Finance
Online Market Expansion
Financial planning teams are gearing up for next year’s budget planning as well as the new three-year plan. Our new short series walks you trough different considerations and scenarios for each channel.
Brand Sales and Distribution: New Best Practices that drive International Growth
International sales growth remains mostly volatile. But as financial reports show, growth rates have decreased for many. Be it in the US or in Europe, especially domestic-bound retailers and brands stumble.
Global expansion in sales and distribution competence has become a lifesaving strategy feature, but allow me a question first:
How to get Quality into your Brand Strategy and Planning
Key learnings of 30 years brand strategy and planning. Tips how to improve your brand growth planning, today.
Regularly media reports that companies take a zero-based budget (ZBB) approach, and cite respective studies. In light of Covid19 pandemic, many brands applied cost-cutting exercises to adjust their strategy and planning.
Advanced Board Reporting, or How Controlling Can Enable Supervisory Best Practice
Change is becoming the only constant. What does it take for supervisory boards and CFOs to keep up with time and new requirements of advanced board reporting?
Drive Dynamic Brand Growth or Maintain Profitability: EBIT vs. EBITDA KPI Slam
After a tumultuous year that almost saw the company drowned by its previous strategic investor, German vertical retailer Hallhuber found a financial investor in Robus Capital Management. Management of both firms agrees to invest in brand growth.
How to Measure Omnichannel Management Success
Brand growth management already has many KPIs. What omnichannel measurement do you use to determine the payback of your investment?
Summertime is brand strategy planning time, when brand managers prepare for battle with their KPIs to prepare for new recruiting and securing a higher share of next year’s investments for their channel. But consumers have fundamentally challenged that profit centre logic. Perhaps it’s also time to rework your brand investment planning and the KPIs that measure brand growth success?
Driving Brand Growth with Private Equity
Brand private equity investments have increased, but not all have been success stories. How can PE and brands work together successfully?
Over the last couple of years, brand private equity (PE) investments have increased strongly. Brand investments were very attractive, PE investors had a positive influence, but not all PE investments have been success stories. From my experience as a CFO in that environment, I’d like to share some learnings on how brands can grow successfully with private equity. (more…)
Lululemon vs Under Armour: Is it Barbie vs Ken or about Qualitative Brand Growth?
In the competitive sporting goods industry, not many brands succeed in reaching the top, but Lululemon and Under Armour have. We outline how they created brand growth and whether they have the potential to stay on top.
Over the last couple of years some sporting goods brands have managed to gain visibility and market share and two of them – Lululemon and Under Armour – have shown an outstanding brand growth development. (more…)
Disarmament of Brand Performance Metrics – a Small Task Creating Big Impact
L4L, Share DTC, Mark Downs, Space Density, 4W-Contribution, … there were far too many brand performance metrics to manage brand distribution easily. And now with social media & the internet arriving, another set of 10 KPIs are supposed to be important.
Next year’s planning arrives soon with many new priorities for your business agenda 2018. It’s likely you have already far too many topics to focus easily, but allow me to suggest one more topic. I promise it will be done after a day, or will create you some enlightenment towards your true needs & priorities. All you have to do is ask 10 members of your team one question. Their answers will give you the key to a year with better focus, an increased performance and potentially 50% less management reports.
So what do you have to do?
Abercrombie – stripped of the Beach Models, It’s all about the Business Model
If you are a great brand and plan to grow in international retail, make sure you have a competitive brand business model. It takes more than six packs to be successful.
As the beach boy six packs are no longer in action, what is the brand’s competitive edge? Can you remember any new store opening hype lately for Abercrombie? In 2011, at the height of Abercrombie & Fitch’s international expansion, we looked for the first time at the brand’s P&L and its retail KPIs (see retail intrapreneur). In 2011 alone, US$230m in capital expenditure was spent on expansion in Asia and Europe. The US management was counting on the success of the brand’s international expansion. We questioned whether the business model was ready for European growth.
Retailers are from Mars, Brands come from Venus, but Online being Centre of Gravitation
Hundred fifty years of brand retail strategy, yet still many big brands trial & error to grow successful. We explain why experience is no guarantee for success.
A look back at around 150 years of brand retail strategy reveals a path paved with unsuccessful attempts to grow. Brand retail strategies were diverse, but annual reports tell a familiar story: none of the major midmarket brands have really made it. As Polo Ralph Lauren (retail launch 1971), Nike (1967), Levis (1983) or Esprit (1986) can attest, even experience is no guarantee for success in retail, nor does it offer exemption from crushing setbacks.
Brand Restructuring in 20 Minutes
LEGO’s recovery from bankruptcy is a most convincing example of brand restructuring. In an excellent 20 min interview LEGO’s CEO explains how they did it. And more, you will find him somewhat singing at an investors conference.
If you believe Apple may have had the most convincing brand turn around of all time, then you should broaden your perspective by reading about LEGO’s recovery. The story is not as prominent, but has at least the same number of interesting brand strategy learnings. LEGO’s strategy mistakes and turnaround are a must-know for every brand executive. (more…)
KPIs is not All – Learn to read your Brand Retail DNA!
Brand retailers have many KPIs, but still can’t guarantee expansion success. This article shares how to read a brand’s retail DNA and lower expansion risks.
Imagine you are CFO or Finance Director of a successful wholesale brand – a brand that sells home interior items, chocolate, toys, or BBQ grills. You have a portfolio of more than 100 own and partner stores. You are a strong brand in your segment, but your forays into retail show mixed store P&Ls. Unlike wholesale profitability, the performance spread of your store is huge. Your organisation offers many explanations and excuses. But you can’t really ‘read’ why sometimes retail works and sometimes it doesn’t. (more…)
Multichannel Growth: Wholesale is our Favourite
Multichannel growth is the brand growth strategy of the century. We are creating a scenario where wholesale will experience a revival in 2020.
Multichannel growth has been the daily business of brands since the 1990s. In fact, multichannel competence was the key success factor for many best-practice growing lifestyle brands. But the term ‘multichannel’ became common when internet distribution entered the scene.
