mail managers and union leaders failed to reach a deal to end the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and modernisation.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said 43,700 drivers and mail centre staff across Britain walked out from 4:00 a.m.

They will be followed on Friday by a small group of 400 workers in the towns of Plymouth, Stockport and Stoke and then on Saturday by 77,000 delivery and collection staff nationwide.

The strike went ahead after negotiations between CWU officials and Royal Mail managers in London collapsed for reasons that both sides agreed not to disclose.

"We remain available for discussions at any time," CWU Deputy General Secretary Dave Ward said in a statement. "We remain committed to reaching an agreed resolution."

The backlog of undelivered mail from two strikes last week still stands at 2 million items, the Royal Mail said.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has described the strikes as suicidal for a company that is losing 10 percent of its mail volume each year to private firms, the Internet, email and mobile phones.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose Labour Party has received about 5 million pounds from the postal union since 2001, has called the strikes "counter-productive."


I am spilt on this dispute as I can see both sides. As a customer of Royal Mail it’s an inconvenience even for my personal mail – I can’t imagine how it would be for people trying to run a business while this is still unresolved.

From speaking to many people and reading opinions online I can see that it’s not only me. I agree that postal workers are affecting businesses and people are suffering as a result; in times like this recession they are lucky to have a job with a good pension and if they can afford not to work (by striking) then things cannot be too bad financially for them, they are however affecting other people's income and that is not very fair.

On the other hand I read one postal worker’s response to the negative press the workers had received and was sympathetic, he said:
“They have moved my hours by 3 hours with no thought of my family and home life, one guy came back from holiday to find he'd be working Saturdays, he's never done a Saturday in 20 years! Every single office and mail centre has had this happen through executive action - No managers have changed their hours or days. I look around my office and see more managers than actual workers, get rid of them not us.”

I understand that postal workers need to adapt to change (many industries are going through similar experiences) if they want the company to survive the competition that technology has brought but I know I wouldn’t be happy if there wasn’t a sense of fairness and equality in these changes.

Research has shown that the authoritative approach the Royal mail seem to have adopted is ineffective in a changing work place – a company needs to bring the workers with them through openness, consultation and collaboration, not necessitate change without an explanation.

It also seems to me that Royal mail execs and the union are battling egos whilst the public and the workers are losing out – that is just my take on it but either way there needs to be a speedy solution. What are your thoughts?

FYI: For those who want to avoid the effects of the postal strike on parcels and maybe even save some money, here is a forum link with some useful information from the bargain hunter Martin Lewis’ website: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/cheap-parcel-delivery.

Thursday 22 October 2009

Are Loyalty Cards a Win-Win Situation?

Image courtesy of Tesco.com
I was reading in the Financial Times that Tesco reported an improvement in its performance relative to its main UK rivals after revamping its loyalty card scheme, Tesco Clubcard.

“After years of powerful growth, Tesco had been under an unusual amount of pressure in its home market, from which it still draws the lion’s share of its sales.

Its share of the UK grocery market fell from 31.1 per cent to 30.9 per cent over the 12 weeks to September 6, according to quarterly figures from TNS Worldpanel; Asda, J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison – its closest rivals – have all been gaining share.” FT

Tesco fought back against this pressure by doubling the Clubcard points in store and has reported a positive effect, so clearly their loyalty card scheme works well for them.

I wonder then if it is a win-win situation and if consumers benefit just as much as the companies through these types of loyalty card schemes?

I have a Clubcard and although I don’t shop regularly in Tesco, I do collect points when I do happen to buy from there. I am also able to collect points through my gas and electricity provider (E-on). I get approx £5-£10 quarterly, which doesn’t seem much - but if you cash these in for other partner deals – days out, etc this can quadruple and make it much better value.

I have had a ‘free’ trip to The Science Centre amongst other places, purely from trading in my Clubcard points at the end of each quarter. I know that Tesco and other companies obviously benefit from the vast amount of information they get about their customers from these types of schemes but I’m not concerned about the privacy of what I put in my shopping trolley or about how many units of gas and electricity I use each month, so I don’t see it as a downside.

The only bad press I have heard about Tesco’s scheme, strangely arose from The Society of Radiographers who criticised Tesco for offering CT scans through its Clubcard reward scheme.

Society Chief Executive Richard Evans said in a letter to Tesco he was concerned that self-referral for diagnostic imaging outside a nationally regulated screening programme is "inappropriate and unnecessary."

Apart from this, the only negatives that consumers reported when reviewing were that “spending money on things you don’t need intentionally to receive points is crazy and you end up out of pocket”, this may be true for some but I know that I don’t go out my way to spend at Tesco so I’m satisfied that I’m getting ‘money for nothing’ - nothing being no extra cost or inconvenience to me.

Anyway, to round it up, I think it’s a great scheme for earning ‘rewards’ for spending money on everyday buys (groceries, petrol, energy) and I’m not too bothered about the privacy aspect and the fact that Tesco can track my spending for market researcher purposes – as long as they are offering great deals in return.

I view it as a win-win situation, what are your views?

Thursday 15 October 2009

Kellogg's plan to laser flakes to fight fakes


A press release dated 14th October on Kellogg’s website states:

Kellogg's has developed a hi-tech method to stamp out imitation cereals - by branding Corn Flakes with the company logo.

The new technology enables the firm - which makes 67 million boxes of Corn Flakes every year - to burn the famous signature onto individual flakes using lasers.

Kellogg's plan to produce a number of one-off trial batches of the branded flakes to test the system.

Bosses will then consider inserting a proportion of branded flakes into each box to guarantee the cereal's origins and protect against imitation products.

