John Lewis is using ‘Made in UK’ on over 4,000 products as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme. So I’d like to know if London members think that ‘Made In’ is relevant to today’s consumers.
My opinion is that it works for certain countries. Switzerland is synonymous with fine timepieces, Germany highly regarded for precision machinery, Italy is the ultimate for gold jewellery, and France is associated with perfumes and luxury accessories.
What does Made In mean?
It sounds obvious, but it needs defining. Currently, as long as imported goods are 51% produced in Europe, it can qualify as ‘Made In’. But we suspect that John Lewis has a more stringent category, because as a British retailer, their customers expect it to support other British firms when it can.
What does it mean for Britain?
What do you think ‘Made in Britain’ conveys? Is it design, creativity, quality, traditionalism? Let me know your thoughts on @CIMLondon Twitter. Certainly, ‘Made In’ triggers the emotions and branding is all about emotional connections.
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January 28, 2012
A word from Phil Preston – The printed world needs your support
by CIM GLR
in Advertising, Chairman's comment
Pretty soon there’ll be too many trees
As you probably know by now, before arriving on planet CIM I lived in the world of newspapers. I left 3 years ago at a time when both national and regional titles were suffering a devastating slump in advertising revenues and I don’t think things have changed much since.
Of course it’s not just the state of the economy that is forcing many companies to retrench. The impact of digital on virtually everything is really challenging the norm – just ask Kodak, HMV and Waterstones (with or without an apostrophe) about it.
I guess you could say this is the inevitable result of progress, but at the risk of being called a Luddite, I’m pretty sad about the demise of newspapers. The great thing about reading a newspaper, magazine and indeed a book, is that it forces you to take time out.
It’s difficult to multi-task while reading (being a man I find this difficult most of the time) and anyway we all need a bit of time to ourselves to relax with a coffee and a good read.
So take my advice, put down that tablet, smartphone and laptop and pick up a paper. Switch-off, disconnect and resist the temptation to check your emails or tweet about what you had for breakfast and read a book (a real one, not a Kindle).
The printed word needs your support like never before – without newspapers, magazines or books I think the world would be a sadder place. And we’d be overrun by too many trees.
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