Durkan is set become Managing Director of Coles in July.
Coles executives have zoomed up the power rankings this year because they really do have street power. And Coles seems, for better or worse, to be more of the agitator and innovator over Woolworths – although we are being told to watch the latter closely in coming months.
The other eyebrow-raising change in this year’s Coles entry is that we have installed Tony Phillips in the list with buying maestro John Durkan over Phillips’ boss Simon McDowell.
Those in media and on the agency side dealing with Coles say Phillips is on the ground making things happen, whether it be Coles broadcast sponsorships or tie-ups with boy band One Direction. Phillips is a former adman with George Patterson and Grey.
As in the previous two years, we have stuck with our double header on the supermarkets because they are both increasingly powerful on the marketing front but also ruthless with branded suppliers and their trading terms. More evidence of Coles’ – and Woolworths’ – power is yet another attempt by the ACCC to hunt for fodder from suppliers on abuse of market power.
And we repeat that although Coles and Woolworths might be lining the pockets of media companies by backing big TV formats and so on, it does not offset the squeeze the same media companies are feeling because of supermarket pressure on brand suppliers and their budget cuts. It’s why John Durkan stays on our power list with Phillips.
