Archive for the ‘In-store Merchandising’ Category

iPad + Sports + Grocery Shopping??

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

If any of you are like me, I loathe going grocery shopping on the weekends. The crowds, the chaos, lack of parking, etc. I’d much rather be playing at the park with my son, brunching or relaxing after a long work week. But, now that football season is upon us, the grocery shopping duty falls to me most often because there is usually some “Big Game” my husband just has to see.

Check out what those smart British folks have incorporated into their grocery carts — iPad-enabled shopping carts designed for viewing live sports. A partnership between Sainsbury’s and Sky is allowing shoppers to watch key sports events using iPad-enabled shopping carts with iPod docks with speakers.

It’s genius! When can these come over the pond to the U.S.? If we had these at my local Jewel, my husband would happily go grocery shopping every week. Of course…it would probably take him hours since he wouldn’t want to miss anything and perhaps he would break into the chips as he peruses the aisles, but I’m ok with that.

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Posted in In-store Merchandising, Media, interactive, technology | 1 Comment »

Extreme Couponing

Monday, April 25th, 2011

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard of the phenomenon called “Extreme Couponing.” A new TLC television show by this name has surfaced over the past few months, and has put the media and cyberspace into a tizzy. The concept, while not new, includes spending hours scouring deals online or in newspapers, and then spending up to 5 hours in the grocery store, in order to save hundreds (sometimes thousands) on the products. These hard-core shoppers plan and plot out each shopping trip with such precision, it is quite a sight to behold. The shoppers enlist the help of family members and friends in most episodes, and collect stock pile hoards of groceries that would make even the most domesticated individual blush.

I have to admit, I have been somewhat cost-conscious lately, and even subscribed to the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune in order to get some of the coupon deals delivered to my home. Having recently gained a new family member, we have all the reason to be pinching pennies, clipping coupons for everything from diapers to dish soap. However, since we are a bit “green” and really believe in buying local, organic and sustainable products, I often find that only a handful of the coupons in the Sunday paper really apply to me. I wish they had more coupons for people like us. How awesome it would be if we could coupon for broccoli, grass-fed beef and a bag of Granny Smiths? But alas, what I find consists mostly of processed, packaged goods that include tons of sodium, high fructose corn syrup and various other unfamiliar ingredients. The people on this show not only buy SEVERAL of one item (one recent extreme couponer bought 60 bottles of mustard) but then proceed to show off their “stock piles” in their garages, basements and under their children’s beds. While I applaud the efforts of people who are able to reduce a thousand dollar grocery bill down to $50 or less, I wonder how many of these items get tossed out due to an expiration date or lack of shelf space? Also, wouldn’t it be nice to donate the products to those in need? I’m sure a few of these extreme couponers may do so, but does that really make for good television? We all saw how well Oprah’s “Big Give” show did in the ratings.

What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?

I suppose I’ll keep on couponing, albeit not that extreme. And while I don’t ever see myself having the need for eleventy billion boxes of Lucky Charms, it would be nice to have a few spare items on hand in a pinch.  :-)

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Posted in Advertising, In-store Merchandising, Marketing, Online Media | No Comments »

No One Can Sell Menards Short

Friday, March 25th, 2011

For many years, Menards was shunned by brand name vendors with a strong trade following because of its pricing policies.  Menards was known as a discount home center and prime trade vendors such as Kohler, American Standard and Echo outdoor power tools kept their distance.  Vendors instead would offer secondary brands…Delta faucets used its Peerless brand, InSinkErator its Emerson brand, etc. but the Menard’s customer didn’t seem to care. However, more brand names, including Moen are now showing up at Menards because the volume the chain generates with its store growth is becoming harder to ignore. The chain is up to more than 250 stores.

Menards has long been known as being especially abusive to vendors, and we have heard some horror stories.  But we also know manufacturers who have good business relationships with the merchants, and including John Menard, the founder who is still heavily involved in many details of what goes on the floor.  However, those relationships aren’t personal relationships.  If a Menards buyer accepts lunch from a vendor or shows undue favoritism, it means termination.

There is also a large segment of consumers and tradesmen in the Menards trading areas who have become highly attached to Menards… they think the people on the floor are of a higher caliber, like the chain’s pricing, and the unusual selections that Menards brings to the floor.  For example, it now carries short lines of residential and office furniture.

MSI was recently involved in bringing the Eljer line of bath products to Menards. Years ago, Eljer was a significant MSI client, selling both the professional and retail channels.  Since its acquisition by American Standard, the line has been given almost exclusively to Menards.  MSI developed the new Eljer packaging for faucets and related products.  This was a great solution for American Standard, whose brand, which is present in hundreds of higher end bath showrooms, could be depreciated by a Menards presence. Kohler would have to make the first move, and that may happen sooner than later.

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Posted in In-store Merchandising | 3 Comments »

Home Center Shelf Presence Can Depend on More Than Consumer Awareness

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Brand leverage, of which consumer awareness is an element, remains a key for vendors who feel themselves vulnerable to the growing percentage of private label skus that home center chain retailers are putting on their shelves.  For example, longtime MSI client InSinkErator has done little consumer advertising over the years, but appears firmly ensconced on the shelves of THD and Lowe’s because, among other things, it is the overwhelming favorite of plumbing contractors.  Klein Tools, which has relatively low consumer awareness, but is a favorite of electrical contractors, has a growing position at THD.

