The Notebook: Susannah Streeter talks Brits’ love of brands, ready meals and Eurovision
The notebook is a place for interesting people to say interesting things. Today, it’s the turn of former journalist and now Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of money and markets Susannah Streeter.
Our love of big brands helps fuel inflation fires
Brand power is the much-lauded virtue of the world’s most successful companies. But this much-admired characteristic is partly why we are finding inflation a tough nut to crack.
The Bank of England says that the price spiral will take longer to reverse than forecast, due to higher food costs. This has renewed accusations that supermarkets and food producers are unfairly hiking prices, claims retailers deny. Should more of the blame lay at the door of the consumer – that’s me and you – and how we lap up marketing claims like there’ s no tomorrow?
We don’t have a choice when it comes to the rising cost of essential goods, which is why inflation is hitting those on lower incomes the hardest.
But even though household budgets have been hammered across the income spectrum, the pulling power of the big brands – many of which have been able to sustain margins by hiking prices – seems largely unaffected.
One of the oft-touted tips for consumers struggling to afford puffed-up prices in the supermarket is to trade down to cheaper own-label or discounted alternatives, but it’s a strategy worth considering even if you can afford the full-price, branded option.
Those eye-watering price tags for branded ketchup, tea bags and butter will only start to fall when sales do, and their manufacturers are forced to trim some of the fat they’re still enjoying to hang onto market share.
JD Sports and LVMH stride ahead
There’s a big reason JD Sports has bought up Courir in France – brand power.
A pair of the new must-have sneakers has a huge draw, sucking away parental savings or increasing the credit card balances of cash-strapped twenty somethings.
LVMH is the industrial scale magnet for designer desires. The boss, Bernard Arnault is now the world’s richest man and LVMH shareholders have been royally rewarded.
Our love of the logo – whether on drinks, cereal boxes, phones is part of the reason we’re scaling record levels of debt and why there is little incentive for the big manufacturers to cut prices.
Sculpting more Gymsharks
We need to do more home-grown band building in the UK. Look at the huge success of Gymshark – Ben Francis’ vision and dedication to build a company from scratch after dropping out of my alma mater, Aston University, should be applauded.
This means backing independents and entrepreneurs, new designers and shopkeepers taking a gamble on collections.
If we must keep splashing our cash, we need to spread it around and get it flowing to fledgling firms that need it and will grow the economy.
Can I quote you on that?
The knock-on effect from increased production and packaging costs meant that ready meals became more expensive.’
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium
If you were wondering why our food prices don’t appear to be coming down quite as quickly as those on the continent, I have two words: ready meals. Shop in any French supermarket, and the difference is stark – UK stores have many more processed dinners on the shelves.
It’s only a small part of the jigsaw of steaming prices, but it makes a difference. I can knock up chicken wings in barbecue sauce for a fraction of the price of a ‘value’ pack in Tesco. But you do need a well-stocked larder of ingredients, and that’s still out of reach for many on lower incomes.
Brand Hannah
Forget Europop and Australian rock, the British actor, presenter, singer and comedian Hannah Waddingham has been the stand out act of Eurovision.
Her ferocious talent is undeniable, but her star status was hidden in the West End for years. Her delight at stepping into the TV and film limelight is a joy to see. So why has it taken so long?
Blame the Hollywood mega brand. It’s so strong, that casting directors and producers often won’t take a chance on talent elsewhere. But James Cordon cracked open the door to prime-time US fame after his West End performance in One Man, Two Guvnors was taken to Broadway. Jason Sudekis took a chance on Hannah Waddingham for Ted Lasso – and the rest is history.
As Hannah the Great declared at the Emmy’s in 2021 – West End musical theatre performers need to be seen on screen more. Her own wish has been granted but it’s high time the film and TV world woke up to West End’s wider galaxy of stars.’’