The Sauce – 13/08/2024

Welcome to ‘The Sauce’ – your weekly dollop of marketing news.

By Ashleigh Morris, our Content and Comms Lead.

Welcome to ‘The Sauce’ – your dollop of marketing news from the past week.

This week we look at a brand partnership with a difference, examine how focusing on value is paying off for the fast-food industry, and consider how brands can ensure a consistent brand identity across global markets.

Check out the Awesomesauce Marketing LinkedIn page to get The Sauce straight to your inbox every week.

 

B&Q Partners With DPD to Trial Robot Deliveries

I know, I know… only last week we were lamenting the number of pointless brand partnerships. But bear with us, because this one’s a little different.

B&Q has partnered with DPD to trial autonomous robot deliveries in Milton Keynes, the location of several robot trials over the years and known for its straight streets*. The pilot programme dispatches small parcels to customers via a robot. The customer will be notified and confirm they are home to accept the parcel, then they’ll receive a code to unlock the robot when it arrives.

It follows another trial from B&Q launched earlier last week, which saw the business partner with Deliveroo to test out on-demand delivery in London, with customers able to get what they need in as little as 25 minutes.

B&Q’s Supply and Logistics Director Amélie Gallichan-Todd said on LinkedIn, “Our aim is to give customers more choice of speed and location whilst, at the same time, fulfilling our commitment to reduce our impact on the environment.”

So, why are these partnerships worthwhile?

B&Q has established a customer need for on-demand delivery, and rather than invest in the infrastructure that would be required to deliver this themselves, they’re tapping into existing companies’ expertise. They’re thinking outside the box and testing different solutions on a small scale before committing to a new strategy.

It has a tangible benefit for all parties, rather than being just a publicity stunt. DPD benefits from the promotion of their new delivery tech, while Deliveroo, a business in a very saturated market, benefits from branching out into a different sector, which can only protect their business in the long run.

And most importantly, B&Q is putting its customers first and trialling new services to meet a customer need.

This is the kind of partnership we like to see!

*Milton Keynes – also famous for its multitude of roundabouts – we’d love to see the robots navigate these!

Most importantly, B&Q is putting its customers first and trialling new services to meet a customer need. This is the kind of partnership we like to see!

Focus on Value Paying Off for Fast-Food Giants

Yum! Brands, owner of fast-food giants KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, says it is focusing on affordable options and is seeing increased revenue as a result of value promotions.

On last week’s Q2 call, Yum! CEO David Gibbs acknowledged that “ensuring we provide consumers affordable options has been an area of greater focus for us since last year”, while admitting that all its brands have “offered disruptive deals and introduced or reintroduced attractive everyday value” which has driven growth for the business.

We’re seeing more brands focus on price promotions recently, in light of the challenging economy. Often when things are tight, we see eating out become one of the first things people sacrifice – McDonald’s says they’re seeing many people trading down from more expensive competitors but they’re not replacing the sales lost from their lower income customers who are dropping out of the market in favour of eating at home. So, price promotions make sense for fast-food brands, who can’t justify lowering prices in the long-term, but need to boost short-term sales.

And the Yum! group isn’t alone. ICYMI, last week our co-founder, James, posted about McDonald’s profit dip and its efforts being placed on value execution (check it out here).

We’ve also spotted a trend of big brands going after market share by targeting their competitors’ customers rather than grow the market (Pizza targeting Domino’s customers and DASH Water taking on Coca-Cola).

And it’s paying off. Gibbs claims their group has “built to a 10% growth in core operating profit” in Q2.

We’re pleased to see brands adapting to market pressures with timely, price-led comms, but it can be challenging to strike a balance between price-led comms and brand building activity to drive demand and protect the future of your brand. 

It can be challenging to strike a balance between price-led comms and brand building activity to drive demand and protect the future of your brand. 

Brands Struggling with Brand Identity Across Diverse Markets

81% of C-suite leaders struggle to maintain a unified brand identity across diverse markets, research from Contentful and VML has found.

The “Controlling Content Chaos” report surveyed over 1,000 C-suite execs in marketing and tech across various countries and industries.

Respondents claimed there’s a lack of centralised oversight leading to inconsistent branding across regions, and also spoke about the challenges of scaling content to varying market sizes and maturity, cultural differences, and collaboration between central and regional marketing teams.

So, how can global businesses represent their brand consistently across global markets?

One of the first things we consider when working with a new client is developing a master brand that works for all key markets and potential markets. Building a brand around the home market is not the answer if you plan to build a global brand. If a certain colour or symbol could cause offence or have negative implications in any market, it’s always safer to steer clear.

We’ve found that while some aspects of a brand will be non-negotiable (think logos, colour palettes and straplines), businesses are often able to introduce elements of flexibility to suit different market requirements (tone of voice, photography and music choices may not resonate with audiences in other markets and are less crucial to the consistent representation of the master brand).

We’ve seen lack of communication have a negative impact and cause misunderstandings and confusion in many big businesses throughout our careers! Clear brand guidelines, open communication and understanding of cultural nuances all go a long way.

The survey also found that cultural differences impact marketing effectiveness, so a willingness to listen to local market teams and experts, and embrace relevant channels, can help to maximise ROI.

If you’re part of a global brand and need help with your brand identity, drop our co-founder, James Keith, a message to find out how Awesomesauce could help.

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Contact us on hello@awesomesaucemarketing.co.uk to find out how we can support your business with a client-centred marketing approach – building trust and loyalty.

You can check out previous editions of ‘The Sauce’ here. 

Brought to you by Awesomesauce Marketing – a full-service marketing agency serving UK and international clients.