Should UK stores change their brand names for Ireland?

Kermit.de.frog

Given Ireland is uniquely exposed to British culture and commerce compared to any other EU country is it time that big British supermarkets like Tesco or M&S should have to have different distinctive brands for the Irish market?

Walk down any street in Dublin, Cork or Galway and there are British stores everywhere.

The issue is that our cities look more and more like typical British cities by the month which damages our appeal to tourists for example from Britain (because who wants to go to a country exactly like their own?).

Why don't I say German stores? Because Ireland is not next to Germany and thus has few big German brands other than Aldi and Lidl. We are next to a much bigger neighbor and I think we should take this in to account.

Personally i'd like to see some uniqueness from Britain brought back to our streets. It's only in the last 20 years that our towns and cities have been transformed in to mini Sheffields.

It wouldn't change much - they could still rip us off just under a different name?

Anyone agree?

P.S This is done in other countries.

Shenshen

Well, Shell did, didn't they?

Elmo

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Given Ireland is uniquely exposed to British culture and commerce compared to any other EU country is it time that big British supermarkets like Tesco or M&S should have to have different distinctive brands for the Irish market?

Walk down any street in Dublin, Cork or Galway and there are British stores everywhere.

The issue is that our cities look more and more like typical British cities by the month which damages our appeal to tourists for example from Britain (because who wants to go to a country exactly like their own?).

Why don't I say German stores? Because Ireland is not next to Germany and thus has few big German brands other than Aldi and Lidl. We are next to a much bigger neighbor and I think we should take this in to account.

Personally i'd like to see some uniqueness from Britain brought back to our streets. It's only in the last 20 years that our towns and cities have been transformed in to mini Sheffields.

It would change much - they could still rip us off just under a different name?

Anyone agree?

Tesco are an international brand at this stage. Can't see them re-branding, previously known as Crazy Prices and Quinnsworth.
M&S have been around Ireland for decades.

Dunnes and SuperValu are still here, should Lild and Adli rebrand because they are too German.

I think the only issue is for SuperValu who dropped the Superquinn brand, kind like Tesco buying Sanbury's and dropping the name.

Karl Stein

'O'Coleman's Atlantic Archipelago Mustard' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Elmo

Karl Stein wrote: »

'O'Coleman's Atlantic Archipelago Mustard' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Eirco - Irish for Tesco
Marcas 'S Mac Spealáin (MSMS) - Irish for M&S.:rolleyes:

who the fug

Also boycott them English wendtball teams till they do shirts in Irish

ScumLord

Everyone knows the tescos brand and what its about, it would be silly for them to effectively throw away their brand awareness (because as you say we get to see UK advertising and brands on a daily basis because of our proximity). It works as a European brand too, when you or a briton go abroad you'll instantly recognise the tesco brand and go to that shop because it's familiar to you.

Even if they did rebrand it would still be exactly the same shop, it wouldn't do anything to stop us looking like an Irish green version of the UK.

fleet_admiral

Donegal catch has a uk veterinary stamp on it

Is that what you mean?

WesternZulu

The should just do what the tabloids do and just insert 'Irish' in the name (i.e. The Irish Sun, The Irish Daily Mail e.t.c.) while changing nothing and giving the consumer the exact same sh*t as their UK counterparts.

Greenmachine

So we can pretend these chains aren't British? To alienate British tourist so they won't recognize which shop they usual shop in.

md23040

If it wasn't for the UK then main shopping areas would be wastelands.

Why should a brand rebrand just to satisfy someone's sensitivities

WesternZulu

Greenmachine wrote: »

So we can pretend these chains aren't British? To alienate British tourist so they won't recognize which shop they usual shop in.

Is that not a bit like an Irish person going abroad and going straight to an Irish pub?

Kermit.de.frog

Greenmachine wrote: »

So we can pretend these chains aren't British?

That is not what i'm saying. I think in the last 20 years Irish cities have been swamped with UK multiples which is to be expected but it means our city centers look almost exactly like British high streets.

I just think more could have been more done to stop that happening.

dd972

We're not part of the U.K but we're part of the 'U.Ksphere', end of. The notion that the U.K is a 'foreign' country is hogwash, (and I dislike a 'West Brit' as much as the next person.)

WesternZulu

dd972 wrote: »

We're not part of the U.K but we're part of the 'U.Ksphere', end of. The notion that the U.K is a 'foreign' country is hogwash, (and I dislike a 'West Brit' as much as the next person.)

