Monthly Archives: March 2010
What If Radio Shack Becomes Best Buy Mobile?
THIS IS AN EXCERPT. TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK ON THE TITLE:
So the rumor is out there – Radio Shack could be on the market, and Best Buy’s name has been tossed out as a suitor – we wanted to share our perspective on what it could mean. Best Buy and other retailers are known to be taking learnings from European Retail and applying them in the US. Best Buy’s own acquisition of Carphone Warehouse in the UK in 2008 could serve as a model for a potential acquisition of Radio Shack. While there are approximately 61 Best Buy Mobile stand alone stores in the US today, there are over 6,000 Radio Shack locations when you combine company owned stores, franchies, and wireless kiosks. Continue reading
Filed under best buy, By Ben Smith, radio shack, retail, Why You Need Leverage
Home Depot Builds Something Too Big To Ignore
EXCEPRT: TO READ FULL ARTICLE, CLICK ON TITLE:
WATCH & LEARN – HOME DEPOT DECLARES BLACK FRIDAY IN APRIL:
The fight for Retail Leverage doesn’t end with brands duking it out in the aisles. Retailers take it outside, fighting their own battles. If you think unemployment, the real estate market, and tight credit has hurt sales for your brand, imagine how that rolls up to create a desperate environment for the retailer. While the home improvement sector in retail is still fragmented, the two resounding leaders are Home Depot and Lowes.
Home Depot, in a bid for some Retail Leverage of its own, and in an effort to drive year over year sales growth, has declared “Black Friday Is Back”, creating their own retail big event.
To read more, click on title. Continue reading
Filed under By Ben Smith, Can't Be Ignored, Challenger Brand Strategies, Home Depot, Lowes, marketing, retail
Warning! Brands at Retail – Your Product Development Process Is Harmful To Your Health
This is an excerpt; To read the full article, click the title.
SUMMARY:
Typical 5 Step/Gate Product Development Process:
1. Discovery/Scoping
2. Building the Business Case/Plan
3. Development
4. Testing & Validation
5. Product Launch
This process has one major flaw if you are a brand whose business case is primarily built on accessing the consumer through the world of retail – the retailer is predisposed to prefer a private label solution …
Continue reading
Filed under By Vincent Young, Challenger Brand Strategies
Mobile Marketing In Minneapolis And What It Means For Your Brand
This is an excerpt. To read the full article, please click on the title.
SUMMARY:
TARGET LEVERAGING MOBILE COUPONS
BEST BUY LEVERAGING SALES LEADERSHIP IN SMART PHONES
Finally, here are 3 things brands can do to improve their mobile marketing efforts:
Optimize your brands website for mobile. The goal is to help consumers find info about your products from their mobile phone, without regard for where they actually purchase it.
Improve / increase your presence on your retailers website. If you have a brand showcase on a retailers website, investigate its mobile appearance / functionality.
Optimize search on the retailers website. Yes you have to pay for this. Others are already doing it. It is only going to increase in importance. Continue reading
Filed under best buy, By Ben Smith, Target
Why You Should Buy Billboards In Bentonville
THIS IS AN EXCEPRT: TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, CLICK ON THE TITLE
SUMMARY:
1) Lose your “Delusions of Brandeur” when dealing with retailers. Your target consumer is the retailer’s customer.
2) You exert all this influence to get the product in, but once it’s in, there are results to be measured by. Your opportunities to influence decrease.
3) Buyers are consumers also
I would argue that some merchants even go so far as using exposure or lack of exposure to a particular marketing campaign helps them to justify a decision they made in the past. When the buyer gets exposed to the marketing vehicles regularly in their personal life, this makes them feel that that they might be missing out on if they chose to not assort or promote that particular product. “Am I missing out on an opportunity here?” Or better yet, “is all this marketing going to drive customers to my competitor down the street that is listing that product?” (conversely if they see marketing and earlier chose to promote the product, this probably helps justify their decision).
4) Why you should buy Billboards in Bentonville Continue reading
Filed under By Steve Marzio, Challenger Brand Strategies
Walmart and Best Buy Place Their Bets and Position Themselves For Their Next Battle
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SUMMARY:
It started with Tivo’s announcement of a marketing partnership with Best Buy last July, and gained steam with Walmart’s recent acquisition of VuDu, and escalates with Tivo’s new big news on March 2nd. The next big battle in Consumer Electronics and TV’s is coming closer.
The reason I share this article with you is that you don’t have to be selling TVs or set top boxes to walk away with ideas that you can apply in your own brand/business.
HOW CAN YOU ADVANTAGE A PARTICULAR RETAILER?
The key lesson here in the pursuit of Retail Leverage is to ask (and answer) the question – “How can I advantage a particular retailer versus their competition?” Get over the battle you are fighting against other brands – THE RETAILER DOESN’T CARE. The real story is the retailers fight against each other. Continue reading
STAINMASTER Carpet Goes Wall-to-Wall at Lowe’s
THIS IS AN EXCERPT.
CLICK ON THE TITLE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE:
While the STAINMASTER brand has considerable equity in the home furnishings and flooring industries, the team at INVISTA was able to gain distribution at the world’s second largest DIY/Hardware chain by thinking like a challenger brand and adopting two key strategies to gain Retail Leverage.
Retail Leverage Principle #1: Bring Pent-up Demand to Stores
Retail Leverage Principle #2: Offer Product or Program Exclusivity Continue reading
