Jamba Juice to Develop Grocery Store Line of Smoothies

NACSonline.com reports that Jamba Juice will be selling the blend-and-serve kits in retail environments, namely grocery stores.

“The make-at-home smoothie is an emerging category and represents perhaps the most literal extension of the Jamba brand to date,” said Susan Shields, vice president for consumer products and licensing at Jamba Juice Company. “We want to serve the healthy habits of our consumers wherever they live and shop.”

Will Jamba's reach spread to groceries around the country? One question is if Jamba Juice is recogizable across the country. How can in-store marketing introduce customer's to the brand?

We'd like to hear how effective you think this may be.

Jamba Juice to Develop Line of Smoothie Kits

Online Ads for CPG Compared to Television Ads

This post on retailwire highlights how recent research conducted by comScore has found that online ads have driven sales for CPG (consumer packaged goods) at or above the levels of when associated with television commercials.

Over the 12-week period of the research, sales from online ads for CPGs grew to percent which is higher from previous research done by Information Resources which came to 8 percent. Gian Fulgoni, executive chairman of comScore mentioned,

"These early results confirm the ability of online advertising to successfully build retail sales of CPG brands on par with the impact of television advertising. It is likely that the more precise targeting ability of the Internet - especially in terms of accurately reaching the desired demographic segment -- is a key reason for its effectiveness."

Will we see a huge shift in companies moving most of their television ads for CPGs to online ads?

Shopper Marketing Fusion Speaker: Jesse Spugin, VP, Shopper Marketing ConAgra Foods

Jesse Spungin,
VP, Shopper Marketing
ConAgra Foods

Promomagazine.com had a fascinating discussion with Shopper Marketing Fusion speaker, Jesse Spungin in February of this year. Here are a few excerpts that we thought were particularly timely.

PROMO: So ConAgra has embraced shopper marketing.

SPUNGIN: We used to call it customer marketing, but we changed the name a year ago to shopper marketing to be more in line with the industry standard. The one thing manufacturers and retailers can all agree on is the shopper. It's the common ground we can start with and put all the other issues aside, like fighting over trade dollars and slotting efficiency.

P: Is your customer shopping any differently in this economy?

s: In many ways. When gas prices were up, for example, the number of trips to retailers went down and so did the total basket ring. This crossed all income levels because people with higher incomes love great deals and people at lower levels need great deals. ConAgra has a diverse portfolio that has value, and that provides a big opportunity for us and for retailers.

P: Have you launched any value-driven products?

s: We launched Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers, a lunch product, last September. It's a great at-work option for $3.

P: What role did shopper marketing play in this?

s: It was part of the integrated plan. We understand who the shoppers are, and we developed customized programs for the launch at SuperValu [grocery retailer]. These included point-of-purchase communications, in-store shippers and other tactics that were different from what we did at Walmart. The Walmart shopper is different, so the messaging has to be different. The programs paid off with profitable results.

P: Is shopper marketing more important in a recession?

s: : In these times, there's a danger in pulling back on marketing. Now more than ever, you need your message to break through.

We look forward to hearing from Jesse at this year's conference!

Shopper Marketing Fusion 2009
Brochure

Private-Label Sales Up 7.4%

CSPnet.com reports that private-label sales are up 7.4% with a strong emphasis on food products. The Nielsen Co. Its study, "U.S. Store Brand Development," found that both private-label dollar and unit sales significantly increased for the 52-week period ending July 11, 2009 versus the prior year.

"When categories are sorted by store brand share, from high to low, some patterns emerge," said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Consumer & Shopper Insights at Nielsen, New York. "Store brand performance and share is strongest in commodity categories. Milk, fresh eggs, sugar and substitutes and canned vegetables top the list. Where store brand share is the lowest is among categories where we see strong marketing support for top brands including candy, gum, beer and those where a high-level of innovation occurs like detergents, deodorant and cosmetics."

Join us this October in Chicago for The Private Label Impact Conference.

Private-Label Sales Up 7.4%

Paying Full Retail Instead of Seeking Discounts

This post on retailwire highlights how many luxury fashion designers are to get consumers over the notion that spending a premium for a product is a bad thing. In order to help consumers get out of this mindframe over 700 stores will stay open in NY during Fashion Week until 11:00pm. The designers who will be showcasing and participating in the stores have all agreed to not cut prices like the rest of discount outlets and retailers.

The post though highlights that consumers since 2007 have viewed luxury in a different light. According to a 2007 Conference Board study most agreed that, "Luxury is less about the material things one has or one owns and more about how one experiences life, a sense of happiness and satisfaction."

