Get out of the discount trap

Alan Treadgold’s article “Bloodshed and chaos on the high street” on Marketing- Week.co.uk touches on some powerful observations for brands and retailers in today’s market, not least that they need to focus on what the shopper wants.

I agree that retailers and brands have got themselves onto a merrygo- round of deep discounting, and while this may boost sales in the short-term, I am concerned about what is it doing for the long-term health of brands.

There is clearly a role for retail marketing to play here. Not only does the discipline offer advertisers a compelling audience argument, both in terms of scale and proximity to the point of purchase, it also offers advertisers a proven mechanism to increase sales at full margin. On top of this, it is now far easier for brands to integrate the right message in the right stores, on the right format and at the right time.

It may not be the latest, sexiest marketing technique, but it does work and it offers a way for both brands and retailers to get off the
discount merry-go-round.

Dominic Rowbotham
head of business development
Retail Marketing International

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