Premium and more basic brands forming partnerships is a growing trend, appealing to consumers who want to get the best of both the high and low-end, and brands that are aiming to expand their reach Mix it up: Topshop and NordstromThe combinations of hotdogs with champagne, football and fine wine and Topshop and premium US store Nordstrom might seem unusual - but in an austere economic environment, a new strategy has emerged: that of mixing the high-end and the everyday to reach a wider audience.The likes of Aldi, for example, is doing well in tough times, using the line ‘like brands only cheaper,’ in its marketing. Joint managing director Roman Heini says it is attracting more A and B demographic customers and in Germany it is making the most of this by partnering with more upmarket store Rewe and trading under the same roof.Meanwhile, high street retailer Topshop announced its partnership with the premium but conservative US department store Nordstrom, something which Forbes magazine calls a ‘retail odd couple’, but which stands to increase Topshop’s presence in the States while upping Nordstrom’s fashion credentials.Best of bothJames Wallman, editor at LS:N Global - the trends network of The Future Laboratory, who calls the new movement ‘lo-hi,’ says that it is becoming fashionable to mix up premium brands and more basic ones. The target audience, price and brand values are entirely different, but low-end and high-end brands are collaborating to appeal to people who want the best of both.“The reason brands are doing it is to appeal to today’s consumer. We are now lo-hi shoppers. These days, people are much more prepared to mix and match. In the past, you would consider yourself a high street or luxury shopper and you wouldn’t mix the two. But that’s now become something that people…

Football is being shown the red card from fans and pundits for its on and off-pitch performance. Sponsors and clubs must offer more sophisticated engagement opportunities to score positive attention - and help the sport clean up its act. Overpaid, overindulged and allegedly in some cases racist, football players and their teams - which stand accused of being only after fans’ cash - may have torpedoed the reputation of the beautiful game in the run-up to the Fifa World Cup in Brazil next year.This season there have been several instances of fans in open revolt against the Premier League’s market forces, from Manchester City supporters returning tickets en masse to Arsenal in protest at the high cost of away seats, to Newcastle United fans expressing concern at the club’s new shirt sponsorship deal with payday loans company Wonga.Newcastle City council leader Nick Forbes was among those to criticise Wonga’s £24m four-year deal, claiming it would promote “legal loan sharking” to local people facing economic hardship.Wonga, though, says its business practices are responsible and that football sponsors promoting alcohol and gambling have not met with the same opposition. In an attempt to win over sceptical fans, after agreeing the deal last October, one of Wonga’s first acts was to rename the Newcastle stadium St James’ Park after owner Mike Ashley had controversially rebranded the ground the Sports Direct Arena the previous year.But regardless of gripes among fans, the number of people watching the country’s most-loved sport is continuing to rise. Last season, average attendance across the Premier League was 93 per cent of capacity and figures to date suggest a similarly impressive showing this season. Viewing figures around the world are soaring too, with an estimated 4.7 billion people globally tuning in to the Premier League in 2011-2012. Budweiser is a…

Pernod Ricard has just posted better than expected results, due in part to long-term marketing investment. Group chief marketing officer Martin Riley talks to Lucy Tesseras about the company’s dedication to premiumisation. “The whole spirits business is not about volume, it’s about value,” says Pernod Ricard group chief marketing officer Martin Riley. “We’re not in the business of trying to get people to drink too much. We want people to enjoy what they’re drinking by giving them the best possible experience in terms of product quality and packaging.”Riley’s premiumisation strategy seems to be working. The drinks giant announced a 6 per cent rise in six-month profits to €1.5bn (£1.3bn), driven by a strategy of getting people to pay more for premium alcohol brands. The company is the second largest in the sector behind Diageo and credits its continued marketing investment and innovation for its success.The marketing function of the evolving business is overseen by Riley, who joined Pernod Ricard in 1997 having previously worked at Allied Domecq and Seagram, which were later acquired by Pernod Ricard.The notion of going premium began with the acquisition of Seagram’s Scotch whisky brands in 2001, the most notable of which was Chivas Regal.“For a luxury whisky brand like Chivas the whole tactile nature of the bottle, the silver box, the label and the embossing are so important, but that had all been taken away,” says Riley. “We fell in love with the brand we inherited but recognised it needed to be treated with a bit more respect. We put the cost back in, which meant the price of the pack went up but we knew we had to create something that was intangible.”Pernod Ricard gave 18-year-old whisky brand Chivas 18 the same treatment by introducing a new heavy-base bottle and blue and gold label.…