But would Sir Philip help House of Fraser improve its Buzz, a measure of whether people have heard positive or negative statements about a brand, as measured by YouGov’s BrandIndex? As Iceland’s financial woes deepened, the department store’s Buzz had dropped to zero by last Friday (10 October).

Likewise, Sir Phillip’s own homewares and clothing British brand Bhs is struggling with customer perception and its Buzz dropped to -1 following full year results earlier in the week. The chain, which Sir Philip bought in 2000, reported full year sales down 1.4 per cent to £860 million and a 34 per cent drop in pre-tax profits.


 



















House of Fraser appointed Delaney Lund Knox Warren to handle its advertising in May and in early September unveiled a print advertising campaign. The activity introduced the strapline “Come and play at our House”.

However, the campaign failed to lift Buzz, which stood at 4 over the August Bank Holiday ahead of the campaign and then dropped to 1 by 17 September before a brief rally. According to Verdict Research, House of Fraser has seen visitor share drop for three straight years and is at its lowest since 2001. The chain’s BrandIndex Satisfaction marker is at 11, exactly where it was five months ago on 9 May.

Bhs appointed former Gossard marketer Shaeren McKenzie has marketing director more than 18 months ago with a brief to beef up the brand perception as the chain felt the pressure from clothing rivals such as Marks & Spencer.

However, since May this year the Buzz has reached 4 a handful of times and has been stuck at 2 or below since the last August Bank Holiday. Bhs does not run high profile television campaigns like rival M&S but relies more on tactical print ads and in-store point-of-sale.

In terms of the BrandIndex Satisfaction Marker, the ratings are also not encouraging for Bhs. Five months ago the Satisfaction rating was at 17 but by last Friday was at 12. House of Fraser’s Satisfaction mark has remained fairly steady over the past five months and last Friday stood at 11, exactly the same rating as on 9 May.

There is more of a positive shine for Bhs in regards to the Quality marker as it has shown an ability to bounce back. The chain saw a year high of 9 but was sinking as low as 3 at the beginning of last week before a steep climb to 6. The turnaround may reflect a trading down to Bhs by thrifty shoppers from the more premium end of the high street.

In contrast, House of Fraser saw its Quality mark drop four points from the beginning of last week to end on Friday at 22.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Philip harangued the press when his Bhs results came out last week for talking the retail sector into recession with negative headlines.  Results for his Arcadia group, which includes Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Wallis and Evans, are due at the end of the month and he is sure to be diligently scanning the newspaper coverage.

Methodology
YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday to form its BrandIndex, a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors. It is measured on a seven-point profile: Buzz, General Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Corporate reputation.