MARKETING: "La Noria" se queda sin anunciantes

Afortunadamente la estrategia del "todo vale" no ha servido en este caso para intentar liderar las audiencias. El morbo que podría tener la entrevista a la madre de un menor condenado por encubrimiento -de momento- en un caso de asesinato, ha pasado una cara factura a Telecinco, acertando donde más le duele: su fuente de ingresos.

EL PROGRAMA DE LA POLÉMICA

El pasado sábado 29 de octubre, el programa en horario de prime-time "La Noria" emitió una más que controvertida entrevista a la madre de "El Cuco", uno de los menores implicados y condenados por el caso de asesinato de Marta del Castillo. Este programa lideró la audiencia del sábado noche, con una cuota de pantalla del 15,2% (1.920.000 espectadores).

Al parecer, por esta entrevista "La Noria" pagó a su invitada entre 9.000 y 10.000 euros. Este hecho, unido a la propia entrevista en sí, desataron fuertes críticas de telespectadores y periodistas, siendo los comentarios publicados en el blog del periodista Pablo Herreros el detonante para la gran espantada de los anunciantes. Su título era "Las marcas que patrocinaron a la madre de un criminal", y en su blog Pablo Herreros detallaba el listado de marcas que se habían anunciado en el programa del 29 de octubre, invitando a los lectores a firmar una carta solicitando a las empresas la retirada de su apoyo comercial a "La Noria".

El efecto fue inmediato y las críticas se propagaron y multiplicaron a través de internet rápidamente (vía Twitter, redes sociales, blogs...) hasta llegar directamente a oídos de los departamentos de marketing de las empresas anunciantes. Este caso es un buen ejemplo de la influencia y el poder que las redes sociales han conseguido tener en los últimos tiempos, y de cómo las marcas hablan, responden y se comunican con los consumidores a través de ellas.

A nivel comercial se trataba de un asunto bien serio, pues las marcas (todas de gran consumo, muchas de ellas con una imagen familiar y de confianza) se exponían a ser relacionadas con un tema tan escabroso y polémico. O lo que es peor, ser vistas como patrocinadoras indirectas de la madre de un presunto asesino, pudiendo entrar en juego la fidelidad (o incluso el rechazo) de los consumidores. La reacción no se hizo esperar, y fue tajante y rápida como pocas veces hemos visto: la gran mayoría de marcas que venían incluyendo spots en el programa de Telecinco, no sólo decidieron cancelar su publicidad en "La Noria", sino que anunciaron su decisión alto y claro mediante comunicados en prensa, en sus páginas web y a través de las redes sociales, para que todos los consumidores conocieran claramente su postura.


LA ESPANTADA DE ANUNCIANTES

La primera en anunciar la cancelación de su publicidad fue Campofrío, quien manifestó, en relación a la inciativa de Pablo Herreros y de las redes sociales que no solo nos solidarizamos con su petición sino que también pedimos disculpas (a pesar de que ignorábamos esos contenidos tan lamentables), y hemos dado orden urgente a nuestra agencia de medios de cancelar cualquier spot en "La Noria" de modo indefinido.

A la postura de Campofrío se unirían rápidamente marcas como Puleva, Bayer y Nestlé:

Lactalis Ibérica (Puleva) publicó en su propia web lo siguiente: os confirmamos que el grupo Lactalis, que engloba las marcas Puleva y Président, ha comunicado de manera urgente a Telecinco, a través de su agencia de medios, que no desea tener ninguna presencia alrededor de cualquier programa en el que pueda aparecer esta señora o cualquier otra persona allegada a los imputados en el caso. Lamentamos lo ocurrido.

Bayer explicó que desconoce los contenidos vertidos en los programas que se emiten antes o después de los bloques publicitarios. En cualquier caso, basándonos en la filosofía y valores de nuestra compañía, pedimos disculpas a todas las personas que se hayan sentido ofendidas. Y les comunicamos que nos adherimos a su petición y que hemos cursado instrucciones para que la emisión de nuestra publicidad se produzca en un horario que no coincida con dicho programa.

Por su parte, Nestlé España emitió una nota en la web en la que confirman su decisión de retirar su publicidad del programa, y explicaban que lamentablemente, los anunciantes no pueden conocer de antemano los contenidos de los programas en los que se emitirá su publicidad.

A estas cuatro empresas se les irían sumando otras como Panrico-Donuts, Milner, Banco Sabadell, La Razón, Reale Seguros, L`Oreal, El Corte Inglés, Ausonia, Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, Chevrolet, Decathlon, Bimbo, Audi, Hero, Vodafone, Fontaneda, Danone, Affinity Petcare y Mercedes-Benz, un durísimo golpe para el programa producido por La Fábrica de la Tele justo al inicio de la época más consumista del año.

El Corte Inglés, una de las marcas que lidera año tras año los rankings de inversión publicitaria en España, dejó patente a través de las redes sociales Facebook y Twitter su intención de retirar por completo su publicidad del programa.

Es de esta forma cómo las marcas han respondido ante un problema de presión social -además de conciencia- planteado precisamente por los propios consumidores.

Sólo 5 marcas se atrevieron a mantener sus spots durante "La Noria" en el programa del sábado siguiente: Vitaldent, WCNet, Wilkinson, la película "El Gato con Botas" y Pronto (Johnson Wax Española), si bien Wilkinson y Vitaldent explicaron que la inclusión de su publicidad en el espacio de Telecinco se debió a un error por parte de su agencia de medios, y que esto no volvería a ocurrir.


