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Editor's letter.

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Vincent

Success in business can be a fleeting thing. One minute yours is the product du jour; the next, no one wants to know. Consumers are fickle, investors are impatient, and employees are easily disappointed.

You have only to look at the high street to see how dramatically situations can change in a short period of time. Marks and Spencer, erstwhile sweetheart of the British high street, has faced huge criticism for poor marketing and buying tactics that ended the love affair and drove consumers into the arms of its biggest competitors. Gap, the US company best known for its award-winning adverts and utilitarian clothes, was quick to jump in with its affordable outfits that children and adults would wear. But now Gap, too, is facing difficulties as consumers move on to fresh pastures. Next and other high street retailers are picking up some of the custom, but already analysts are predicting a comeback for M&S (page 24).

The key is to provide a consistent level of quality, but continue to develop new products. Tried and tested is all very well, but consumers now have so much choice that "new and different" often wins hands down. Companies such as Unilever have learnt this lesson and made the most of it -- Persil, for example, has been re-invented a number of times, with many new variants, but it has always kept its reputation for quality in the marketplace.

Cadbury Schweppes is another company that has retained its core product while encouraging us to part with more cash for...

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