OxBowBusiness

Brands

Golden Wonder crisps have gone: for wrinklies like me that is the passing of something that suggests another break with my childhood. I have to say, however, that I don't eat many crisps these days and certainly can't remember the last time I ate any Golden Wonder crisps.

There are many stories circulating now relating to GW's failings: slagging off Walkers' rather then extolling their own virtues.

Now it looks as if Hoover may be sinking without trace: the irony here is that the noun Hoover has for a long time also been a verb: "Hoover the floor would you?" "I'll call you back when I've finished the Hoovering ..." even though you might be using a Morphy Richard, a Dyson ...

What has Hoover done that's so bad then that it might be failing?

This is an excellent case study for you and if you are looking for a project for business studies/marketing, it's a good one. There is plenty of scope here:

look at sales of the various vacuum cleaners: get as much data as you can
go to your local white goods retailers (at least three of them?) and see what they are selling: by brand, by model ...
ask people why they do have a Hoover branded vacuum cleaner
ask people why they don't have a Hoover branded vacuum cleaner

and so on. You could find something fascinating.

If your project should include a bit of finance/accounting you can include the fact that it's not allowed to include the value of a brand in a balance sheet unless that brand has been bought. You need to investigate this further because the chances are you don't understand what I have just said ... you need to read and think carefully!

Duncan Williamson

posted by Duncan Williamson @ 7:41 AM