How Ellies dismantled everything that was going for them
The aspiration should always be to build a world-class brand - otherwise what the hell are you even turning up for?
Every South African business has a moral obligation to make as much profit as possible.
Profitable businesses employ people, they pay tax, they make a positive contribution to a country's collective prosperity. When a business that has been in operation since 1979 willingly then chooses to screw that up by purposely not innovating and doing proper marketing - we as members of the South African economy should be outraged.
Ellies Holdings going into liquidation isn't just a problem for the shareholders of that business - it's a symptom of a far larger issue that we see in many South African businesses - a total lack of marketing competence. If you're not maximising the value of your brand and your products, you are choosing to fail. This is a game where winners win and second place goes into liquidation.
That's the focus of this week's deep dive - available on the Daily Maverick website.
Jon Cherry