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Does it matter who owns a brand?

I agree that it shouldn't matter who the investor in a business is - especially if they have a non-controlling share and have no input in the running of the business. But you can't ignore that such things matter to the consumer. I think when it comes to branding, your associates say a lot about you – for example (ideally) a world peace organisation would not want to be funded by a firearms company because no-one would then take the organisation and its values seriously. H+H are sending out mixed messages to the consumer. After all, Tesco doesn't resonate with the values that H+H are trying to display such as "artisan" or "speciality grade". If Tesco doesn’t fit H+H, will H+H have to fit Tesco i.e. become a large corporate chain? Consumers aren't going to be comfortable with the fact that Tesco have such a large share in the company - and I don't know who’s more naive...us or them? Can Tesco really be expected to have up to 49% share (which is still a significant amount) and not have ANY influence at all on how the business is run? I think Tesco needs to realise that there are a lot of consumers out there who are sick of it. If wants to give it’s a image a overhaul and to be seen as a successful British business that reinvests in Britain, there are other ways to go about it. Because at the moment it just seems as if Tesco wants to jump on all the bandwagons and have its finger in everyone’s pie – it certainly doesn’t need “an alternative growth driver”. And I think that this is the REAL issue that consumers have. But I do hope that H+H don't suffer as a result of this as we are in need of successful British businesses. I certainly don't blame H+H for agreeing to have the backing of Tesco - being able to have access to Tesco's vast resources is something that many small businesses can only dream of. And in the current climate, such backing is hard to come by. And this is why I don’t have any doubts about the sincerity of H+H’s values but I do feel that they didn’t consider that their credibility as a premium independent, local community coffee shop will be undermined by the type of consumers that they attract – the exact same consumers who trying to get away from Tesco! And if that’s not the type of consumer that H+H want to attract, well they need to change their brand altogether. On another (related) note, – oh my god, not another coffee shop! Groan. I’m sick of coffee and its chains and I don’t even drink the stuff!

Thu, 3 Jan 2013

3:59 pm