LA PRIMERA REACCIÓN DE TELECINCO

Resulta como mínimo curiosa la primera reacción del propio Jordi González (el presentador del programa), quien ante la masiva espantada de anunciantes, en lugar de hacer la más mínima autocrítica, pedir disculpas y/o proponer cambios, relizó una serie de comentarios publicados a través de Twitter: estudiantes y aficionados al marketing, una empresa de embutidos ha visto la oportunidad de una campaña de imagen que le sale gratis. Y la ha aprovechado. Cuando a un imbécil le señalas la luna, se fija en el dedo.

No solo eso, sino que el mismo presentador calificó a las marcas de muy listas, acusándolas de haber encontrado un modo de limpiar su imagen y de obtener publicidad gratuita.

De nuevo (como en otros polémicos programas de "La Noria") Jordi González se escudaba en la supuesta "libertad de expresión" y en ofrecer la realidad desde todos sus ángulos, nos gusten más o menos, para justificar la emisión de la controvertida entrevista, llegando incluso a acusar a Antena 3 de haber preparado y potenciado todo este escándalo.

La postura pública oficial de Telecinco en este asunto era precisamente la falta de postura: un silencio que hacía presagiar cambios. El caso es que, como ya se ha comentado, tras la espantada masiva de las marcas, "La Noria" volvió a emitirse el sábado siguiente, día 5 de noviembre, con apenas 2 minutos de anuncios en pleno prime-time: tan sólo 5 marcas se publicitaron en el espacio, de las cuales 2 declararon haberlo hecho por error. En esta jornada, el programa (en el que se incluyeron las explicaciones sobre la polémica entrevista) fue líder de audiencia con un 18,6% de cuota de pantalla (2.411.000 espectadores). Sin embargo, un programa de televisión privada con gran audiencia pero sin anunciantes poca rentabilidad puede aportar a la cadena, comenzándose a poner en cuestión su continuidad.

La imagen de "La Noria" estaba realmente "tocada" a raíz de la polémica entrevista, emitiéndose una nueva edición del programa el sábado 12 de noviembre, de nuevo sin apenas anuncios.

Como forma de recuperar anunciantes, Publiespaña (la empresa que gestiona la contratación de publicidad en Telecinco) comenzó a ofrecer publicidad gratuita durante "La Noria". De esta forma se consiguió captar a una decena de anunciantes para la siguiente emisión del programa: Securitas Direct, el musical "Chicago", Selecta Visión o el videojuego Kinect Sport de Microsoft entre otros. Se trataba de una efectiva estrategia para recuperar anunciantes, si bien de nuevo poco rentable y mucho menos sostenible en el tiempo.


CAMBIO DE POSTURA: RECTIFICAR ES DE SABIOS

El principal temor de Telecinco era el posible efecto "contagio" de la espantada de anunciantes a otros programas de la cadena. De hecho, los primeros síntomas de que esta amenaza era real empezaban a atisbarse: la marca de electrodomésticos Jata -que no tenía contratada publicidad específica dentro de "La Noria"- decidió cancelar su campaña de Navidad planificada exclusivamente en Telecinco, ante unos hechos acontecidos y que podrían perjudicar sus intereses comerciales.

Telecinco empezaba a verse realmente comprometida y perjudicada, y debían tomarse decisiones de calado para enderezar la situación. La primera, entonar el "mea culpa" por parte del propio consejero delegado de Mediaset España, Paolo Vasile a principios de diciembre en un encuentro con anunciantes organizado en el Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid, y al que acudieron los principales rostros de la cadena para mostrar su apoyo a Telecinco. En este encuentro, Vasile explicó su nueva postura y en la que los anunciantes eran una parte imprescindible e irrenunciable: la televisión comercial es un triángulo: público, televisión y publicidad. Nos equivocamos muchísimo. A veces es muy humillante equivocarte, cometer un error. Y si lo cometemos todo el mundo lo ve. Cuando nos equivocamos sabemos que el daño que hacemos puede ser muy grande. Si el problema lo hemos causado nosotros, tenemos que solucionarlo nosotros. Somos absolutamente responsables y lo sabemos. Tenemos que cuidar mucho la relación con el público, que no podemos perder, y los anunciantes, que tienen que estar siempre muy satisfechos.

Por su parte, Jordi González finalmente también mostró cierta asunción de culpa, reconociendo que posiblemente se cometieron errores.

Si asumir la responsabilidad y proponer un "blanqueamiento" de los contenidos de "La Noria" fue la primera medida para enderezar la situación, la segunda no se haría esperar: a mediados de diciembre, Telecinco anunció que un nuevo programa llamado "El Gran Debate" sería el sustituto en prime-time de "La Noria".

Desde el punto de vista de Marketing, llama la atención en este caso el hecho de descubrir el inmenso poder que cada individuo tiene hoy en día a través de las redes sociales, llegando a ser capaces de "tumbar" a un programa de televisión. También es interesante concluir que en general en la vida, y en particular en el mundo de la empresa, no todo vale: en este caso, la telebasura llevada al extremo, a pesar de captar audiencia a corto plazo, a la larga puede volverse en contra.

ENTORNO: EL GRAN MERCADO DE LA NAVIDAD (año 2011)

¿CUÁNTO GASTAMOS EN LA NAVIDAD?

Un estudio de Deloitte revela que cada hogar español gastará en 2011 una media de 668 euros en las fiestas de Navidad, un 1,98% más que en 2010.

España es el cuarto país de la Unión Europea que más gasta en estas fechas, siendo en Europa el gasto medio por hogar de 555 euros.

El 59% del presupuesto navideño se destinará a la compra de regalos (principalmente para Reyes y Papá Noel), un 27% a alimentación (con una especial presencia de las cenas de Nochebuena y Nochevieja, así como las comidas de Navidad y Año Nuevo) y un 14% a ocio (viajes, fiestas y demás actividades relacionadas con las vacaciones).

INDUSTRIAS LIGADAS A LA NAVIDAD
La Navidad es una época mágica, especialmente para muchas industrias cuyos ingresos dependen directamente de la celebración de estas fiestas. En muchos sectores, el grueso de las ventas anuales se concentran en el último trimestre del año, como es el caso de las industrias más estacionales (turrones, juguetes, abetos, etc.).

En España, aunque más de un mes antes las luces ya estén instaladas en los centros comerciales y en muchas calles, el inicio oficial de las fiestas se considera tradicionalmente la celebración del sorteo de la Lotería de Navidad el 22 de diciembre. La media nacional de gasto en lotería ronda los 68 euros por persona (2010), siendo el valor de la consignación total de billetes puestos a la venta de 3.200 millones de euros según datos de ese mismo año. Uno de cada cuatro españoles compra Lotería de Navidad. Se trata de un hábito bien arraigado en nuestro país y que nos muestra la gran relevancia de la industria de la Suerte.

a) La industria agroalimentaria

Mariscos

La Navidad es la época del año en la que se produce un mayor gasto en alimentación. El marisco (centollos, langostinos, vieiras, percebes...) alcanza su mayor precio durante el tramo final del año, al convertirse en uno de los principales reclamos para las cenas y comidas de Navidad. A unos días de Nochebuena, el precio de los percebes puede estar entre los 150 y 250 euros por kilo, la centolla 30 euros por kilo, y la nécora sobre los 40 euros por kilo. En este sector concreto, Galicia es la principal proveedora de marisco para toda España.


Dulces típicos: turrones, mazapanes y otros dulces

España es una auténtica potencia de dulces navideños. Turrones, mazapanes, mantecados... todo tipo de especialidades que generan unas ventas anuales de 241,318 millones de euros (datos de 2004) y dan empleo directo a más de 4.000 personas. Dentro de este sector, el 76% de las ventas se corresponde al subsector de los turrones, y el 24% restante a los mazapanes y demás dulces navideños. Se trata de un sector maduro (con bajo crecimiento), si bien las empresas que lo componen vienen apostando en los últimos años por la innovación y diversificación, estimulando la demanda, y consiguiendo un buen comportamiento del mercado. Fruto de esta política es el lanzamiento de nuevos y atrevidos lanzamientos destinados en muchos casos a nuevos segmentos de mercado: variedades light y sin azúcar, nuevos sabores, nuevos formatos (tipo snack, envasados individualmente, etc.), intentos de trasladar el consumo del turrón también al resto del año, etc.

Las exportaciones de turrones y mazapanes suponen aproximadamente el 10% del total. Los principales consumidores europeos de los dulces españoles son Alemania, Reino Unido y Francia. Fuera de Europa, los principales compradores son EE.UU. y Latinoamérica, aunque también se exporta a países como Rusia, Israel, Jordania, China y Japón.

Los turrones y mazapanes españoles son únicos en el mundo: no se fabrica ningún dulce similar en ningún otro país del mundo. Esto provoca que su balanza comercial sea netamente positiva, si bien es cierto que en algunos países existen variedades parecidas aunque no iguales, como es el caso de el torrone italiano, el nougat francés, el mazapán danés, etc.

Otros alimentos:

Desde las uvas para Nochevieja, pasando por el tradicional pavo, los relativamente recién introducidos "panettones"... en Navidades el gasto en alimentación se dispara.

b) La industria juguetera

En el año 2010, el consumo nacional de juguetes superó los 1.870 millones de euros, siendo el gasto medio por niño de 171 euros. En ese año, el consumo de juguetes descendió un 0,7%, y en 2011 se espera que esta situación se acentúe previendo una reducción de entre un 3% y un 5%.
Las ventas de juguetes son claramente estacionales, alcanzando el grueso en Navidades (las tres cuartas partes de las ventas totales de juguetes se concentran en Navidad, entre el 1 de noviembre y el 5 de enero), con ciertos repuntes en Semana Santa y verano.

En España, El Corte Inglés, Toys R Us y Carrefour concentran la mitad de las ventas de juguetes.

En 2007, la facturación total de las empresas fabricantes de juguetes en Europa alcanzó los 5.000 millones de euros, de los cuales, más del 20% se corresponde a las ventas de empresas españolas, que representaban un 10% del total de empresas fabricantes europeas, dando empleo al 5% del total de trabajadores del sector en Europa.


c) Adornos navideños

En este apartado, los productos "made in China" tienen una presencia más que destacable, suponiendo actualmente dos tercios del total de adornos comercializados en nuestro país. Como en la mayoría de productos importados de China, el bajo precio es el factor clave: en un país en el que se pagan sueldos de 100 euros al mes por jornadas diarias de 9 horas, el coste de mano de obra hace que no haya competencia posible para esta clase de productos.

ESTRATEGIA: THE HOLE OF DONUTS -in English- (año 2011)

1. Who is Donuts-Panrico

Panrico is one of the most important food groups of Spain. 

The company produces sliced bread, many other kind of breads, all kind of cakes, pastries and biscuits, and of course, the well-known "donuts". 

Its products have been presence in more than 10 countries all around the world, being the market leader in Spain and Portugal. 

In 2010 it had a turnover of 563 million euros, 14 factories along Spain and Portugal, and 3.480 workers. At the present Panrico is going through a difficult time because of the crisis.

2. Its beginigs

The born of the Spanish donuts

Andreu Costafreda was born in 1909 in Alfarrás (Lérida). 

In 1928 he started his first bakery in Barcelona, that was growing little by little producing several kinds of bread. In 1952 he founded Costafreda y Sugarline, a company dedicated to produce and market products for bread flours.

In the begining of 60´s, Mr. Costafreda traveled to United States with his partner Mr. Rivera, and there they met the well-known "donuts": a fried pastry with a hole in the middle and covered with icing sugar. It was a very popular pastry product in the USA, very consumed with a coffee or with milk, but it was unknown until the moment for the majority of the Spanish public. 

Then, they thought that it could be a good opportunity to introduce the donuts in the Spanish market, and decided to learn its producing methods and recipes, and bring the donuts here.

In this way, in 1962 they set up Donut Corporation Española, a new company engaged on producing and marketing the donuts in Spain. 

It was a risky bet, because the consumption of donuts was an ingrained habit in the USA, but until the moment in Spain almost nobody had proved them. 

However, the Spanish people knew another pastry product quite simillar to the donuts: the bagels or "rosquillas". 

This would facilitate the introduction of the donuts into the market, because the Spanish people already would know its consumption ocassion. 

The donuts were seen like "rosquillas" but more tender and tasty, a delicious cupcake to have at the breakfast or like an snack, and the Spanish people started to buy them regularly. 

The donuts were a success, and Donut Corporation Española started to sell them by all over the country. 

The first factory was in Barcelona, and new factories would be opened time after.

From the marketing point of view, Mr. Costafreda succeed with the registering of the generic name "donuts" like a trade mark in Spain. 

At that time it might be possible because the word "donuts" wasn´t known here. 

In fact, Panrico Group is the only company that can use the word "donuts" in Spain and Portugal.

In the same year, Mr. Costafreda set up with the Rivera family another company, Panificio Rivera Costafreda (Panrico), engaged on produce several kinds of bread, as the sliced bread and the "Grisines", a kind of bread sticks.

Both companies, Donut Corporation and Panrico would be the seed of the future Panrico group. 

The companies were managed by the Rivera and Costafreda families, who worked to make grow the business.

The growth and diversification of the company: sucessful launches of new products, the new English partner and the international expansion

In 1970 the company launches one of its more sucessful products, the "Bollycao", a bun filled with chocolate for a young public.

The "Bollycao" became very popular among children and adolescents, and its sales soon grew largely.

New products and varities were incoporated into its product portfolio, like the "Donettes" (a new kind of mini-donuts that were the first cupcake for sharing), the cupcakes segmented for boys and girls, the "Donuts Bombón" (donuts covered with chocolate), and several more products. Panrico´s products were introduced in the hospitality channel (cafes, bars, restaurants, communities...) and in the supermarkets, stores and kiosks.



The company grew gradually by Spain setting up factories in several cities, in many cases with the participation of local partners by the creation of different subsidiaries. 

Furthermore, the group continued with its growth by the establishing of a delegation network along Spain, that allowed it to reach the final points of sale, and do an intensive distribution.

In 1973 the English food and beverage group Allied Domecq acquired 50% of the social capital of Panrico. Allied Domecq was an very important company that operated spirits, wine and quick service restaurant businesses. It was the owner of very known brands as Beefeater (gin), Ballantine´s (whisky), Malibú (rum) or Tía María (liqueur) among others, and its products had a strong presence in Spain. 

By this, it would be possible to exploit synergies. Since this moment, the Spanish company would be managed by three partners: the families Rivera and Costafreda with their English partner.

The Costafreda family was interested in achieve that the group would grow not only in Spain, but selling its products to other markets. 

In fact, Panrico´s products were exported to other european countries like Portugal, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and Netherlands, and even to other more distant countries like Australia.   

The first factory abroad: Portugal

In 1985 the Panrico Group opened its first factory abroad in Sintra (Portugal). Following the growth strategy of the company, many Panrico´s products were marketed in Portugal, and they soon take the market leadership. 

A few years later, the owner of the "iberian donuts" would set up a second factory in Portugal, this time near to Lisbon.

In the middle of 90´s, the food company had 11 factories in Spain and 2 in Portugal.

By this time, Panrico (the only legal owner of the word "donuts" in Spain and Portugal) created with Allied Domecq a joint-venture to 50% to exploit the chain Dunkin Donuts along Spain.

The Chinese challenge

In 1997 the pastry group was introduced into the Chinese market, with the opening there of another factory that employed 800 workers. In this way, the Spanish company created a subsidiary, Beijing Panrico Food Processing Center, with the participation of the local group Song Zuhan Industrial. 

The Chinese plant was engaged on producing and marketing donuts (called there "Duo Na Quan", what means "the bagel of the abundance"), and more several pastry products like "Donettes" ("Xiao Duo Na Quan"), and buns filled with chocolate ("Duo Na Gao").

In China, Panrico also set up a distribution network with presence in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin. 

The company had an ambicious expansion plan over China that contemplated the opening of 20 factories in different cities all over the country, by exploiting the growing of China in the 90´s. 

But at the end, this plan would be cancelled. In 1999 the sales of the Chinese subsidiary reached 1.000 million pesetas (around 6 million euros).  

The reestructuring of the group (1999)

In 1999, the Costafreda family acquires again the share of Allied Domecq, and started the restructuring of the companies that belonged to Panrico. 

Along Spain there were several  companies participated by Panrico and small regional partners that exploited the manufacturing and marketing of the Panrico´s products, including the donuts. 

In this way, the new Panrico S.A. absorved all its subsidiaries as for example Donut Panrico Costafreda S.A. (Barcelona), Donuts Galicia S.L. (Santiago de Compostela), Donut Corporation Asturias S.A. (Gijón), Donut Corporation del Norte S.A. (Bilbao) and Donut Corporation Murcia S.L. (Murcia) among others.

With this operation it was produced the unification of the group in only one company: Grupo Panrico. 

But also it was made a process of optimization and profitability of its facilities, and some factories were closed.

In 2000, the company continued with its international expansion plan, introducing its products into the Greek market through the opening of a new factory in that country. 

As ocurred in China, the way to achieve this was doing a joint-venture with a local partner.

In 2001 two new financial partners, La Caixa and Banco Sabadell, come into the company as shareholders acquiring 30% and 5% respectively. 

They were strategic partners (both  were important Spanish banks) that would allow to finance the growth of Panrico.

In 2004 it was created Panrico Conveniencia, an specific line of business to serve certain customers and stores, and the company also came into the frozen bakery and pastry market.

By this time, Panrico sold its participation in Dunkin Donuts Spain, and this chain had to change its name to "Dunkin Coffee" to continue operating here.

The sale to Apax Partners (2005) and the begining of the problems

In 2005 Apax Partners, a British venture capital firm, acquired 75% of Panrico capital by 900 million euros. The old stakeholders were the Costafreda family (who sold 45%), and La Caixa (who sold 30%). 

The Costafreda family would preserve another 10% by the moment, although at the end of the year Apax Partners would purchase 100% of the Spanish company. 

Other companies had presented to the bid of Panrico: Permira, Mercapital (venture capital), the French company PAI, and CVC, although at the end the Apax Partner´s offer was the winner.

Since Apax Partners took the control of the company, the course of Panrico would change drastically. 

The venture capital company wanted to turn the pastry manufacturer in the undisputed leader of the Iberian Peninsula, and diversify into other food sectors like biscuits.

In 2007 the company had to sell four of its production plants to reduce its debt. But Panrico could continue producing in them because the sale was done with a lease (a rental contract) during several years more.

Following its diversification strategy, Panrico acquired in 2008 a big part of the biscuit business of Kraft Foods, with the purchasing of one product plant in Orozko (Vizcaya) -with 240 workers- and well-known brands like Artiach, Dinosaurus, Chiquilín, Digesta, Filipinos and Marbú among others. 

All these brands had a maket share of about 12%, and a big part of this important operation was financed with debt.

But furthermore, in 2009 Panrico purchased another important pastry company by 25 million euros, La Bella Easo, until the moment owned by the italian group Barilla. 

La Bella Easo had an important presence into the Spanish market, being very strong by producing fairy cakes and other kind of pastry.

But the problems didn´t anything else but grow, because Panrico embarked on a conquering adventure with a not very good financial situation (it had a high level of indebtedness), in a moment in which the market and the consumption started to contract because the crisis, and the sales decreased year by year. 

To be able to afront this situation, Panrico started a desinvestment policy abroad with the sale of its factories in China and Greece, ceasing to export, and concentrating its business and its efforts in the Iberian market (Spain and Portugal). 

In China the plant was sold to Bimbo México by around 9 million euros, and in Greece the local parter acquired the share of Panrico.

3. An unteneable situation with the crisis

The creditors stay with the company

The company was heavily indebted, the sales continued decreasing, and the profits became in losses. Panrico had a hard situation largely due to the crisis: the consumption was contracted and the raise of white brands in the supermarkets was causing a significant reduction in margins. 

This kind of products are cheaper and leaves a lower profitability to the producer.

In 2009 the company had a debt of 605 million euros (that almost overcomed the turnover), with a total turnover of 631 million euros (2,2% less than the year before), an EBITDA of 76,3 million euros (17,2% less than 2008), and losses of 149 million euros. The financial situation was bad, with a negative working capital of 645 million euros, and an equity (patrimonio neto) with a low representation of 252 million euros.

In fact, the equity of the Spanish company wasn´t negative due to the equity loans (préstamos participativos) that Apax was doing repeteadly, but the real situation was that Panrico was a bankrumpt company.

With this situation, in 2010 the company could not afford the pay of its debts, and Apax Partners (its only owner) refused to invest more capital to refloat it. 

Then, the English company agreed with the creditors (the majority were banks that had financed its debts) that they would be the new stakeholders of Panrico. 

In this way, it was a conversion operation of credit in capital: Apax changed its participation in Panrico by debt, and ING Bank, BBVA, Santander, Bankia (Caja Madrid), Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, BayernLB, Banco de Sabadell, La Caixa and other creditors became the new owners of the pastry company. All they created a new company in Louxembourg, Bake Holdco 4, to join its shares in Panrico.

A new partner else interested in the Spanish company appeared in the middle of all these movements. 

It was an U.S. investment fund, Oaktree Capital, specialized in the refloating of companies in a crisis situation, and it made a bid for a share in the company. 

By this, in 2010 the creditor banks stayed with 76% of the company, while Oaktree Capital would have the remaining 24%. 

The new board of directors appointed a new CEO (general manager), César Bajardí to try to refloat the business progress. In this way it looks like that things are starting to be redirecting because Panrico was able to refinance its debt, reducing its debt level from 650 million euros to 350 in 2010, and deferring payment of debts by an average of 2 years more.

But Oaktree Capital also showed to the banks its interest in increase its share in Panrico until 80% of the capital, and it has offered an injection of 105 million euros in the capital of the Spanish company.

At the end of 2011, Panrico is conducting an strategy for restoring profitability and be able to go through the crisis. 


4. Changes occurred in its strategic plan

In 2004 (before the crisis) Panrico had an ambicious plan of expansion: the company wanted to double the turnover from 566 million euros to 1.000 million in 2010, and increase the EBITDA from 83 million euros to 200 million in the same period. 

But the crisis started and the plans were changed drastically.

The case of Panrico isn´t the only one in serious problems. With the crisis many food companies are going through by difficult moments. It is also the case of the main competitor of Panrico, Bimbo España, that has been put on sale by its actual owner Sara Lee. Apparently the crisis is affecting hardly to the food companies.



5. Its bran image and the importance of advertising

Panrico has several brands very well positionated in the market, overall in Spain and Portugal. 

Donuts is one of the most famous brands in the Iberian food market, being the undisputed leader in its segment, and Panrico sliced bread has the second position in the ranking, just behind Bimbo.

