John Browett, Apple

Well, it is very much less of a surprise that John Browett has gone from Apple than when he got the job in the first place. The whole operation at Apple is a million miles away from what Browett stands for, I have no idea what they saw in the guy. At the time, Apple were banging on about the unbelievable customer service focus that he apparently had. From what I saw, I probably could do better and my experience is way short of his!

I don't know if Browett is a complete numpty and just rose on the wave of success Tesco has experienced in the past, or if he genuinely was a part of it. But he brought that mindset to Dixons and it was entirely inappropriate to their business. What followed was a period of confusion and inertia, as Browett led the company into blind alleys with no clear strategy at a time when it needed strong leadership. The recession merely highlighted the flaws in his policies.

It was sheer genius though, to land the job at Apple, not just because it got him out of the failing company he was responsible for, but also because of the target. I mean, Apple! But it hasn't taken long for a company that makes massive profits on the desirability of its brand (which means huge sales even with huge margins), to discover a man steeped in the tradition of cheap, minimal staffing (both in numbers and talent), 'sale', '50% off'', 'must end soon' wasn't right for them.

Browett might be a lovely man and he may have genuine talent, but his target should have been Poundstretcher or Wal Mart or Costco. There he might have stood a chance.

It is interesting though, that the man has gone from Apple and the only things we know about his time there is that on being offered the role, we heard he was some kind of customer service guru and on leaving that he was cutting staff. In what way do those two things sit together well?

Interestingly, it seems things are very much better at Dixons these days. If they could just get a proper grip on their place in the market and shift away from the 'sale' mentality they will be fine.

Retailing Woes

So let me understand this from the recruitment perspective. A global brand want someone to run all of their retailing side, maintaining the image already established (and responsible for healthy profit margins). Naturally, the ideal candidate will have supermarket experience and more recently have run a business selling computers and technology products based on a 'sale', 'half price' strategy and who's international experience is closing overseas operations. Naturally.

Of course the actual reason given for Apple attracting Dixons boss John Browett is his fantastic customer service focus. I certainly can't fault him for having talked about it often enough, but my own personal experience recently was of an inept, unconnected organisation that cannot use its own computer systems and fail to interface with delivery firms correctly. OK, so you don't get so hounded when you go into a store these days as you once did, but he has definitely not got on top of the way the customer should be dealt with in such a company. The staff still don't know any more about what they are 'selling' than they did 5 years ago.

But good luck to Browett and even more so Apple. Will he bring his own ideas to the table and change the translucent white brand into something closer to his 'pallet' mentality, with lots of (fake) 'half price' offers? Or, sit back and do nothing at all, letting the marketing people create a desire and the customers to do the rest. It's a strategy.

Does this mean the Tesco era is over at Dixons? I think Browett's sidekick from that neck of the woods should be being looked at by Argos. They share a demographic, chasing the same customer segment, the range is vast, image low, but it is a real sector and it could be better done. He might be the man to fill that long-standing senior vacancy at Argos, but do the people above have the vision to recognise the kind of change that is required in their business? To date nothing suggests they do.

For Dixon's the departure of someone who clearly hasn't been that interested for quite a while now, presents a real opportunity. Let's see if they grasp it. The Industrial Revolution is so called because of the vast, fundamental changes it introduced. It wasn't called the Industrial Musical Chairs, in which people carry on doing what everyone has always done, but moving chairs occasionally.