http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/brands/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brands-have-become-our-new-moral-arbiters/ It’s not often you hear an apology from a big corporation that sounds like it really means it, but Jenny Craig’s statement last night that it “badly misjudged public perception of Kyle Sandilands” sounds genuine enough - perhaps because it’s so bloody obvious. Hmmm, brand heavily skewed towards women with body issues, linked to the “fat slag” king, what could possibly go wrong? The language marketing departments use when one of the stars they throw millions of dollars at to flog their products step out of line, is often at best hilarious, at worst mealy-mouthed. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brands-have-become-our-new-moral-arbiters/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brands-have-become-our-new-moral-arbiters/#item7542 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Woolworths-the-fresh-booze-people/ So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Woolworths-the-fresh-booze-people/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Woolworths-the-fresh-booze-people/#item5700 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-death-of-brands-is-much-closer-than-you-think/ The so-called supermarket milk price war is not the only thing heating up. The debate surrounding the future of brand name products on our supermarket shelves is also heating up. Central to both is the growing power of Coles and Woolworths. Together the supermarket giants operate 87 per cent of full line supermarkets over 2,000 square metres. As we know, they have spread their tentacles to petrol, liquor and banking services. Like major armies on the march, Coles and Woolworths first establish a beachhead in a particular targeted sector of the economy and then spread out to take more and more territory in that sector until they are either stopped or they march their way to “victory.” Once victorious they can impose their “way” on those they deal with, including suppliers and even consumers. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-death-of-brands-is-much-closer-than-you-think/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-death-of-brands-is-much-closer-than-you-think/#item5388 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-good-toys-go-offensive/ You know the scene. We’ve all been there, checking out the shelves of goodies in Toys ‘R’ Us, searching for the perfect gift for our kids, nephews, nieces or grandchildren. Suddenly a child runs past, squealing in delight after spotting ‘the toy’. The very same they’ve been diligently saving up their pocket money to buy. Everyone else has one. And now, finally, it’s their turn. As they thrust the box into the air like the captain of a championship-winning football team, the parent in tow reluctantly takes it from them, skipping the name and any other pointless details as their gaze heads straight for the price tag. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-good-toys-go-offensive/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-good-toys-go-offensive/#item4521 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/he-just-smiled-and-gave-me-a-isnack2.0-sandwich/ The above headline is a Vegemite-free reworking of Men At Work’s “Down Under”, shamelessly pilfered from Twitter as an example of the hundreds of negative and abusive comments being directed at Kraft over the iSnack2.0 debacle. On current projections the iSnack2.0 disaster will be taught for years to come in marketing courses as a step-by-step example of how to upset everybody - the oldies who are fiercely loyal to Vegemite in its existing incarnation, and the youngsters who regard the internet-driven name of this (woeful) new brand as patronising gimmickry, akin to Sorbent trying to corner the youth market with a “hip and groovy” new toilet tissue called iShit. AS any student of yeast-based food extracts can attest, the history of sandwich spreads is a volatile one where passions run high and careers, even entire companies, have risen and fallen on the back of their marketing campaigns. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/he-just-smiled-and-gave-me-a-isnack2.0-sandwich/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/he-just-smiled-and-gave-me-a-isnack2.0-sandwich/#item1338 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/get-off-my-wave-you-boof-head/ When Ben Hannant appeared at his door this week to reveal he had played Origin while suffering from swine flu, he wasn’t only sending shivers down the spines of league fans. A lot of surfers would have felt a pang of anxiety too. Not because of any fears about the Origin series, but because Hannant was photographed in a hoodie with a surf label emblazoned across the chest. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with footy boof heads pulling on a surf label. Australian surf companies have clad most of the free world in reasonably stylish, affordable clothes, and for footy players to feel part of this phenomenon is perfectly understandable. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/get-off-my-wave-you-boof-head/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/get-off-my-wave-you-boof-head/#item292 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers. If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group. Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws.