The Importance Of Online Marketing Is Highlighted By Big UK Brands Going Into Administration

This week has seen 3 major UK brands calling in the administrators due to mounting debts and huge dents in sales and turnover. HMV, Jessops and now Blockbuster are all feeling the effects of the reduction of high street spending.

January 2013 will surely be remembered as one of the worst weeks ever for the UK high street economy. This week saw a double barrel announcement of HMV and Jessops both going into administration and to further increase speculation that the economy is not recovering as it should; Blockbuster have now also called in the administrators.

Surely it is time for all sizes of business to wake up and realise that just being an established brand with a high street or bricks and mortar outlet, will not ensure short or indeed long term business stability.

The recession that is gripping the UK and also having an impact globally must now be seen as the worst ever to hit the UK and this is evident by the risk of over 10,000 potential job losses this week alone and thousands of store closures in just one week.

Of course the recession can be blamed, as can the effect of internet shopping on the high street, however it is also very apparent that many of these so called big brands are stuck in a timewarp and have not adapted themselves to their clients needs to ensure longevity and survival in an ever changing retail world.

Only yesterday a discussion around HMV came up, one person said "I used to love going there, however on the last two visits they didn't have the item I was looking for in stock"; his only alternative was to search online and eventually he decided to buy the products from Amazon and that has since seen all the individual's music purchases be bought through Amazon.

It is perhaps the biggest sign yet that companies need to move with the times and explore alternative ways of marketing themselves both online and offline.

Online marketing without a doubt carries a huge appeal, there are literally hundreds of thousands of ways to promote your business, products, services and of course website - everyone should be taking advantage of this in at least a small way.

Social media is already a huge marketing and sales tool for many companies who understand the importance of frequent customer engagement, interaction and the positive effect it can bring to their business.

Hopefully, we won't see any more announcements this week about household names going into administration - but please; do not hold your breath as with all honesty it would not come as a surprise!

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