It's globalization, nothing more, nothing less.

ancapailldorcha

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

It's only in the last 20 years that our towns and cities have been transformed in to mini Sheffields.

You say this like it's a bad thing.

fleet_admiral

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

You say this like it's a bad thing.

Expect Full Monty tribute acts to spring up all over the shop

AlanS181824

What's wrong with Tesco being called Tesco?

Kermit.de.frog

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

You say this like it's a bad thing.

It is.


A few months back a couple in front of me were amazed they had to pay a plastic bag tax. One enquired to the other whilst berating the guy at the till "I never heard Cameron say anything about this". The guy at the till had to tell them they were not in the UK.

I don't blame them. It's understandable when the first thing you see at the airport is WH Smith and the last store leaving is Dixons.

We should try and make out cities as unique as possible because we are not part of the UK and have our own tourism product to promote. This doesn't help attract UK tourists here.

Terrontress

md23040 wrote: »

If it wasn't for the UK then main shopping areas would be wastelands.

I disagree. Independent business has gone to the wall due to these multinationals. Take them away now and there mightn't be anything in their place, but if they hadn't come, the independents would still be there, and would be making very high margins on their produce.

What is needed is good quality produce at a good price for consumers and suppliers. Who cares where the HQ of the retailer is.

ancapailldorcha

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

It is.


A few months back a couple in front of me were amazed they had to pay a plastic bag tax. One enquired to the other whilst berating the guy at the till "I never heard Cameron say anything about this". The guy at the till had to tell them they were not in the UK.

I don't blame them. It's understandable when the first thing you see at the airport is WH Smith and the last store leaving is Dixons.

We should try and make out cities as unique as possible because we are not part of the UK and have our own tourism product to promote. This doesn't help attract UK tourists here.

UK cities are unique and possess a damn side more history and culture than any of the pointless, crappy town that litter Ireland. If you think they're all the same then you've clearly never been.

fleet_admiral

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

It is.


A few months back a couple in front of me were amazed they had to pay a plastic bag tax. One enquired to the other whilst berating the guy at the till "I never heard Cameron say anything about this". The guy at the till had to tell them they were not in the UK.

I don't blame them. It's understandable when the first thing you see at the airport is WH Smith and the last store leaving is Dixons.

We should try and make out cities as unique as possible because we are not part of the UK and have our own tourism product to promote. This doesn't help attract UK tourists here.

I agree with you there, years ago I had an english customer in bewleys point blank refuse to accept that sterling wasnt accepted here even after I opened the til to show him it full of punts

Kermit.de.frog

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

UK cities are unique and possess a damn side more history and culture than any of the pointless, crappy town that litter Ireland. If you think they're all the same then you've clearly never been.

Firstly I disagree with your bad attitude to Irish towns and secondly yes I have been and there is plenty of crappy towns and cities littering England as well.

Pumpkinseeds

No, they shouldn't rebrand to suit some notion of twee tourist appeal. The sooner the begosh and begorrah image of Ireland is gone the better.

Kermit.de.frog

fleet_admiral wrote: »

I agree with you there, years ago I had an english customer in bewleys point blank refuse to accept that sterling wasnt accepted here even after I opened the til to show him it full of punts

So did he continue defending the realm or did he give in?

ancapailldorcha

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Firstly I disagree with your bad attitude to Irish towns and secondly yes I have been and there is plenty of crappy towns and cities littering England as well.

Small towns in England are rarely far from a big city whereas small towns in Ireland are little more than a few pubs, a chapel and a few shops and the infrastructure is so poor that it takes ages to get to Dublin, Galway, Limerick or Cork.

Jawgap

Re-brand to suit a small market like Ireland????

That would be all the excuse they need to whack up 'the Paddy Tax' even more.

Plus what about Irish companies trying to American (Supermacs) or British (Dunnes with their St Bernard labeling)?

Kermit.de.frog

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

small towns in Ireland are little more than a few pubs, a chapel and a few shops

So what?

XxMCRxBabyxX

fleet_admiral wrote: »

I agree with you there, years ago I had an english customer in bewleys point blank refuse to accept that sterling wasnt accepted here even after I opened the til to show him it full of punts

You can't blame what shops we have for stupid or uneducated people. Plenty of English people come over to Ireland knowing that they are in a different country with different laws and a different currency, same shops or not. I don't see why we should need to cater for those who don't by making things 'different.'