Heinz CEO Sees Private-Label Growth Slowing

The Wall Street Journal reports that Chairman and Chief Executive William Johnson of Heinz said that the growth in private-labels will soon diminish as customer's turn back to brand name products. Consumer goods companies like Heinz, Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) and Proctor & Gamble Co. (PG) have lost market share in some categories to retailer's lower-priced private-label brands products, which are posting record-high sales at some chains.

But private-label growth appears to be waning, and branded food companies hope to begin to regain some of the share they lost as the economy improves.

"Consumers still prefer leading brands like ours in most businesses," Johnson told shareholders Wednesday at the company's annual meeting.

Do you side with Johnson? Are we going to see a drop in private label sales as the economy picks up? We'd like to hear your thoughts via Twitter.

Shopper Marketing Fusion Speaker: Robert Spector

Robert Spector
Author, The Mom and Pop Store and The Nordstrom Way

Robert Spector is a bestselling business author and international speaker.

Robert gives keynote presentations and conducts customized customer-service workshops for a vast cross-section of companies and organizations throughout the world.

He is best known for writing the national bestseller, THE NORDSTROM WAY: The Inside Story of America's #1 Customer Service Company, the first and only up-close and personal look at how this company became the national standard of customer service. Robert is the only journalist ever given total access to the inner workings of the Nordstrom culture.

He is the author of corporate histories of an eclectic array of companies, including Chevron, Eddie Bauer, Kimberly-Clark, and the Space Needle.

Robert has written on business for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, UPI International, NASDAQ Magazine, Customer Service Management and Corporate University Review; fashion for Women's Wear Daily and Details, and civil liberties for Parade; and has been a ghostwriter for Dr. Joyce Brothers. His humor writing has been published in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and National Lampoon, and performed by Don Imus and Stiller & Meara.

Robert's biography courtesy of RobertSpector.com

Be sure to join us at this year's Shopper Marketing Fusion this October in Bonita Springs, FL.

Shopping Malls and Social Networks?

Retailwire recently posted that The Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh became the latest mall to launch a social networking site, Shoptopia.

What's interesting about this network, is like others, users will have to signup and create profiles and personalize shopping preferences. The site is able to give exclusive deals and perks to consumers depending on the preferences users selected in their profiles. Shema Krinsky, marketing director at The Mall at Robinson mentioned:

"Shoptopia helps us build relationships with customers and provides them with information about the retailers and promotions that are specifically relevant to them. This allows us to translate the online shopping experience into a trip to the mall for people who love the experience of shopping in a store."

Will we see other shopping malls across the US launch similar social networks?

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.

CMSI LinkedIn Newsletter: Meet the Leaders in Shopper Marketing & Category Management at Fusion 2009

This is an excerpt from our LinkedIn newsletter that we distribute regularly to our Category Management and Shopper Insights Executive Group members. If you aren't already a member, we encourage you to join over 1,200 other professionals in retail, category management, branding and private label executive positions.

___________________________________________________________________

Hello! We’re thrilled you’re a member of the Category Management and Shopper Insights Executive group. We hope you’re finding value from the ability to connect with over 1200 people in your industry.

As a member, we’d like to extend a special discount for you to attend Shopper Marketing Fusion 2009 this October 14-16 in Bonita Springs, FL.

Please join the group for the exclusive discount.


This senior-level event will focus on synergizing category management and in-store marketing to build a seamless shopping experience for shoppers from start to finish. It’s a unique participatory format where speakers drive rich, purposeful conversations so that collectively, challenges are solved and industry standards are created. You’ll be propelled to improve external and internal collaboration and inspired to build a business model that will equip your brand and organization to long-term success.

Event website: http://bit.ly/SMFusion
Brochure download: http://bit.ly/SMBrochure


Highlighted Speakers:

• JB Steenkamp, Professor of Marketing, UNC, Author of The Private Label Strategy
• James Beck, General Manager, Walmart Smart Network, Walmart Stores
• Mark Bennett, Group Manager, Media Production, Target
• Jeff Swearingen, Group Vice President, Customer Sales & Marketing, Frito Lay
• Michael McMahon, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, ConAgra Foods
• Alison Chaltas, Principal, Interscope
• John Dranow, President & CEO, SmartRevenue

New speakers added: http://bit.ly/SMSpeakers

Featured Category Management and Shopper Insights Executive Group Discussions:
Store specific shelf plans, and the challenges they face when they hit the store. New data. http://bit.ly/CMSIGroup1
70% of purchase decisions are made in-store... http://bit.ly/CMSIGroup2

Shopper Marketing News On Shopper360:

Category Management program set up for tomato sellers
According to The Packer, Farmer’s Best International LLC has decided to create a tomato category management campaign in order to better educate those both buying and selling different types of tomatoes… http://bit.ly/BlogTomato

Shopper Marketing Fusion Keynote Speaker: JB Steenkamp

JB Steenkamp, Author, The Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge

Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp researches global marketing; the effectiveness of marketing strategies such as branding, private labels and new products; interorganizational relationships; and marketing research techniques. He teaches in these areas and in innovation and strategy.