Honeywell has both consumer awareness with its line of thermostats and is a favorite of HVAC contractors, although longtime MSI client White-Rodgers has overtaken Honeywell in the trade. Nonetheless, Honeywell remains established on retail shelves primarily because of its strong consumer awareness and the residue of its trade preference.  Pella has strong preference among trade contractors, but like Honeywell also has high consumer awareness, so it is ensconced at Lowe’s.  Consumer awareness plus trade preference is the perfect combination.

In a nutshell, vendors with brands with strong trade preferences need to nurture that preference among their trade channels, not only to strengthen their professional sales, but to create leverage with the home center chains.

P.S.  Vendor positioning at Menards is another story we’ll cover in the next blog post.

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Posted in Advertising, Brand Development, In-store Merchandising, Line Reviews, Marketing Plans, Retailer Brands, Strategic Planning | 6 Comments »

Distorted Realities??

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

 

In a recent brainstorming session to develop in-store display recommendations for a client, our team got into a discussion about something LEGO and a few others have been doing in the past year. Apparently, they are installing these new “augmented reality” kiosks in key retail outlets. These displays carry special software that allow consumers to hold up a product box in front of a camera and instantly see a 3D version of the built toy in their hands, which they can then turn and look at from all angles. It’s a very cool technological advancement, and I’ve included a link below. For the right product and the right retailer, it could have some really interesting applications.  

lego_digital_box5

 

Click here to read more about Augmented Reality:  http://www.ohgizmo.com/2009/01/24/legos-digital-box-kiosks-feature-augmented-reality/

 

Then, yesterday, LEGO is on my radar again. Accidentally. I saw a link on an MSN page, and had to follow it. “LEGO Jesus”…. that’s all it said. Come on, you would have followed that link as well, right? Talk about augmented reality……how about a 6 foot tall Jesus made of LEGOs?! That is correct, Jesus. In a church in Sweden actually, and unveiled on Easter Sunday nonetheless. And how many LEGOs would one need to make a 6 foot tall Jesus you ask? Apparently, 30,000 (yikes! that’s a lot of little pieces on the floor!).  To each his own reality. 

 

Click here for more on Lego Jesus:  http://www.eatsleepgeek.com/lego-jesus-saves/

 

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Posted in In-store Merchandising, Packaging | 1 Comment »

The Reign of the Disney Princesses….

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Exiting the shower this morning I tripped over the lifeless cranium of Cinderella. Hairstyling Cinderella that is — and my daughter Lily had apparently been trying to comb her hair with a spoon on our bathroom floor while I dozed under the hot water. She had since abandoned Cinderella and run off to a tea party with 5 other princesses. Disney Princesses have taken over my life.

If you aren’t familiar with the Disney Princesses let me bring you up to speed. Someone in Walt’s marketing department had the great idea to resurrect leading ladies from their movies (classic and contemporary), and by packaging them together with pink and glitter, have created a merchandising tour de force. The full lineup includes Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Princess Jasmine (Aladdin) and Ariel (The Little Mermaid). And little girls go crazy for them.

Unless you live with a female under 5 years of age, you probably can’t understand how I have allowed Disney Princesses to rule my home. We have DP headbands, coloring books and crayons, dolls, storybooks, jewelry, sleepwear, costumes, tiaras, bedding, band-aids, even a toothbrush and DP toothpaste. She will tell you that each item in her collection is her “treasure” and the idea she might have to part with any of them would break her heart. And there is always something new for my daughter to discover — and NEEEEEED. Therein lies the genius of Disney branding through entertainment, engaging the consumer to trigger a purchase based on a desire born out of an emotional connection.

This was evidenced on a recent visit to the grocery store. My daughter in tow, I just needed to grab a few ingredients for dinner. But with each aisle we went down, more potential “treasures” were discovered. Squeals of excitement soon give way to serious negotiations and then stifled tears as we zoomed past the DP dress-up magnets, round the corner to discover DP press-on fingernails, followed by DP bubbles, DP stickers and a DP plastic rhinestone emblazoned cell phone. These items are all strategically merchandised just at the height that catches the eye of a small child in a shopping cart. By aisle 5 or 6, just as Disney hoped, I’m giving in to the pleas and negotiations and allowing Lily to select one addition to her collection. Even for a mom in marketing, it inevitably happens (almost) every time. What’s a few dollars when I can watch her face light up? Victory — and sheer joy at her new acquisition. The Disney Princesses rule on.

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http://disney.go.com/princess/princess.html

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Posted in Brand Development, In-store Merchandising, Mixed Nuts, Packaging | 18 Comments »

Adventures of a Design Vigilante – Rescue #1

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

For my first act of design vigilantism, I thought I’d start by cleaning up MSI’s own backyard. Though it only took a second to reread the headline and process that I was standing outside the post office in our building, it was a second I could never get back…

Before

After

Posted in Design, In-store Merchandising, Mixed Nuts | 3 Comments »

A Warm Welcome from All of Us Nuts!

Friday, February 13th, 2009

Welcome!!  All of us nuts here at MSI just want to thank you for stopping by and let you know that we’re happy to have you.

 

We’re really excited to share our stories, ideas and opinions with you – both personal and marketing-related, and we hope you’ll give us a chance to get to know you by commenting and interacting with us!

 

Grab a handful, and feel free to just drop your shells on the floor!  We’re that kind of place.

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Posted in Brand Development, Collateral, In-store Merchandising, Line Reviews, Marketing Plans, Mixed Nuts, Mobile Events, Naming, Online Media, Packaging, Product Cosmetics, Public Relations, Research, Social Media, Sponsored Links, Strategic Planning, Test Store Pull-Through, Traditional Media, Web Development | 2 Comments »

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