In fact, in my (albeit somewhat limited) experience of the UK, I did find it quite different to Ireland so I'm sure that most tourists find that the other way too.

Kermit.de.frog

Jawgap wrote: »

Plus what about Irish companies trying to American (Supermacs) or British (Dunnes with their St Bernard labeling)?

Not like with like. Ireland is a small market next to a much bigger neighbor. You won't see a Dunnes on every corner in the UK.

ancapailldorcha

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

So what?

People come out with all sorts of snide little remarks like "West Brit" as if it's a bad thing. This is the 6th richest country in the world and if some of it's biggest companies wish to invest in Ireland, why should they rebrand? It's ridiculous.

fleet_admiral

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

So did he continue defending the realm or did he give in?

It was a Saturday afternoon with no banks open, so I offered him a flat exchange rate, like pound for pound. He left without buying anything but I took great pleasure in telling him he wasnt in the uk now and we dont accept money with a foreign monarch's head on it

Ive heard it happening in meteor shops too where english tourists think they are in an orange shop and look for airtime vouchers

wendell borton

We've a bit to go before Irish towns are like English ones. We don't have the high streets full of Pakistani shops yet.

RobbingBandit

Dealz could have called themselves Puntland but I for one would have gone to as many stores as possible and changed those P to big green C.

anncoates

They should do the opposite.

Fur example , call M & S something like Her Majesties Imperial Windsor Marks and Spencer Emporium if only to further fuel the conflagration of retardation that rages in AH.

ScumLord

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

UK cities are unique and possess a damn side more history and culture than any of the pointless, crappy town that litter Ireland. If you think they're all the same then you've clearly never been.

I wouldn't agree, walk down any street in London and it's Nandos, Witherspoons (even the ones that don't look like a cheapo witherspoons are witherspoon's), tescos, mcdonalds, starbucks, repeat, repeat, repeat. The amount of times I spent an hour walking around London looking for a place that didn't have the same exact same menu as the place before it.

Get on the motorway and it's like you're not moving at all, each service station and hotel is an exact copy of the last.

Birmingham looks exactly the same from one street to the next and have nothing but big discount stores. Outside of the centres most UK cities are bland and lifeless.

I'm not saying there are no independent places in the UK but they're few and far between. When you do find them though they do tend to be of extreme high quality and on a level you rarely get in Ireland.

fleet_admiral

wendell borton wrote: »

We've a bit to go before Irish towns are like English ones. We don't have the high streets full of Pakistani shops yet.

Ever been on Clanbrassil street and Talbot street in Dublin? Clanbrassil street is nicknamed little Islamabad
All we need is a greggs to complete the foreign shops line up. Actually I would love to see Carrefour open up here

md23040

Terrontress wrote: »

I disagree. Independent business has gone to the wall due to these multinationals. Take them away now and there mightn't be anything in their place, but if they hadn't come, the independents would still be there, and would be making very high margins on their produce.

What is needed is good quality produce at a good price for consumers and suppliers. Who cares where the HQ of the retailer is.

This is 2014 and not 1974. We live in a fast moving consumer driven society, with millions of square feet of retail space to fill as well as compete against online activity.

To.imagine independents could have plugged that gap is unrealistic and frankly absurd.

The Backwards Man

fleet_admiral wrote: »

It was a Saturday afternoon with no banks open, so I offered him a flat exchange rate, like pound for pound. He left without buying anything but I took great pleasure in telling him he wasnt in the uk now and we dont accept money with a foreign monarch's head on it

Ive heard it happening in meteor shops too where english tourists think they are in an orange shop and look for airtime vouchers

You should have sent him to Donegal, we'd bite his hand off for Queen's Head up here. Excellent rates given too.

Jawgap

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Not like with like. Ireland is a small market next to a much bigger neighbor. You won't see a Dunnes on every corner in the UK.

It's not about coverage it's about Irish companies trying to imitate "British" ideas.

M&S have St Michael, Dunnes went with St Bernard.

Plus, as a nation of shopkeepers maybe that is there contribution to civilisation - shops

Whereas, there's an 'Irish' pub just about everywhere now - no harm if they were 'localised.'

fleet_admiral

The Backwards Man wrote: »

You should have sent him to Donegal, we'd bite his hand off for Queen's Head up here. Excellent rates given too.

Are you saying that in a Godfather sense or a fiscal sense?

The Backwards Man

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Are you saying that in a Godfather sense or a fiscal sense?

