Brand Biz: Colour Catches Customers, and other lessons for Blue Power one year on

"dying is easy, comedy is hard"

The above is a paraphrase of a statement that is actually the subject of some debate as to who first said it and what exactly was said. More on that later.

In the  interim, Dr Dhiru Tanna, Chairman of the Blue Power Group of companies, may wish to add retail to the hard side, especially in the case of the company's soaps division.

At the Blue Power Group's most recent Annual General Meeting, held at the Liguanea headquarters of board member and security magnate Kenny Benjamin (of Guardsman and many others), Dr Tanna shared - in addition to the company's numbers - a few lessons from the ongoing retail campaign (dare we use the "W" word?) through which the company has been seeking greater and more widespread acceptance of its admittedly excellent line of bath soaps (we've tried them), as well as the flagship laundry standby, the blue soap that partially informs the company name.

Perhaps straight out of Paco Underhill (this guy: http://pacounderhill.com/), Blue Power's presence in vaunted retail outlets like Mega Mart has imparted some remarkable, if not altogether surprising truths: Firstly, customers respond more readily to colours and to a variety of colours together. hardly a newsflash. But, in the social context of class-divided Jamaica, the conventional wisdom held that the "triple" or "quad" pack of soaps with different colours bundled together, which has sold well (very) to the so-called lower income sector, might not appear so kosher or pleasing to the (so-called) upper-income customers, who may be focused more on the esoterics rather than the straight "scream" of the colours.

Wrong.

Having its soap lines displayed prominently (at significant cost, mind you) in the aforementioned stores, the customers, of all economic backgrounds and persuasions, are being drawn by the colour combo, and are choosing the soap bundle over more elaborately packaged counterparts.

Likely, this tidbit may also inform the ongoing media ad campaign, as the Blue Power execs seek to expand the soaps line to other fine retailers and also other mass outlets. Exports are also looking up, as there is strong interest in the soaps from Guyana, and steps have also been taken to secure and widen distribution in the US.

aside from dispatches from the "retail wars" the Group's results offer nothing in the way of "excitement". Gross turnover- incorporating the Hardware division - continue to hover just above the J$1billion mark, with after-tax profits reflecting margins of around 30%

Not spectacular, but nowhere near unhealthy, and good enough for the Directors to decide on replicating last year's dividend payment of 15c per stock unit. Again, not a payout that might give you overnight riches (its not supposed to, anyway; a dividend is NOT a pension) and, in this recessionary, pre-election, post-IMF times, more than welcome.

SO, to our opening quote: the line is generally attributed to Edmund Kean (1787-1833) a noted Shakesparean actor, alleged to have uttered them on his deathbed. But other sources have stated that this is a paraphrase of the famous actor's last words.

Blue Power Group hopes to leave no such confusion in respect to the choice for consumers, but it certainly won't be easy. 

retail war