Dr. Steenkamp is the author of Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge with Nirmalya Kumar of London Business School (Harvard Business School Press, 2007). An award-winning researcher, he has written or edited five books, and over 100 scholarly publications.

He also is executive director of AiMark, a global center studying key marketing strategy issues, which brings together academics around the world, two of the top-four market research agencies, and brand manufacturers. He has consulted with numerous companies, including Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Zurich Financial Services, KPMG, Sara Lee and Johnson & Johnson.

Dr. Steenkamp serves on the editorial boards of all top marketing journals and is past editor of the International Journal of Research in Marketing. The Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences awarded him the Muller lifetime prize for “exceptional achievements in the area of the behavioral and social sciences.” It was the first time the prize was awarded to a researcher in any area of business administration.

Before joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, he taught at universities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, South Africa and the United States.

He received his PhD, master’s and bachelor’s degrees, all summa cum laude, from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

About the Shopper Marketing Fusion Conference

The Category Management Conference was transformed into this Shopper Marketing Fusion Event because brand and retail community wanted an event to feature the big picture of what next generation category management is able to achieve – and that’s only possible through the collaboration and convergence of other integrated marketers.

FUSION is based on the vision to overhaul an organizational mind-set to embrace shopper-centricity, beginning with the synergy of all marketing functions using shopper insights to innovate product offerings, product adjacencies, in-store environments, formats and more in order to increase basket size, improve brand differentiation and raise loyalty.

It is the first event to truly echo the progress the best-in-class brands and retailers are making.

Category Management program set up for tomato sellers

According to The Packer, Farmer’s Best International LLC has decided to create a tomato category management campaign in order to better educate those both buying and selling different types of tomatoes. Farmer's Best is hoping to have this educational program in place no later than this fall in order to educate those for the Mexican tomato season. Read more about the upcoming category management project here.

Private Label Impact 2009 Chairman: Christopher Durham

Christopher Durham has more than 15 years of creative brand building experience with an emphasis on marketing strategies, innovation, award winning design, product development, package design, POP, retail campaigns and cross media promotions. As the founder of the first ever-private brand group on Linked In – MY private brand, his blog is the musings of a retail-branding veteran.

Christopher's experience includes: Brand Development, Product Launch & Marketing, Creative Direction, Revenue & Profit Growth, Creative and Strategic Planning, Corporate Branding & Identity, P&L/Budget Management, Direct Mail, Ideation/Concept Development, Web Strategies, Art Direction, Team Building, Customer Relationship Marketing, Agency Management.

Christopher's Biography Courtesy of mypbrand.com

The Private Label Impact Conference

October 27-29, Chicago Marriott

Kroger Experiments with New Displays to Simplify Shopping for Beverages and Snacks

According to this post on CPG Matters Kroger, the Cincinnati-based retailer, has come up with a concept to design a 4-aisle section where signage and color will help direct shoppers to select their drinks quickly and easily. The same concept will also be applied in their snack aisles in some stores.

Companies like Ocean Spray, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Coca-Cola, Lipton, Tropicana, and Gatorade are already major participants in this new concept, with other companies edging to join as well. According to Ocean Spray there sales were up by 10% in Kroger stores and they believe this is hugely accredited to Kroger's consistent focus on working on innovative shopping concepts, ideas, and theories to make shopping easier for consumers. It will be interesting to see if other retailers will roll-out similar concepts since it is working so well for Kroger.

Organic private labels increasing on your store shelves

The Wall Street Journal recently looked at how the organic farmers are trying to keep in the eye-line of their customers in these tough economic times. Private label organic products have become 22.7% of organic food sales from June of 2007-2008, this is a 13.6% from the same period of June 2006-2007. Read more about the increase of organic private-label foods here.

Reasons to care about your shopper

In a recent article at Retail Wire, they look at ten reasons you should care about your shopper. Here are just a few:

#1: Fifty percent or more of product and brand decisions are made in-store; numerous shopper insights studies agree.
#6: Shopper insights are currency for building strong customer relationships.
#7: Advertising agencies must master shopper marketing to have a complete offering: those who do not offer shopper marketing services will be viewed as incomplete.

Read the full list here. Is there anything you'd add to the list?