Fiscal, Bank of England sterling is like gold bars to us Donegal folk. I know people that won't even spend it when in England, just hoard it and force them to take the NI stuff.

Kermit.de.frog

ScumLord wrote: »

Witherspoons

Yup. Another one coming in to Ireland. We are swamped by UK multiples. At least there is Aldi, Lidl and Supervalu to puncture the endless monotony of our streets somewhat.

Red Nissan

I'd take it a stage further, we have the same roads, sometimes silly markings and buildings and fences and gate are all the same so one part of modern Europe is hardly distinguishable from the next.

I ask many times as new buildings are proposed for various parts of my city "where's the Cork in it?"

We are falling over ourselves to make ourselves as invisible as the next guy and wonder why everything looks so much the same and wonder why trade drops off, and tourists, that crumbling old building might have had character and charm and history [albeit needing a massive repair], the Aldi or Lidl in Donegal is exactly the same as the one in Meath, Navan, Cork anywhere they actually build one.

ancapailldorcha

ScumLord wrote: »

I wouldn't agree, walk down any street in London and it's Nandos, Witherspoons (even the ones that don't look like a cheapo witherspoons are witherspoon's), tescos, mcdonalds, starbucks, repeat, repeat, repeat. The amount of times I spent an hour walking around London looking for a place that didn't have the same exact same menu as the place before it.

Get on the motorway and it's like you're not moving at all, each service station and hotel is an exact copy of the last.

Birmingham looks exactly the same from one street to the next and have nothing but big discount stores. Outside of the centres most UK cities are bland and lifeless.

I'm not saying there are no independent places in the UK but they're few and far between. When you do find them though they do tend to be of extreme high quality and on a level you rarely get in Ireland.

I have to disagree. Those chains are successful because they're cheap and food is usually ok. How much variation do you expect each service station to offer exactly? A small shop and petrol pumps isn't a formula that has much room.
I'd disagree with you again regarding most cities. Manchester and Sheffield have cracking nightlives not limited to the city centres. There are a lot less independent places I'll grant you but I'm not going to give them my custom just for that reason.

wendell borton

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

People come out with all sorts of snide little remarks like "West Brit" as if it's a bad thing. This is the 6th richest country in the world and if some of it's biggest companies wish to invest in Ireland, why should they rebrand? It's ridiculous.

I don't agree, people have only got so much to spend therefore limiting the amount of full time service jobs. The big players from England can easily take losses to put the squeeze on native competitors.

ancapailldorcha

wendell borton wrote: »

I don't agree, people have only got so much to spend. The big players from England can easily take losses to put the squeeze on native competitors.

I've no idea what rebranding has to do with taking losses. A small business has to offer a better service in order to justify the higher prices.

Kermit.de.frog

wendell borton wrote: »

I don't agree, people have only got so much to spend therefore limiting the amount of full time service jobs. The big players from England can easily take losses to put the squeeze on native competitors.

Tesco are getting a good kicking in the Irish market now and i'm delighted because they have been ripping people off in Ireland since they came here and refuse point blank to show separate accounts here because they know themselves.

CelticRambler

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

UK cities are unique and possess a damn side more history and culture than any of the pointless, crappy town that litter Ireland. If you think they're all the same then you've clearly never been.

:eek: Where have you been? English city and town centres - even the smaller ones of <20000 people - have become clones of one another over the last twenty years, right down to the street furniture. Sure, you get the odd place like Cambridge or Chipping Norton that keep things unique, but they're few and far between.

But to answer the question: no, a brand is a brand - if there's a feeling that it's "taking over" then do something to encourage the domestic retailers to fight back. Dunnes and Supervalu are leading the way ... and I don't hear many complaints about Penneys/Primark forcing themselves on to an unwilling European public!

Fratton Fred

Does that also include Vodafone, BT, land rover, jaguar....

One of the reasons British companies find it easy to set up here, is because most people watch British tv and support English football clubs. When they open their first store, the name is already known.

I remember eircell was re-branded Vodafone very quickly, because at the time, half the males in the country were walking around with Vodafone plastered across the front of their expensive new jersey, despite Vodafone not having a presence here.

Talking of mobile brand names, how popular was orange with nationalists in the north?

anncoates

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Yup. Another one coming in to Ireland. We are swamped by UK multiples. At least there is Aldi, Lidl and Supervalu to puncture the endless monotony of our streets somewhat.

.At least the likes of WS did enter the market here to challenge the crony infested monopolies here and let actual Irish people decide for themselves.