His Master's Voice
An E-marketing Perspective
November 14th 2003
MKTG 160
Regent’s Business School
Background
HMV began in July 1921 as a retail brand, with the opening of the first HMV store in Oxford Street, London. The new store was the first to hold a growing demand for recorded music, and marked a change in popular culture [1]. In 1998, HMV Media group was formed by the acquisition of HMV and Waterstone’s from EMI Group plc and WH Smith, respectively [2]. In 2002, the company was renamed HMV Group plc and its shares were released to the London stock market [3].
HMV Group plc operates 328 HMV stores selling music, DVD’S, videos, computer games, in nine countries. They also own 197 Waterstone’s stores selling books and magazines, based primarily in the UK and Ireland [4]. They also generate sales through accessories such as blank media, magazines, and T-shirts [2].
HMV is considered one of Europe’s largest music and video retailer, with a majority of sales in DVD’s and VHS. Through Waterstone’s, it is also considered one of the leading book retailers within the United Kingdom, and has the most market share of its competitors [3]. Figure 1 shows how sales are divided within HMV Group plc’s chosen markets.
Figure 1
|Sales and distribution of music and videos &n ...