The company invests large amounts of money in advertising throughout the entire year, being one of the main advertisers of Spain. 

The communication campaigns are needed to stimulate the demand (launches of new products, reminder ads, brand image creation, etc.). 

Each time a new television advertisement is broadcasted, sales experiment important peaks, and many times the new products advertised on tv are totally sold.

In addition to advertisement campaings, designed to stimulate the demand and increase sales in the short term, Panrico also does promotional actions like to offer direct gifts, awards and collectibles with its products, to achieve consumer loyalty and repeated purchases by them.

This is an example of the importance of a good communication policy in products consumed by impulse, due to the marketing strategy influences directly on sales.

In relation with its product policy, Panrico continuosly developes and launches new products and varieties of its products, to stimulate the demand, and to reach new public segments. 

For example, we can remeber the large number of varieties that the "donuts" have had: donuts glacé, donuts bombón, mini-donuts, donuts-light (and later donuts-línea), donuts xtra leche, donuts fusión, donuts limón (for the summer), donuts feliz navidad (for christmas), donuts cupido (for february), American donuts, donuts fondant... and a many varities more.
  

ENTORNO: Changes in the Frozen Food Industry (in English)

1. THE FUSION OF PROMAR AND FRIGORÍFICOS FANDIÑO

Last October 2011, two of the most important producer groups of frozen products have announced its intention to make a fusion. In this way, Promar and Frigoríficos Fandiño will create the 5th largest company of frozen food in Spain.

The new company will be called Profand Group, and it will have a total turnover of around 160 million euros, 7 big factories -3 of them in Spain (Vilagarcía, Sada and Avilés) and the other 4 located abroad (in Peru -2-, Argentina and Senegal)-. It also will have a big fleet of ships that operate in the best fisheries of the world (Nord Atlantic, Peru, Argentina, Estonia...) and commercial offices in several countries.


2. THE MAIN PRODUCERS OF FROZEN FOOD IN SPAIN

At the present, in the top of the ranking it is located the huge Pescanova Group with 165,000 tonnes of frozen food produced, followed by Pescapuerta Group (with 76,000 tonnes produced) and Freiremar Group (with 55,000 tonnes).

Pescapuerta has been able to get the second position in the ranking because of the acquisition of Ultracongelados El Mar, a big company with a well-stablished brand in the market ("El Mar") that now belongs to the group based in Vigo.

EMPRESAS: Inditex, The Fashionable Company (in English)

1. WHO IS INDITEX

Inditex (Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A.) has become the world´s leader in the fashion industry. This company has fascinated experts in business and finance, and now it is a case studied in the main business schools all over the world.

Its headquarters are in Arteixo - A Coruña (Spain), and its founder is Mr. Amancio Ortega Gaona, currently one of the world´s richest men, a businessman who knew as nobody how to reply the demand of consumers of fashion.

The Galician firm has known how to change the operation of the traditional fashion industry, being more flexible than other competitors, converting challenges into opportunities, and supporting its processes over innovative technologies.

As result of its strategy, Inditex hasn´t stopped to open new shops all over the world (at the present it has over 5,000 stores), and precisely this is one of the features that attracts the attention of experts in economics: its high growth rate since the company was born, or said it in another way: the incredible success of its business model.

Its main shop chain, Zara, has become one of the most powerful brands in the world´s fashion industry, and each day million consumers go into one of its stores to buy or just to watch, because nowadays Zara means fashion, latest trends, what people dress now and what they will dress coming soon.


2. ITS HISTORY

The beginning of Zara 

In 1963 Amancio Ortega starts a little company called GOA that produces and sells several kinds of clothes. The sales of the firm grow slowly, and it opens new production centers to get more capacity and versatility. The company soon starts to export its clothes to the European market.

In the beginning the company didn´t have own stores to sell its clothes: it was only a clothes wholesaler. But in 1975 its commercial strategy would change: GOA wanted to control the production, distribution and sale of its clothes, and the firm decided to make a vertical integration with the opening of its first store in a downtown street in A Coruña (Spain).

This shop was a boutique that sold urban clothes for women, men and children at competitive prices. The name chosen for this first shop was "Zara".

There is a legend that says the first name chosen by Amancio Ortega to call his boutique was "Zorba". But when he went to the brands office, this name was already registered, and Mr. Ortega, doing on the fly a letters play, decided to request a more simple word that wasn´t registered yet: "Zara", a word without meaning that is the random combination of four letters.

The first shop starts selling lots of clothes, being the young clothes for students a real success, and the firm decided to promote this distribution channel for its products with the opening of more Zara shops.


The expansion plans

In 1976 it is constituted the company GOASAM as the owner of the Zara shops. In this way, the activities of the group were well differenciated: GOA was engaged to produce the clothes and manage the wholesaler sales, and GOASAM was engaged to sell the clothes through the Zara shops (the retailer market).

The first expansion plan included opening Zara stores in the main cities of Galicia (A Coruña, Vigo, Santiago, Ourense, Lugo...) and after this, in the rest of Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao, Zaragoza...). The stores chain grew rapidly, and in 1985 it is created Inditex as the head of the group of companies.

One of the main features that makes spectacular and singular the Inditex case in the business world is the fast opening rate of its stores, and the growth of its sales. It seems more than a success story, an amazing and miraculous business: the hen that lays the golden eggs. Zara has hit exactly with the demands of the most public, attracting a large number of buyers in each store. And by this, each point of sale generates an important cash flow, that is reinvested to open new stores. With this growing strategy, the company has been having an high opening rate over 50% during last years.

