It was all going so well for Tesco. It came up trumps at Christmas, with the UK business seemingly back on its way up, when along galloped a near PR disaster – horsegate.
It was all going so well for Tesco. It came up trumps at Christmas, with the UK business seemingly back on its way up, when along galloped a near PR disaster – horsegate.
The grocer, alongside Iceland, has been implicated in the horse meat scandal and been forced to withdraw several products. As Phil Clarke says in his blog, it isn’t a safety issue. But it is a trust issue.
Customers are just starting to come back to Tesco after a period of disillusionment. Tesco lost its way, customers lost confidence. The last thing Tesco needed was to fall over a hurdle.
But it is just a hurdle, and doesn’t mean Tesco will lose the race. Tesco’s PR team worked fast and today the grocer has taken out ads in most major newspapers with an apology to its customers.
It’s a good move and has probably placated most of those customers who would be annoyed. It’s not enough to derail Tesco and by next week, it will likely be forgotten. As long as Tesco continues to deliver what customers want that is.
What is canny is that Morrisons has also taken out ads today promoting its 100% British beef. This is what makes Morrisons special – it is vertically integrated – and now is the perfect time to be reminding customers of that. And with Morrisons being the laggard of the pack at the moment, it may just be able to win over some shoppers who have been put off Tesco for the time being.
So who is bookies’ favourite to come out top in Horsegate? While it will do Tesco no long term damage, Morrisons may be able to get a nose ahead in the short term.
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