Robert Bandanza
August 10th, 2009, 04:11 PM
Sunday, August 09, 2009
It’s official: our country is once again feeling the all too familiar pressure of the infiltration of an old foe. Borders are being broken to accommodate the invasion of foreign brands. Brace yourself, a retail rising of revolutionary proportions is at hand.
As the dust settles on the shelves of unsympathetic retail giants, it’s starting to become all too clear that we have a fight on our hands. Gone are the militant weapons and artillery of colonisation. The new stealth-like assault is coming from a more cunning of strategies - through our stomachs and our pockets.
How did this all happen? We have become a nation heaving with exceptional Irish brands. Nonetheless, our brands, our identity, our hallmark of Irishness are in the balance.
As brand citizens, it is our duty to defend and protect. With beloved brands that make a regular appearance in our shopping basket set to disappear, what should the Irish public be doing?
Standing up and taking responsibility for our part in this mess is what will be our saving grace. Burying our heads in the sand and hoping for the best will just not do. Blaming current economic circumstances for choices we make in the supermarket will only further our brands into distress.
Forward thinking and backing our Irish brands is essential - we must see the long-term picture. Today’s retail environment is a reflection on us rather than a reflection on the supermarket chains that are implementing the change.
Supermarket owners know they can limit our choice because of what they see as the total ambivalence and a' la carte approach Irish people have for buying Irish. Didn’t we prove this by paying higher prices for so many years?
It would be a bit hypocritical of us to start criticising these actions when Irish people are voting with their feet and running like lemmings across the border or anywhere they can stretch a euro.
Unlike 1916, we need not march down O’Connell Street to stand and fight for our independence. A difference can be made from our own homes. As the responsible citizens of Ireland, it is our duty to stand united and take a collaborative action to curb this attack on our brands and our nation.[This comment is defeatist one. Ireland still needs to fight for its indpendence.]
Whether it be Cork or Cavan, Dublin or Donegal, we can all play our part in campaigning for our Irish brands to remain pivotal on our supermarket shelves - securing our identity, our jobs and, most of all, our Irishness.
http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA+AND+MARKETING-qqqs=mediaandmarketing-qqqid=43610-qqqx=1.asp
It’s official: our country is once again feeling the all too familiar pressure of the infiltration of an old foe. Borders are being broken to accommodate the invasion of foreign brands. Brace yourself, a retail rising of revolutionary proportions is at hand.
As the dust settles on the shelves of unsympathetic retail giants, it’s starting to become all too clear that we have a fight on our hands. Gone are the militant weapons and artillery of colonisation. The new stealth-like assault is coming from a more cunning of strategies - through our stomachs and our pockets.
How did this all happen? We have become a nation heaving with exceptional Irish brands. Nonetheless, our brands, our identity, our hallmark of Irishness are in the balance.
As brand citizens, it is our duty to defend and protect. With beloved brands that make a regular appearance in our shopping basket set to disappear, what should the Irish public be doing?
Standing up and taking responsibility for our part in this mess is what will be our saving grace. Burying our heads in the sand and hoping for the best will just not do. Blaming current economic circumstances for choices we make in the supermarket will only further our brands into distress.
Forward thinking and backing our Irish brands is essential - we must see the long-term picture. Today’s retail environment is a reflection on us rather than a reflection on the supermarket chains that are implementing the change.
Supermarket owners know they can limit our choice because of what they see as the total ambivalence and a' la carte approach Irish people have for buying Irish. Didn’t we prove this by paying higher prices for so many years?
It would be a bit hypocritical of us to start criticising these actions when Irish people are voting with their feet and running like lemmings across the border or anywhere they can stretch a euro.
Unlike 1916, we need not march down O’Connell Street to stand and fight for our independence. A difference can be made from our own homes. As the responsible citizens of Ireland, it is our duty to stand united and take a collaborative action to curb this attack on our brands and our nation.[This comment is defeatist one. Ireland still needs to fight for its indpendence.]
Whether it be Cork or Cavan, Dublin or Donegal, we can all play our part in campaigning for our Irish brands to remain pivotal on our supermarket shelves - securing our identity, our jobs and, most of all, our Irishness.
http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MEDIA+AND+MARKETING-qqqs=mediaandmarketing-qqqid=43610-qqqx=1.asp