Kmart is Coming Back to Town

This latest article in retailwire highlights how Kmart, even though down 2% in sales this quarter,
has outperformed rivals Target and Wal-Mart which are down by a higher number. One of the reasons why Kmart might be bouncing back through the recession is because it offers its customers a layaway program so they have an opportunity to save for gifts, and this program is not available at Target or Wal-Mart. Kmart is also working with hundreds of designers to run a print campaign in Vogue, Glamour, and Lucky. It will be interesting to see how the Target and Wal-Mart will react to Kmart's recent success.

Driving Loyalty through Mobile Marketing

Jeff Weidauer, vice president of marketing, Vestcom International writes in Convenience Store News that we must use mobile marketing in order to keep shopper's focused during this economy. Weidauer refers to mobile marketing as "a virtual extension of the shelf edge." Weidauer also writes, by making use of this nearly ubiquitous way to communicate, convenience stores now have the opportunity to turn a simple communication device into an indispensable shopping aid that extends the shelf edge directly into the shopper’s hand. Mobile applications are poised to be the future of how retailers will communicate with shoppers in a way that’s most convenient for them.

How do you think that convenience store shoppers will utilize mobile marketing to their advantage? Will adding mobile rewards, games and discounts be the trick to gaining and keeping customers?

Private Label Is a 'Hotbed for Creativity'

Alex Palmer of AdWeek writes, private label products are anything but cheap imitations of brand-name items, according to a new report. The retail consultancy Mintel GNPD finds that manufacturers of private label food products are staying up on current food trends, including the use of premium and healthy ingredients as well as convenient packaging.

Those of you who have followed private label brands know how hot they have become with customers and retailers during this economic climate.

From Palmer, new private label products are being introduced into the U.S. market at a rate far above that from just a few years ago. So far in 2009, almost 1,800 new private label foods have hit store shelves. This comprises 27 percent of all new food products that have been introduced this year. In 2005, private label made up only 13 percent of new food products.

We welcome to you this October to The Private Label Conference, which is the only event that tackles the new realities of the private label market and the business implications for manufacturers, CPGs and retailers.


Private Label Is a 'Hotbed for Creativity'

The Conference on Marketing Keynote Speaker: Jim Stengel Retired Global Marketing Officer Proctor & Gamble

Jim Stengel
Retired Global Marketing Officer
Proctor & Gamble

Widely known for reinvigorating P&G’s marketing culture during his tenure as global marketing officer, Jim Stengel personally led the transformation that has firmly established P&G as one of the most admired brand building companies in the world. His reputation for evolving marketing and branding to make a positive impact on the lives of consumers has influenced his global recognition as a leader in the marketing community. His new venture, "Jim Stengel, LLC" is both think tank and consultancy – conducting proprietary research, generating thought leadership and applying a new framework to drive business growth in today’s global economy. The Jim Stengel approach is strategic and holistic, with a mission to “rethink marketing, branding and life.”

Stengel is widely known for leading innovation and for his commitment to building breakthrough marketing capabilities. As a result, he was recognized in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 by Advertising Age as the number one “Power Player” in marketing. In 2005, he was recognized as Grand Marketer of the Year by Brand Week Magazine – that same year P&G was named Marketer of the Year by Advertising Age. A prolific speaker and writer, he has delivered dozens of keynote addresses around the world. His groundbreaking speech, “The Future of Marketing,” delivered at the American Association of Advertising Agencies 2004 annual meeting, has been quoted thousands of times and is considered a catalyst for changing the 50-year-old TV-centric brand building model. He has been published in The Harvard Business Review and has been featured in The Financial Times, The Wall St. Journal, The New York Times and Fortune as well as CNBC and many other print, broadcast and online media outlets.

In his seven years as P&G’s global marketing officer, Stengel helped guide the organization to creativity, innovation and optimal performance. He also lead implementation of systemic changes in the Company’s marketing organization that have positioned P&G and its leadership as a world-class leader in the marketing and brand building. Stengel brings this experience to his new venture as a consultant to help companies who are “seriously motivated” to embrace change and are open to rethinking their current approach. He offers consulting services on a range of topics related to purpose-based marketing and branding as well as organizational transformation, leadership and innovation.

Jim's biography courtesy of Washington Speaker's Bureau

About The Conference on Marketing 2009

THe is an experience that will come to life just once and never be replicated. The specific information represented and the dynamics of the group participating will draw diverse perspectives resulting in inimitable conversations and sharing of best practices and from that – the most unique outcomes will be delivered. Share your questions, your challenges, your biggest threats and through productive interaction, uncover solutions you would never have imagined on your own, at your desk, in your office.

Get out and think greater.

