The Financial Review appears to have its strategy down to ensure big ratings for a business TV debut: Pick a big cheese and get them to blast a big brand.
Coles boss Ian McLeod did the honours yesterday for the Financial Review Sunday show, hitting out at suppliers including Coca-Cola for ripping off Australian consumers by charging too much for groceries.
The supermarket boss, who took the helm five years ago, said he was doing his “duty to the Australian consumer” to challenge the prices charged by multinational supplier brands such as Coca-Cola in Australia.
McLeod says when you can find Coke products available at a third of the price in markets such as Asia it “raises another question mark” over supplier tactics in Australia.
“[Suppliers will] argue about different markets operating in different ways but when you look a bit further we believe the profitability for those suppliers is higher in Australia than in other markets,“ he says.
Funnily enough, Coca-Cola Amatil was one of the big brands leading the charge for supermarkets to be investigated over aggressive tactics.
While it is not news that big brands and supermarkets do not always see eye to eye, the first episode of the weekly news show, which is a joint venture between the Nine and Fairfax, attracted 197,000 viewers, according to OzTam.
That beat its rivals in the ratings timeslot. Network Ten’s The Bolt Report and ABC's Inside Business attracted 147,000 and 137,000 viewers respectively.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.