Along 1986 and 1987, the group installs a new and modern logistic system to be able to serve in time to all the new shops that are being opened. With this system the company would get ready to continue with its strong expansion plan. Amancio Ortega was associated with people who knew the automobile industry, and they innovated in the company processes applying its technology in the business operations: manufacturing, logistic, distribution... In fact, Inditex has one of the most modern systems to classify and send the clothes automatically to stores around the world, in a record time and more efficiently. This allows the company to be more competitive and flexible than most competitors. With its logistic system, Inditex is able to send clothes to its stores in Europe in less than 24 hours, and to the stores of the rest of the world in less than 48 hours.

In 1988 Inditex opened its first shop abroad in Porto (Portugal). After this the company installed its Zara boutiques in New York in 1989 and Paris in 1990.

In the begining of 90´s, Zara´s growth was unstoppable, entering into new markets of the halfway of the world as Mexico, Greece, Belgium, Sweden, Malta and Cyprus.


The new brands of Inditex

In 1991 the new expansion plan includes the creation of a new chain of stores, Pull & Bear, specialized in an urban and young male audience. Its logistic center was located in Narón-Ferrol(Spain), and several shops will be part of this chain soon.

Furthermore Inditex started the purchase of Massimo Dutti, another chain of stores specialized in an older and more elegant male public. In 1991 the Galician company acquired 65% of Massimo Dutti, getting 100% in 1995. The headquarters and the logistic center of this chain are in Barcelona.
In the same year it also created another chain, Kiddy´s Class, this time intended for the children segment.

In 1998 a new chain intended to a young female public is opened under the name of Bershka. And in 1999 Inditex purchased Stradivarius, another chain that markets clothes for young and modern girls. With this acquisitions the total number of stores owned by the group grew exponentially.

In addition to the acquisitions of new clothes chains, the company opened new logistic platforms along Spain:

a) Arteixo and Narón in Galicia to distribute clothes of Zara and Pull&Bear.
b) Tordera and Sallent de Llobregat in Catalonia to distribute clothes of Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho and Stradivarius.
c) Zaragoza for the woman clothes of Zara.
d) Madrid for Zara Kids, Zara Home and Uterqüe.
e) León for another clothes and brands.
f) And it was acquired in Elche (Alicante) a shoes factory called Tempe that would be the supplier of all the shops of Inditex group.  

It is interesting to see in the previous graph the differences in profitability between the stores of Inditex: the average sales of a Zara store are 4,69 million euros a year. This shops are points of sale with a very high turnover, while stores as Oysho have sales about 700,000 euros of average. However, the chain that sells with a greater margin appears to be Stradivarius, because this brand has the highest EBIT margin, followed by Massimo Dutti and Zara. By the moment Uterqüe provides a negative return.

As it is posible to see, Inditex was growing with a diversifying politic: selling in new geographic markets, and creating or acquiring new fashion chains to get new public segments. All this strategy was sustained over the successful business model of its Zara stores.



The consolidation of its international expansion

At the end of 90`s, many countries were included in the list of the target markets of Zara: Argentina, Japan, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Lebanon, UAE (Emiratos Árabes), Kuwait, Turkey, Holland, Germany, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

In the 2000, Inditex opens its new headquarters building in the industrial park of Sabón in Arteixo (A Coruña). During the beginnig of the new century, the company continues with its international expand, coming into new countries as Andorra, Austria, Denmark, Qatar, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland and many other. Thus the international sales have been growing against the Spanish sales, reaching a peak of 72% in 2010, when 5 years ago international sales didn´t reach the 50%.

It is interesting to know deeper the international expansion strategy of Inditex, due to the fact that there are many countries in which its fashion markets are protected, and the entry of foreign companies is controlled and restricted. It is the case of Italy for example. To save this situation, Inditex was associated with local fashion companies, creating a subsidiary with the participation of both companies.

2001 was a very important year for the textile group: Inditex comes into the stock market offering the 26,09% of its capital through a Public Sale Offer (OPV). The objective was to attract minority shareholders that can provide capital to finance the company expansion. The experience was a success, and the demand exceeded supply by nearly 6 times. Inditex is a real success: it likes to customers and investors.

But not absolutely everything went well for the Ortega´s company: fortunately it seems that Inditex is also human, and there have been projects that didn´t go quite right. This is the case of "Often", a new chain of clothes launched in 2003, and targeted to a male young public between 25 and 40 years that were looking for more "quiet" clothes than the Pull&Bear style. At the end, this chain was closed in 2006. "Kiddy´s Class" also dissapeared as an independent chain, and was converted and repositioned in "Zara Kids". And "Leftie´s" is an outlet project for Zara´s clothes that is being testing at present. It seems that many times, the correct strategic decision is the result of learning by the methodology of trial and error, even for large companies. But in the business world the important is don´t be stopped, you have to try it and take decisions: this is the most difficult.

At the present Inditex is one of the largest groups of fashion distribution in the world. It has more than 5,000 stores in 78 countries, more than 100,000 workers, and had a turnover of 12,527 million euros in 2010, a 13% more than last year.


3. THE BUSINESS MODEL OF THE COMPANY AND ITS STORES

The company always says in its communications and reports that the customer is the center of the business. All the company areas are around the customer in its stores with an only one purpose: try to attend their demands in the better way, knowing their likes and adapting the collections to the requeriments of the people.

In this way, all the functions are around the points of sale (the shops) supporting and collaborating them to get the satisfaction of the customers.

Everyday the company makes a completely circuit through several stages:

1st) CREATE THE COLLECTIONS. In the headquarters, more than 200 designers create a collection each 3 days. The patters are sended on-line to the production centers. The creations are designed with the information provided from the shops and the trend scouts of the company.

2nd) PRODUCE THE COLLECTIONS. The production centers manufacture each kind of clothes in one week. They produce large lots of the same product to exploit economies of scale. The manufacturing plants are specialized by kind of clothing. There are 18 factories in the province of A Coruña, another one in Badalona and another more in Elche. Furthermore the company subcontracts the hard works like sewing on buttons and zippers to more than 400 workshops located along Galicia. When the clothes are finished, they are returned to the headquarters to get ready them for its distribution.