* Harness collective intelligence and bring back insight and innovation
* Make more informed decisions that guarantee measurable results
* Protect and ensure the future role of marketing in influencing business strategy

Event Website
Register

Barnes & Nobles Might Steal Thunder Away from Amazon.com

This article in RetailWire discusses how Barnes & Nobles will give Amazon some competition with its plan to open an online store with over 700,000 titles that will work on smartphones and other electronic readers, unlike Amazon.com.

William Lynch, president of Barnes & Noble mentions:

"Our goal at Barnes & Noble is to build a service that revolves around the customer, enabling them to have access to hundreds of thousands of titles and read on their smartphone, PC, and many other existing and future devices. We want to make eBooks simple, accessible, affordable and convenient for everyone."

Will Barnes & Nobles be able to steal market share away from Amazon by allowing more consumers to view titles through smartphones?

Whole Foods adopts new verification standard for private label products

According to the Pacific Business News, Whole Foods says it will submit its private label products to testing for genetically engineered organisms--a move that will add a new level of certification to what's on the organic and natural grocer's shelves.

Margaret Wittenberg, Whole Foods Market global vice president of quality standards said, "We searched high and low for years for a way to do this and now, thankfully, the Non-GMO Project has answered that challenge by creating a standard and a practical system by which manufacturers may measure their products. At last, shoppers concerned about foods made with genetically modified ingredients will be able to make informed choices."

Whole Foods adopts new verification standard for private label products

Shopper Insights in Action Conference 2009 Wrap-Up

Thank you all, those in attendance, and those of you who followed our online coverage for your participation during the 9th Annual Shopper Insights in Action Conference. We hope you enjoyed this year’s event and have taken the time to review all of our great coverage as we updated our event site, blog, and twitter with images, video and descriptions of all the great speakers at the conference. Below you will find a summary of all of that coverage during the three days of the conference. Even if you did follow our coverage closely, be sure and review many of our posts again, we’ve updated many of them with video clips of the presentations. Finally, be sure and subscribe to our updates on our blog, twitter, and event site as we continue to provide resources and information regarding the conference as well as the latest industry news and insights. Be sure and share and forward all of these updates to your colleagues who were unable to participate in this experience.

Click the link below to view our wrap-up newsletter from the event.

http://bit.ly/wSahO

How Manufacturers Use Analytics to Brand Successfully, Ryan Monahan of Kimberly Clark Corporation

Everything has changed in the wake the Walmart's Project Impact initiative which began last year. It essentially evaluates categories and reduces SKUs while changing the rules of merchandising. That means less clutter in the aisles.

Ryan Monahan, who has been on Kimberly Clark's Walmart team for three years, said the change means that shoppers have to be engaged before going to the store. As a first step, Kimberly Clark Corporation obtained the analytic tools to tell who the shoppers are, how valuable they are to the brand and what needs to be done to succeed.

As an example, he pointed to a direct mail program for the recently-launched gender-specific Depend underwear at Wal-Mart. KC developed an off-line and online campaign to identify seniors in the local trading areas and provide them with information on what to look for in the store.

In brief, the campaign was a big success.

BRINGING INSIGHTS INDOORS: IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIC CHANGE DOWN TO THE STORE LEVEL, Stan Lippelman of Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro Shops has been called "The Ultimate Customer Experience." That's because each store is customized to the area it is in, and has 50% of the store dedicated to non-selling space (aquariums, rock climbing walls, etc.). Customers are so loyal to these outdoor living themed stores than more than half of them travel over 50 miles just to shop there, and then spend an average of 2-4 hours in the store. So is it any wonder Stan Lippelman, Vice President of Marketing, told attendees at this afternoon's Shopper Insights Conference that "CRM is not the icing on our cake -- it is the cake."

Lippelman advocates creating a customer culture that utilizes highly targeted marketing efforts, which he refers to as "One to some instead of one of ton." In fact, 70% of what they do is targeted. And the key to Bass Pro Shops' sales success can be summed up by the following five guiding principles:

1. Change the conversation from "Are sales up or down?" to "Are sales up or down with our best customers?"

2. Leverage data beyond segmentation. (While their customer base info is proprietary, Lippelman did reveal that they segment customers first based on behavior, then on interests, and then finally based on demographics.)

3. Treat your best customers better. (Bass' Stealth Program rewards the top 10% of their customer base with special rewards and opportunities.)

4. Inspire passion and create handshakes. (Bass Pro Shops places a special emphasis on special in-store events, all of which are free to any who want to attend, such as an old-fashioned Santa's Wonderland and Summer Family Camp.)

5. Be uncommon -- Go beyond the expected.