Reflections on Carrefour to drastically cut jobs in Belgium

February 23, 2010 Leave a comment

Google screenshot "Carrefour" keyword

Google screenshot "Carrefour" keyword

2 of my most visited Carrefour supermarkets will be closed …

The plan calls for cutting 1672 jobs and closing 21 stores in Belgium by end-June, Carrefour Belgium said in a statement on Tuesday. (yes, this is the first sentence on a Google search on Carrefour and I’m so lazy I just copy/pasted it, and that’s why it’s in italics). But the point is, I rarely visit a Carrefour but have 2 of them very close to my place. However, Carrefour has turned out to be my lifesaver: it’s open until 20h! Both of those Carrefour supermarkets are on the closing list. I guess I’ll never see a Carrefour from the inside again.

… my friend in India however will soon meet Mr Carrefour.

Njummie! All that good stuff he’ll soon enjoy!

On that same google page result I noticed the statement of carrefour going into India. I am almost tired of writing, so I quickly want to provide the reader some insights on a possible “why” of this decision.

AFP Carrefour press release

AFP Carrefour press release

Marketing strategy?

    Facts & Figures from Belgium: 10 million inhabitants struggling to keep their wealth as high as in the past, a government that has almost the highest debt rate in the world, etc.
    Facts & Figures from India: estimated population 2010 1,177,424,000, increasing wealth, etc.
    Marketing strategy background: the economic core of the world economy is moving east, it’s over there that money will be made.
    Marketing strategy: “Carrefour will develop its activities in India with the start of cash-and-carry activities in 2010,” the company said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Filed under Business, Economy, Marketing, Society Tagged with ,

Business as a societal phenomenon

February 23, 2010 Leave a comment

Say whaaaaaaat?

Some call it “Marketing”, others call it “getting market”. I call it “Business as a societal phenomenon” – which transforms the same thing into an even more interesting aspect of contemporary society.

Why I don’t use the word “Marketing”?

Marketing is often narrowed into the creation of a brochure, the creation of a website, etc. Since this is what most people think of when you tell them you do marketing for a living and since this shrinks down the importance of Marketing way too much, we don’t want to use that word to describe our everyday-life activities and reflections.

Why do marketers need to be sociologists?

Well, quite simple: it’s the marketers job to interpret human behaviour. This includes analyzing it within the correct contextual environment(s).

Why do you hear this for the first time?

I assume you never read or studied the work of “Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno”.

Filed under Business, Marketing, Society Tagged with , , , , ,

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