3rd) DISTRIBUTE THE CLOTHING. The clothes are distributed in boxes from the logistic center of Arteixo to the shops located all over the world. In this logistic center there are the latest technologies to classify and send the clothes. The company is able to send them to the european stores in less than 24 hours, and to the stores in the rest of the world in less than 48 hours. Inditex has an own fleet of trucks to do the distribution, and also uses shipments by air to arrive to the farthest countries.

4th) COMERCIALIZE THE CLOTHING IN THE STORES. In stores, the sellers have a PDA and a checkout connected with all the stores in the world and the headquarters, and with them they can transmit to the central (to the designers) the designs that people like and those that don´t like. Each 3 days, new designs arrive to the stores, but they will not be there more than 5 weeks, although they can be a success. The Inditex shops don´t store clothes: each shop only has the clothes that are exposed, the shops don´t have stored stock. Inditex has a zero inventory policy. The failed collections are sold in other shops (across the chain "Lefties" for example) with a discount of 30%.

5th) TRANSMIT INFORMATION TO THE CENTRAL. In this way it is closed the circle. The information is analyzed in the headquarters and the decisions are taken. And all start again.

In relation to the organization, Inditex has grouped its departments in 2 blocks:

(1) Product Areas, that includes the functions that affect the product (Production, Logistic, Coordination, Interior, Window Dressing, Location of Shops and Design). These activities can be identified as those that add value to the business model, the key of the good performance of the company, and the source of competitive advantages: the heart of the business.

(2) Corporative Areas, in where it is included the support functions that back up the Product Areas to make the business work well and grow (Human Resources, Logistic Direction, Expansion, Communication, Customer Care, Systems, Internation Management, Corporate Social Responsability, Financial Management and Good Governance).

Below you can see the chart of Inditex: from the Board of Directors (consejo de administración) there is a General Secretary of the Board, a President (Amancio Ortega), a Vice-president and a General Manager. Last January (2011) Amancio Ortega gave the Presidency to Pablo Isla, who was so far this moment the Vice-president and Delegate Counselor CEO.

4. ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION

As we have said earlier, Inditex growth is spectacular. Below you can see graphs about the economic performance of the company.

The Spanish company has an high profitability: it knows how to obtain a good margin in each article of clothing, and it is able to obtain an high rotation in each store. In 2010 the group net result was 1,741 million euros.

Furthermore, the financial situation of the company is very good: year after year its balance is very good. Inditex is a little debt company and it has a good level of working capital as happens in the hypermarkets case. It is a very profitable and solvent company.

5. THE KEYS OF ITS SUCCESS

a) Product:

a.1) Fashionable and fast design:
The company launches new collections constantly throughout the year. It has a constant renewal: they design a new collection each 3 days in front of the 2 collections a year (Spring and Autumn) that are designed by traditional manufacturers. The real value of the Zara clothing is its design and developments (renewals): they are always fashionable. Technically it is medium quality clothes, but Zara has known how to take advantage of changes in consumer demand for clothing: years ago consumers were looking for durable clothing. But today the fashion is ephemeral. People demand clothes to wear during weeks, months, or one or two years at most. After this time these clothes won´t be fashionable, and people will need to buy another more. By this, at the present the important feature is to be fashionable, while a few years ago it was to be of high quality. Thus Inditex invests to have a large and great group of designers, to know better the requests of their customers in its stores, and to capture new trends all over the world.

a.2) Relation with its customers: feedback across stores:
The Zara shops sellers all around the world have direct contact with the designers located in the central facilities in Arteixo. They tell the designers the demands of the customers across a computer system: which designs have liked and which that haven´t liked. In this way Inditex can adapt its clothes to the customers demand.

a.3) Capture trending:
Inditex has trends sensors in the places where the fashion trends are setted (New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, etc.) to inspire its collections and to know what is going to be wear. This trends sensors observe the clothing that wear the young people, what they like to dress, the fashion parades... And they also go into competitors shops and first brands boutiques to look its designs and inspire themselves. In fact, Inditex has been accused to copy. But actually it is a full analysis about customers, competitors and market, a very good work since the Marketing point of view.

b) Production, Logistic, Technologie and Purchasing:

b.1) Large-scale production but more versatile than competitors, and outsourcing (Production):
Specialized plants produce the clothes by type. Each design is produced in large lots to exploit the economies of scale. However, Inditex factories produce more varieties of clothing than other plants of the competitors: they have more versatility to produce several kinds on the same day, while other brands manufacture very few diferent kinds of clothes. In this way, Inditex loses some margin or profiability in its productions (because they are a little smaller), but gain flexibility and competitiveness (because they are more variety), being able to adapt better to the customers demand. Flexibility in Design, Production and Distribution is a real key of its success. On the other hand, the company also outsources the most complicated works to nearby workshops.

b.2) Logistic activitites in a record time (Logistic):
The company is very fast doing the distribution of its clothes because it has an automated logistic system. With its designers team, Inditex is able to launch a lot of desings very fast, and with its logistic system it is able to distribuite them all over the world in a few time with a low cost.

b.3) Location of the shops only in places with an high rotation (Location decisions for the stores):
The shops have to generate rotation. So they are only located in the best areas of the cities.

b.4) Purchasing decisions:

c) Finance:

c.1) Zero stock policy in shops:

c.2) High profitability:

d) Management:

d.1) Good and hard work during many years
d.2) Growth policy through reinvestment of profits

d.3) Good managers and good decisions


6. THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE COMPANY EVOLUTION

There are several salient names related with the success of Inditex. They are the owners, businessmen and businesswomen, managers and workers of the company that became it in a big empire.