Voxpop

How should an iconic high street brand such as Woolworths launch itself in the online arena?

Woolworths was certainly an iconic retail brand – the problem was that it wasn’t a very popular one. If people didn’t want what the brand had to offer in their local high street, why would they want it online? It needs to be rebuilt from the offer up. I am not sure if it can regain that popularity through an online presence alone; to build the magic of Woolworths on an Internet site seems like a daunting challenge. I fear it’s going to be just another trader, an Argos under a different banner. If it can make it work, and confidence is high, it may well relaunch and return refreshed back on to our high streets.
David Dalziel, Director, Dalziel & Pow

 

This is a huge challenge. While the Woolworths brand conjures up fond memories it lacks relevance, hence its failure. A core offer is required, for this iconic brand cannot rely on its past efforts of value and variety to succeed online – the likes of Amazon and Ebay will always be so much better. It should consider being ironic rather than iconic. Turn up the Britishness and focus on those calendar celebrations.
Piers Guilar, Head of strategy, FutureBrand