September 1, 2010
According to a recent study by Simon-Kucher & Partners 89 percent of consumers are aware that VAT will increase in the near future, yet only 53 percent know when it will happen. Also, more than 85 percent of consumers overestimate the ‘real’ price increase of forthcoming VAT changes, due to be implemented January 2011. Only 15 percent of interviewees estimated the price correctly and in addition, 60–79 percent of consumers said that they would continue to spend as normal after the VAT increase. Experts at Simon-Kucher & Partners recommend a suite of approaches by business, most importantly, using the VAT increase as an opportunity to analyse their price positioning more accurately. Please find further information in the press release. Extracts from the survey are available on request.
August 10, 2010
In a recent survey conducted by Simon-Kucher & Partners, global strategy & marketing consultancy, 250 European managers from the chemical, construction and base material industries reveal how they manage volatile raw material prices. Almost 60 percent of respondents state that current spikes and trends in raw material prices are primarily driven by supply and demand. Whilst it is clear that speculators are strengthening this yo-yoing, only 40 percent believe that speculation is the cause of higher raw material costs. Faced with increasing volatility, companies must move away from rigid systems. View full release.
For more information please read the whitepaper "Fluctuating raw material prices".
Bonn, July 20, 2010
In the weekly TV show on Deutsche Welle-TV, Harald L. Schedl, expert for small and medium-sized businesses and partner at Simon-Kucher & Partners, speaks about innovation, positioning through core skills and the credit crunch.
You can watch the video stream on the following link in English (starting min. 11).
July 21, 2010
The global strategy consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners expects 2010 to be a record year. At mid-year, revenue amounted to 49.2 million euros, 17 percent above the same point in 2009. The second quarter of 2010 was particularly successful, with growth of 30 percent. View full release.
July, 2010
In the July-August 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review, Simon-Kucher & Partners CEO Dr. Georg Tacke responds to the case study "The Upstart's Assault". HBR's fictional cases present dilemmas faced by real leaders and offer solutions from experts. In this case, a small mobile network operator seeks to enter new markets and therefore offers free broadband service to new business customers. Now the largest telecommunications player is forced to act. Dr. Georg Tacke explains how to tackle these challenges more flexibly and advises "Simply matching a small competitor's price is the worst reaction." He defines principles for a viable plan of action: 1. Don't limit your response to the product area that's under attack, 2. Consider not only the price level but also price model reactions, and 3. Take advantage of your portfolio breadth. Read the article and detailed expert response here.
The new application for your iPhone and iPad
Do you know which profit lever is the strongest for your company? If you should rather work on your sales, your prices, or reduce costs to be more profitable? For its 25th anniversary, the world's leading pricing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners offers you a unique tool to measure the EBIT impact on the levers of sales, prices and costs - taking your company's figures as the basis for the measurement.
Learn more about the Simon-Kucher & Partners App or directly download it in the App store.
June, 2010
The Summer 2010 issue of Simon-Kucher & Partners Healthcare Insights, a triannual newsletter published by SKP's Life Sciences practice, is now available. Healthcare Insights contains feature articles on biotech and pharma strategy and marketing, as well as updates on pricing and market access developments around the globe. Click here to access this latest issue of Healthcare Insights. To be added to the mailing list for this publication, please
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