Relationship marketing issues:
● recovery after offending customers
● managing referral markets
● developing responses to hostile influence markets, including:
● the press
● the financial community
● shareholders.
The coverage of Gerald Ratner’s negative comments about his own
company were widely reported on all the media. Inevitably this
created negative word-of-mouth amongst loyal customers.
Influence markets also had a strong negative impact on the busi-
ness. Participants in a case study discussion can engage in a good
debate on how important negative customer word-of-mouth and
upset influence market members were in causing a decline in prof-
itability and share price.
Case 4.2: Fisons:The fall from grace
This case is written by Helen Peck, a Research Fellow at Cranfield
School of Management, Cranfield University.
Abstract
This case study explores the problems experienced by Fisons Plc in
the early 1990s. Fisons, a mini-conglomerate, operating in a range of
sectors including agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, scientific equip-
ment and horticulture, was once regarded as a superbly managed
company.
The case commences with the problems encountered by Fisons in
the early 1990s in its horticultural business and in particular with
its behaviour with respect to large peat deposits. The case docu-
ments the formation of the ‘Peatlands Campaign’, which involved
10 highly influential conservation groups and was led by the Prince
of Wales, who called on gardeners to boycott some of Fisons’ prod-
ucts. As the campaign mounted against Fisons, 34 local authorities
publicly supported a boycott of peat products. Further, B&Q,
Britain’s largest DIY and gardening chain, announced that, on con-
servation grounds, it had decided to ban all peat cut from Sites of
Special Scientific Interest. Further problems then occurred within
The referral and influence market domains 249