The Private Brand Movement: OFFICIAL CALL FOR PRESENTERS

The Private Brand Movement 2010
Building Brands at Retail. Strategy. Design. Innovation.

We invite you to submit a speaking proposal directly to Amanda Powers, Senior Conference Producer, by Wednesday, March 24, 2010. Send to apowers@iirusa.com.

IIR's FUSE Conference presents The Private Brand Movement 2010, a unique event for those focused on building brands at retail in order to drive customer loyalty, differentiation and overall profitability. Priority will be given to retail practitioners who wish to present. We also encourage you to submit team presentations, where two members of cross-functional teams co-present.

This event will take place September 27-29, 2010 in Chicago, IL and will include three days of case studies, panel discussions and interactive sessions. We are currently recruiting corporate practitioners from the RETAIL and BRAND world who can share best practices in the form of real-world case studies, stories of what's worked and what hasn't.

Who will attend this premier cross-industry conference?
Attendees will be senior-level professionals including Presidents, Vice Presidents, Sr. Directors, Directors, Sr. Managers and Managers of Brand Development, Brand Strategy, Design, Category Management, Innovation, Market Research, Advertising, Shopper/Consumer Insights/Research, Merchandising and more.

Preliminary Topic Areas for 2010:
• From Merchandisers to Brand Managers: How Today's Retailers are Stepping Up
• Brand Architecture for Today's Consumers
• Brand Sensory Equity to Strike Emotional Connections
• Developing a Strategy to Lead the Process
• Stepping Out of Name Brand Shadows
• Brand, Price and Packaging Architecture: The Right Mix for Your Customer
• Principles in Designing Across Categories
• Brand Equity Survival: Developing Packaging that Can't Be Replicated
• Distinction through Green Packaging: Less is More
• Consumer-Centric SUQ Rationalization & Category Optimization
• Savvy Retailing Amidst Organizational Challenges
• Advancing Equity and Value by Strengthening Your Brand Loyalty
• A Line Extension is Not Innovation
• Changing the Conversation from Competitor to Ally: Leveraging National Brands to Create Unique Opportunities for Retailers
• Manu-Tailing: A New Approach to Manufacturer & Retail Partnerships
• Reinventing Innovation: The Strategy Conundrum
** Please feel free to submit additional topics of your choice.

Formats Include:
1. Standard case study presentation (45 minutes long)
2. Interactive ideation, networking and brainstorming sessions (20-60 minutes long)
3. If you'd like to be a speaker on a panel, submit your interest, along with a bio - no formal topic proposals needed.

We are also interested in proposals for half day workshops. These workshops should be focused on specific techniques and skill building topics.

For Practitioners Only:
For consideration, please email apowers@iirusa.com with the following information by Wednesday, March 24, 2010:
• Proposed speaker name(s), job title(s), and company name(s)
• Contact information including address, telephone and email

Please indicate which of the topics you plan to address. If it is the latest tools and techniques, please indicate what is new about the. (Please indicate the topic area if it is an interactive session and the amount of time you will need).
• Talk title
• Summary of the presentation (3-5 sentences)
• What the audience will gain from the presentation (please list 3 key takeaways)

Added Bonus: Each speaker will receive free admission to the conference (a $2000+ value) including admission to all conference sessions, networking breaks, lunches, exhibit halls, etc.

Attention to Vendors/Suppliers interested in participating in the event.
There is a wide variety of sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities for vendors and suppliers to have a presence at the event. To inquire about exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities, contact Sarene Yablonsky, Business Development Manager at syablonsky@iirusa.com or via phone at 646.895.7474.

Due to the high volume of response, we are unable to respond to each submission. All those selected to participate as speakers will be notified shortly after the deadline.

In-store marketing growing faster than internet marketing

According to an article at Marketing Magazine in the UK, shopper marketing is growing in importance, and looks to have an annual growth rate of 21% by 2010. A key observation by the article as that more consumers are heading to the store with shopping lists, but they aren't specifying what brand they need. This is a key note for brands, as the consumers will make on-site decisions as to what brand they'll be purchasing. Another observation was that shoppers are now more in-tune with how much food the are potentially going to waste, so they make decisions about that as well. Read the full article here.

Shopper Marketing and the CEO

Steven Skinner recently wrote a great post about why CEOs should turn to shopper marketing and make it a higher priority.

According to the article:
Miller Zell research indicates that while 65% of customers are now making lists prior to entering the retail store, 60% of those same shoppers will make brand decisions inside of the store.

Read the full article which looks at such questions as: Where does shopper marketing begin? Where does it in turn end and category management begin? What about brand management?

Read the full article here.