Blog.
Alessandro’s views on global marketing, pricing, food, sustainability and financial decisions.
Global marketing
A shipment can make an export launch look successful while the product sits in a warehouse. Ask for a different set of numbers.
An exchange rate helps calculate revenue. It does not tell you what the customer will compare your product with.
An Italian name can carry character. It should not make the customer guess what will arrive.
For an unfamiliar food, the first purchase is also a commitment to finding a use for the rest.
Regional flavours interest me because they change the purchase occasion, not simply the taste of the chocolate.
Before opening another store, I want to know who returns at full price—and which drink they have stopped buying.
Pricing
Before approving the promotion, calculate how many extra units have to leave the shelf just to preserve contribution.
A larger basket can leave the retailer with less contribution. Here is the calculation I would check before celebrating it.
The first question is whether the business can distinguish a pricing effect from changes in who happened to shop that week.
Clearing today’s leftovers is useful. Training regular customers to postpone full-price purchases can change the result.
Food marketing
An unfamiliar restaurant needs to explain how a meal works, not just what each ingredient is called.
A shopper still needs to imagine a good meal. A request to reduce waste does not answer that question on its own.
I would test a dish beside its meal alternatives, with a description that gives people a reason to want to eat it.
Before taking HK$10 off the price, work out whether the kitchen can keep a collection promise.
Sustainability
If a customer cannot tell what goes in which bin, the environmental story stops before the action it depends on.
The first bottle is the start of the scheme. The useful numbers arrive when customers need the product again.
The shelf gives a price per gram purchased. The household pays for the amount it actually uses.
My packaging research makes me wary of approving a redesign on an “environmentally friendly” rating alone.
Finance
Two trading days are enough to show why “daily” deserves as much attention as “2×”.
An annual cash estimate, the charging method, and the work included. That is where the fee conversation should start.
The percentage improves immediately. The cash loss stays put, and the position gets bigger.