If the system is successful it could be used on Kellogg's other best-loved brands including Frosties, Special K, Crunchy Nut and Bran Flakes.

The laser uses a concentrated beam of light which focuses the energy within the beam, down to a very small spot on the Corn Flake.

The energy density within the laser spot diameter is sufficient enough to give the surface of the flake a darker, toasted appearance without changing the taste.

Kellogg's embarked on the project to reinforce that they don't make cereals for any other companies and to fire a shot across the bows of makers of 'fake flakes'.

Yesterday Helen Lyons, lead food technologist at the company, said: ''In recent years there has been an increase in the number of own brands trying to capitalise on the popularity of Kellogg's corn flakes.

''We want shoppers to be under absolutely no illusion that Kellogg's does not make cereal for anyone else.

''We're constantly looking at new ways to reaffirm this and giving our golden flakes of corn an official stamp of approval could be the answer.

''We've established that it is possible to apply a logo or image onto food, now we need to see if there is a way of repeating it on large quantities of our cereal. We're looking into it.''

The company also released figures which show sales of Kellogg's Corn Flakes have risen in 2009 as shoppers with limited budgets opt for recognised, reliable brands.

A staggering 128 billion bowls of Kellogg's Corn Flakes are eaten worldwide every year in countries as far afield as Guatemala, Japan, Argentina and India.

And an incredible 2.8 million bowls of Kellogg's Corn Flakes are eaten in the UK everyday - that's one billion a year.

The firm's Manchester factory is also the biggest Corn Flake production line in the world and churns out cereals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.


This is interesting to me as a marketing student as I was recently discussing the effects and ethics surrounding supermarkets ‘copying’ known brands packaging and whether this was an intentional act to ‘con consumers’.

Earlier this year it was reported that one in three shoppers admitted accidently buying the wrong product (a supermarket’s own brand) because it’s packaging was similar to that of a well-known brand, a study by the British Brands Group found.

The survey found that some 65% of shoppers said similar packaging can be confusing or misleading and some of the named offender’s where Asda’s, ‘You’d Butter Believe It’ which was alarmingly similar to Unilever’s ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ and Lidl’s ‘Jammy Rings’ resembling the more well known Jammy Dodgers.

I can understand then why Kellogg’s are worried and see this as a huge threat to their products but that aside – is this scheme really going to come to fruition?

I doubt it; in my opinion it seems to be a news grabbing PR stunt. Firstly, I am a little cynical about the stage this new food technology is at (the photo released is digitally manipulated, not using the new technology) and a few online news sites have expressed their difficulty in getting a clear answer from Kellogg’s about the likelihood they will adopt this scheme. The above mentioned Helen Lyons, the food technologist is conveniently on holiday so not available for comment.

Even if this was imminent, is it really a good use of money? I would assume it is very costly and time-consuming so would these resources maybe be put to better use elsewhere in the business?

After all, Kellogg’s said one of the main reasons for considering this technology was “to reinforce that they don't make cereals for any other companies”, great – so surely the Kellogg’s logo on the box is enough for me to know I am eating their cornflakes?

What are your thoughts?

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Most Ridiculous Claim of the Year - Chat with Michael Jackson on Twitter!

According to several newspapers online;

“Fans of Michael Jackson can hope to get in touch with their idol over Halloween with the world’s first Twitter séance.


Top psychic Jayne Wallace will run the ‘Twéance’, on the day before Halloween, i.e. October 30 from Angels Fancy Dress in London.

She will attempt to make contact with the King of Pop and other celebrities including Jade Goody, Patrick Swayze and Farah Fawcett, who also died this year, and then Tweet their answers to fans’ questions”.

“We were amazed to see no-one had used Twitter for a séance before,”
the Daily Star quoted Benjamin Webb, 30, who works at Angels shop, as saying.

The Telegraph has reported, “The move is a paranormal publicity stunt by the fancy dress shop in central London ahead of Halloween”.

Whether you are a believer or not - I would sway more towards the latter, exploiting celebrities beyond the grave for some publicity is very low. It’s disturbing to think that this ‘top psychic’ who on her website states that even talking to one of her handpicked psychics will cost you £1.50+ a minute through her dedicated 24 hour hotline and apparently the fancy dress shop are going to be aggravating the families of these celebs who’s memory should be left to rest in peace.

The telegraph also reported, “This is not Mrs. Wallace’s first beyond-the-veil star-spotting. She claims that she “spoke” to Jade Goody, the Big Brother star who died of cervical cancer in March.

Apparently the late mother of two said she wanted to apologise to her mother, Jackiey Budden, for not listening to her about marrying Jack Tweed, saying it was “the biggest mistake she ever made”.


Again, who is she to claim that Jade communicated this to her? Although some may say that it’s obviously a load of nonsense and anyone who believes it only has themselves to blame but on the other hand, anyone who has lost someone close will understand that it’s a time when you are very desperate and vulnerable and so exploiting this is shameful.

I have in the past had my ‘tea leaves read’ and always find it interesting what psychics have had to say to friends and families about what the future has in store but more in a light-hearted, take with a pinch of salt kind of way. These types of ‘visions’ or predictions of the future can be harmless and not so damaging – claiming to contact the dead however is a different matter, especially when they are claiming to have been given important messages like the one above.

This woman, Jayne Wallace however is disgraceful in my eyes and anyone who is also involved in this ‘publicity stunt’ is just as bad. Leave the celebs memories’ and all those who have passed away in peace and get a real job that doesn’t feed off people who are at their most vulnerable.