Wednesday 9 December 2009

Dixons Selling On Price!!!


As Dixons say, they should be the last place you visit. See John Lewis and Dixons in Spat Over Ad



There are several ads that read like the following:

"Step into middle England’s best loved department store, stroll though haberdashery to the audiovisual department where an awfully well brought up man will bend over backwards to find the right TV for you."




Then the font changes into Dixon’s red and white lettering and adds:


"Then go to Dixons.co.uk and buy it". It ends with the tagline: "Dixons.co.uk - the last place you want to go".


Is this really clever or really dumb...?

Yes, it appeals to those buying on price but it also alienates the long-term middle-England John Lewis buyer. Maybe Dixons would never appeal to Mr/Ms JL.... maybe this is just a red herring designed to make Dixons look ubercool (=dumb) or maybe Dixons thought it was saying "we have the best prices so if you buy on price then come to us"
.

Yes, it has got the marketing fraternity talking but has it created more sales in the short term? (Maybe...) Has it created more Dixons customer loyalty in the long run? (I doubt it...)
.


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14 comments:

Guy Chilvers said...

Our family are "Family JL" and it is normally our first stop for most things. Why? Simply because if you ever have a faulty product they change it without question. However after talking to the well educated young man, deciding what we want only to find they are out of stock... off to Dixons where we don't bother asking about the product apart from do you have it in stock.
Did the advertising work for Dixons?

Jerry McG said...

Saw a similar one on the tube - made me think similar thoughts to Guy's. We are such cheapskates.

Alan Howarth said...

Are they looking for the 'research in the store - buy cheaper online' client? Everyone's done it. But buying from JL has always been a good experience for me - Dixons (and crew) less so.

Marjory D said...

Dixons - the lowest of the low. In every sense.

Madge

Jim said...

... and we talk about customer service then use the 'D' word!

Jim

Andy Green said...

Never darken their doors.

Lesley said...

see
http://www.businesszone.co.uk/blogs/dan-martin/dan-martin-editor039s-blog/has-dixons-last-place-you-want-go-campaign-backfired

Unknown said...

It just got a bit more interesting - Has the Dixons 'last place you want to go' campaign backfired?
http://www.businesszone.co.uk/blogs/dan-martin/dan-martin-editor039s-blog/has-dixons-last-place-you-want-go-campaign-backfired

Tracy Lynch said...

Neat Dan Martin link.

Unknown said...

see
Ditch The Discounts
http://hbr.org/2011/01/ditch-the-discounts/ar/1

by Rafi Mohammed

Robert Craven said...

see
Ditch The Discounts
http://hbr.org/2011/01/ditch-the-discounts/ar/1

by Rafi Mohammed

Tracy Lynch said...

Neat Dan Martin link.

Jim said...

... and we talk about customer service then use the 'D' word!

Jim

Guy Chilvers said...

Our family are "Family JL" and it is normally our first stop for most things. Why? Simply because if you ever have a faulty product they change it without question. However after talking to the well educated young man, deciding what we want only to find they are out of stock... off to Dixons where we don't bother asking about the product apart from do you have it in stock.
Did the advertising work for Dixons?