Never Knowingly Downloaded

The announcement by John Lewis that it has extended its range of services to customers, by launching its first own-branded broadband service, marks yet another stage in the delivery of multi-service retailing by the multiples. In one sense it is nothing new. The retail multiples have been diversifying into financial services, mobile phones and broadband for years and, indeed, this latest move broadens John Lewis Partnership’s existing range of services following the launch of John Lewis Insurance in 2010. It also takes over from the existing Waitrose and Greenbee broadband services whilst broadband has become a commodity purchase in its own right over the last two years, more in keeping with the supermarket shelf than anywhere else. But aside from selling us consumer electronics, most of which would have a wi-fi functionality, what track record or expertise does John Lewis Partnership have in the sector that would make us lean towards them as opposed to another, apparently more specialist provider? And does that matter anyway? The answer is all in the brand. The reputations of some of the pure broadband providers seem to have become tarnished by perceptions of being fly-by-night, offering higher downloads speeds than in reality they deliver, farming consumers out to distant call centres or providing questionable levels of customer service. Although the actual broadband may be being provided wholesale to the multiples via one of the mainstream providers anyway, there seems to be greater reassurance from buying our broadband from a reliable and trusted source. And they don’t come more trusted than John Lewis. In the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards 2011 John Lewis was named as Britain’s Most Trusted Organisation whilst also being voted Britain's favourite retailer for the 4th consecutive year. But herein could also lie a potential pitfall. Whilst the John Lewis brand is already fluid and inherently encapsulates service in its retail promise plus the financial services they offer, how will their service guarantee work when they are reliant on a third party delivering the broadband infrastructure? If they are not completely in control over what they are delivering to people and something were to go awry, would this match consumers’ existing expectations of a John Lewis service? And if it did, would this undermine perceptions of the John Lewis brand across its portfolio? They start from a strong position, though. Already they have consumer trust and the belief among their target base that they are not going to be ripped off by a John Lewis proposition. All they need to do is carry across their “Never Knowingly Undersold” price promise, make sure the speed is good, the customer service up to scratch and they could be onto a winner. One suspects if they didn’t think they could deliver that, they wouldn’t have taken the plunge in the first place.

Waste not, want not...convert waste food to an economic success story

In austerity Britain, where value ranges and price drops have become the norm on our supermarket shelves, everyone seems to be doing all that they can to make ends meet within constrained household budgets.

It was all the more surprising, therefore, to read on the BBC’s website recently that British households throw away 4.4 million tonnes of edible food a year.

According to figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs almost a third of all bread purchased by UK households is dumped when it could be eaten; add to this around a quarter of all vegetables and potatoes, a fifth of all fruit and even 6.3% of all alcoholic drinks.

The Flour Advisory Bureau states that bread remains one of the UK’s favourite foods, with 99% of households buying bread and the equivalent of nearly 12 million loaves are sold each day. That’s 4.38 billion loaves of bread a year at a conservative average price of, say, 90p per loaf, that equates to £3.9 billion a year on bread. Using DEFRA’s figures, this means we are wasting approximately £1.3 billion a year in thrown-away bread. And that’s before you factor in any other products

It all sounds shocking, doesn’t it?

Even more so when you consider statistics released by food redistribution charity FareShare which reveal a sharp rise in demand on charities for food as people all over Britain struggle to put dinner on the table. 42% of charities surveyed reported an increase in demand for food in the past year as food prices soar and the recession bites, putting additional strain on families and people on low incomes.

So behind that stats lies the scope for a campaign for any socially responsible brand willing to take it on that could reduce our waste food mountain whilst at the same time help inject much needed impetus into the economy.

In a similar vein to Persil’s Dirt is Good campaign, who would launch a Waste for Britain campaign?

Sainsbury have recently encouraged people to freeze food rather than throw away; Pret does it Charity Run where it donates unsold produce to homeless shelters at the end of each day; Waitrose supports the “Love food, hate waste” campaign... But the figures suggest that there is plenty of room for other brands to get involved. Their campaigns could focus making consumers aware of the food they are wasting and how much this is costing them – creating new habits to reduce this whilst encouraging them to spend their money elsewhere on enjoyable things. Or providing some means by which people who have a surplus could donate or redirect it to those in greatest need, e.g. through charities like FoodShare.

And it could be bigger than food – we are a nation drowning in “stuff”, but also with a strong urge to give. TK Maxx’s current “Give up Clothes for Good” campaign with Cancer Research UK brings these two themes together – don’t hoard your stuff, don’t chuck it, donate it.

So come on brands of Britain, who will take this on?