Apr
17
Written by:
IRI Blog
4/17/2009 10:45 AM
LAS VEGAS -- More
random notes and comments from "Content Guy" Kevin Coupe from the
annual summit sponsored by Information Resources Inc. (IRI), that took
place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Wynn Las Vegas...
• Perhaps
it is because the discussion connected so clearly with the editorial
mission here at MorningNewsBeat, but one of the best sessions I've seen
in some time came when Thom Blishock, IRI's president of consulting and
innovation at IRI, brought to the stage four "Blogger Moms" who run
various websites in which they talk to moms all over the country,
provide a forum for discussion of relevant issues, and offer companies
a unique opportunity to get insights about how their customers see
their products and services.
These women are representative of,
and give voice to, hundreds of thousands of women all over the country.
And they hardly are a homogenous group...in the space of just 30
minutes, they expressed a variety of opinions and perspectives.
For
example, "a lot of women are embracing private label," said Alma Klein
of www.marketingmommy.net and www.chicagomomsblog.com, "because they
are not the...generics that our moms brought into the house that we
were embarrassed about." However, she added, there are limits: "I would
never buy no-name shampoo from a dollar store because I am not
convinced it is going to work."
Christine Young, a mother of
six, of www.fromdatestodiapers.com said that she believed that brand
loyalty was selective, and said that she was intensely committed to
Johnson baby products (and was even before the company hired her to be
a spokesperson for the brand). But she also said she felt the same kind
of loyalty to another brand -- Kirkland products at Costco, which is,
of course, a private label.
And Liz Gumbinner, of
www.mom-101.blogspot.com, said that as a former ad agency creative
director she remains firmly committed to the power of brands,
suggesting that it is only brand equity that helps a company survive
when its products are found to be contaminated with cyanide or melamine.
The
"Blogger Moms" agreed that transparency was an enormous issue for them.
"We want clear labeling," said Lynnae McCoy of www.beingfrugal.net. "If
you are using GMOs in your products we want to know about it ... we get
to make the decision...if we find out abut it later, we'll feel like we
can't trust you anymore."
Klein pointed to the practice of
shrinking product sizes and charging the same price -- hoping that
customers won't notice -- as a major pet peeve. "It gets people angry,"
she said. "Be up front .. show us some respect, and maybe we'll show
more respect for you."
Another point of agreement -- high
fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is going to be the next trans fats of the
food industry, and food manufacturers better get used to the idea.
"The
relationship between brands and consumers is about to forever change,"
said Gumbinner, "because your future is in the hands of consumers." It
is inevitable...and both retailers and manufacturers would be better
off embracing the idea instead of denying or ignoring the reality.
That
reality was live and on stage at the IRI Summit -- vigorous, vibrant,
engaged and more than a little frightening to an audience that largely
seemed unfamiliar with the existence of Twitter.
• Private label
seemed to be a major touch point for many of the other sessions...which
makes sense, since the recession has prompted a growth in private label
acceptability in the US, which makes CPG manufacturers a little nervous
and makes retailers a little more willing to put the screws to their
suppliers.
Some pertinent comments from various sessions...
"It isn't private label. It is a private brand." ...Tim Hammonds, president emeritus, the Food Marketing Institute.
"If
a manufacturer wasn't the number one, two or three brand in a category,
you were in real trouble before the economic downturn...there is a very
distinct need for good private label development...it is good for the
shopper...it keeps pressure on manufacturers to innovate. ...Steve
Goodroe, executive-in-residence, Terry College of Business at the
university of Georgia.
"I've heard manufacturers say that they
are not bringing new ideas to retailers because they are afraid they
might steal them." ...Thom Blishock, IRI.
"Private label is here
to stay and is going to grow. You can either fight it or live with it.
The ones that fight it will probably be victims of private label growth
over time." ...Jeff Martin, executive vice president, merchandising and
supply chain, Giant of Landover.
• In another presentation, Mike
Salzberg, president of the Campbell Sales Company, noted that his brand
was prepared for the economic downturn because "we've gone through 30
recessions since 1869." He suggested that the company's message has
always been about wellness, convenience, price and value...and that
consistency of message has helped the company frame its message for the
latest downturn.
And, Salzberg reiterated the "speed" message
that was emphasized on the first day of the summit. "You have to
question every decision you made 30 days ago, because it might not be
the right answer anymore, and you have to be willing to cut bait and
move on."
• Mike Haaf, senior vice president/chief marketing
officer for Food Lion, took the audience on a guided tour of the
journey that his company has made from being a "one size fits all"
retailer to one that has created multiple formats and store clusters
that are uniquely customer-centric...and emphasized that "the journey
toward customer-centricity is not over...it continues to evolve."
•
And Steve Forbes, the former candidate for the GOP presidential
nomination and longtime publisher of Forbes magazine, delivered an
assessment of the current economy that included some small degree of
optimism. "As someone once said, the world can only end once," Forbes
joked. "And this is not it."
"With all the pessimism in the
air," he added, "the virtue of a free people is not that we don't make
mistakes...we make plenty of mistakes...but you recover from those
things, you learn from those things, and you figure out how to move
ahead...eventually we get it right."
Kevin Coupe
MorningNewsBeat.com
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