Sainsbury’s
Rebranded its tiger bread after a letter from a three-year-old girl was posted on a blog and went viral.
EU Leaders and the Euro
After months of calling for tighter budget restraints, Europe’s leaders finally signed up to a pact for closer fiscal integration and scrutiny from the European Commission.
“While the Eurozone crisis will not be fixed overnight, this increases the chances of the € surviving, and allows the EU to earn some credibility in the eyes of investors and analysts calling for more to be done.”
The UK Manufacturing sector
While the services sector comes under more scrutiny, manufacturing has quietly gone about expanding, hitting its highest level since May 2011 and providing a welcome boost for the UK economy.
“Turns out Britain HAS got an industry – and an expanding one too! It is often forgotten that Britain remains a world leader in aerospace and pharmaceuticals, and by implementing a strong and targeted messaging campaign which communicates the benefits of the UK’s manufacturing sector, it can reclaim its position as a dominant player in the global manufacturing industry.”
The CEO position at RBS
First Stephen Hester, now Fred Goodwin – the CEO position at RBS has now become a poisoned chalice, and Stephen Hester’s (eventual) successor can expect to come under a similar level of scrutiny.
“Research by McKinsey pointed out that MNCs are disproportionately responsible for job creation, tax revenues and innovation in Britain, and the Government must reinforce the message that Britain is a friendly and welcome place for big business.”
The Honours System
This year’s honours list was a controversial one, with the government accused of giving out special privileges to close friends and Tory financiers (see Paul Ruddock). After ‘shredding’ Fred Goodwin’s honour, the spotlight falls on the selection and forfeiture committee.
“This story is likely run for a while. Expect the individuals sitting on these committees to come under scrutiny, and the Government will probably announce that it will launch a review of the honours process, which will promise transparency and independence – except that it probably will not achieve any of the above.”
TripAdvisor.com
Rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming their reviews are 100% trustworthy when there was no way to verify them.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Wise words from Warren Buffet, and words that the management at TripAdvisor should pay close attention to.
“Arguably the worst thing that can happen to a business is when regulators and officials announce that its USP cannot be trusted. While this ruling currently applies only to the UK, it is being reported worldwide, and could spell disaster unless TripAdvisor responds quickly and effectively (see Mini last week.)”
