WE learnt yesterday that Apple had poached John Browett, former chief executive of Dixons, to head their worldwide retail operations. A look at YouGov’s BrandIndex, which tracks public perception of brands, suggests that this could be a good move for both Apple and Browett.
Apple have secured themselves a man who kept Dixons as the leading player in the difficult electronic retail sector in the UK, and Browett himself now has the opportunity to move from a struggling sector to a booming one, joining one of the leading players within it.
Firstly if we look at the Index Score (which is a composite of six key perception measures) of Dixon’s biggest brand, Curry’s, over the past couple of years we can see a very slight decline (all of which came last year) from +11 in December 2009 to +8 this week.
This, however, needs to be taking in the context of a sector that has been in general decline with Curry’s remaining just above Comet, having seen off the challenge from Best Buy.
Apple, of course, operates in a very different arena, where the mood is positive and perception scores high; Apple’s Index score has been consistently in the mid +30s over the past two years. Browett’s role is a global one and it is not just in the UK where his new brand is popular.
For example, Apple’s index score currently stands at +43 in the US, +29 in Germany, +38 in Denmark and +44 in Chile, all of which are good scores and point to a brand with a high level of consumer sentiment around the world.
At Dixons, Browett proved himself a man for difficult times. The question now will be whether he can help an already very strong brand further capitalise on its position.
Stephan Shakespeare is the chief executive of YouGov
