Month: November 2017

UNIQLO’s unfortunate marketing mistake in Australia

Lili Gans totally absurd, Uncategorized

Since the days when I studied Japanese at university I have been a great admirer of Japan’s business acumen.  So when UNIQLO opened up some clothing stores in Australia I was very pleased.

You can imagine my disappointment when year after year, UNIQLO fails to cater for Australian sizes.

It is well known that average Australians are not thin.  The average size has been growing so that many Aussies are now about a size 16 or Medium to Large.

However,  when one enters a UNIQLO store all the larger sizes have disappeared and the only sizes still left are S for small or XS for extra small. These sizes would be more appropriate for the Japanese customers. When I asked the very pleasant attendants why there are only tiny sizes left they actually admitted that the larger sizes always sell out immediately.

Today they even admitted that this is a frequent complaint from potential customers.

So shouldn’t this be a lesson for the bosses at UNIQLO?

The first lesson in marketing is  “Learn who your customers are.”  The second lesson is “Cater to the market.”

In my opinion,  UNIQLO would be much more successful if it remembered that Aussie customers are not the same shape as Japanese customers.

We would love to enjoy the excellent products provided by UNIQLO if only they would fit.

 

Why Australian retirees spend their money overseas

Lili Gans Society

On November the 14th I wrote about the juvenile perfumes that are on sale here in Australia. Apparently, these weak lolly water essences are directed towards the pubescent girls who are mad about Justin Bieber and Little Boy Bands.

Coincidentally,  on the following day,  Robert Gottliebsen, who is a famous economist,  wrote an article in “The Australian” newspaper entitled  “Marketers ignore the over 65s, the only age group who have money and want to spend.”

It is a lamentable fact that retail spending has declined and Gottliebsen blames the retailers who have ignored the only demographic who can actually afford to buy.

Retailers have been hoping that Christmas shopping will help them out of this decline,  but,  in my opinion the anticipated splurge by unfunded shoppers  will only lead to more personal debt among the younger age group.

If only the retailers would provide goods that would appeal to the richest group in our society, the cashed-up over 65s, then these retirees would not have to do their shopping on overseas trips or online with overseas businesses.

I’m sure that they would much prefer to contribute to the Australian economy instead of sourcing their goods,  such as adult perfumes,  from other parts of the planet.

 

What has happened to perfumes?

Lili Gans Uncategorized

Sometimes, I feel as if I have left Earth, my familiar Earth,  behind,  and landed on some other planet.

While the Earth I knew was pleasant and uncomplicated, this new strange version is not as welcoming.  People don’t talk to one another. They are very serious about things.  They are so constricted by the novel regime that is afraid of offending anybody or upsetting somebody accidentally that they vet everything and edit every comment in case it touches a nerve, real or imaginary.

Expressing any opinion is preceded by an apology.  Just in case it’s not politically correct…

So in a way we have diluted conversations so that they have become meaningless and bland.  In other words,  we play it safe.

What has all this got to do with perfumes?

A lot actually.

Allow me to explain.

When I was taking a walk in the Chadstone Shopping Mall I was approached by  a lady who was promoting the new Chanel No5.  So I asked her what was different about this version of Chanel from the previous one  which had stood the test of time.

Her reply was as follows:-  “We have diluted it.”

“Does that mean  you have weakened it,  made it less sexy?”  I asked.

“Yes” she said.  “We are trying to appeal to the younger girls.”

“Can’t they just stick to something like Justin Bieber’s artistic endeavour in the world of perfumers?”  I asked.  “After all,  Chanel is not really a brand for teeny boppers,  is it?”

Surely Chanel is not lolly water, but a sophisticated perfume for real women rather than ingenues.

Apparently not, it seems. Light scents that smell like bubble gum are what pubescents are buying and so we must bow to their Lolita tastes.

I am now scouring the internet for real perfumes for women who have left school and want to enjoy sophisticated and redolent perfumes of the kind worn by women rather than kids.