Monthly Archives: August 2009

Tokyo Firm Using Cafes as Product Test Centers

By editor | August 27, 2009

This week the Wall Street Journal ran an article on a Tokyo marketing firm that has decided to combine the popularity of cafes as a hang out spot and product testing. Sample Lab Ltd. realized that Tokyo’s cafes are frequented by the exact demographic that some marketers are trying to reach. The obvious connection for the [...]

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Home Depot’s Retail Success Plan

By editor | August 24, 2009

Marvin Ellison, executive vice president of US stores for Home Depot, spoke with Knowledge@Emory on the retailer’s plan for success as shoppers shift spending habits and value perceptions.
Ellison, who is responsible for directing sales efforts, acknowledges that the biggest challenge retailers are facing right now is, “finding a way to adjust to the customer’s buying [...]

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Supermarket News: Reports on Best in Brands

By editor | August 20, 2009

Supermarket News recently released a special report highlighting the best brands in retail and CPG.  The supplemental insert, entitled Profiles in Excellence, acknowledges that in today’s economy retailers and manufacturers have a common goal above all else — satisfying the consumer. As pointed out in Miller Zell’s recent examination of the retailer-manufacturer relationship, achieving this [...]

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Healthcare Reform: Threat and Opportunity for Retail

By editor | August 18, 2009

No matter where you stand on health-care reform, everyone agrees this examination of the system and some version of reform is necessary.  For retailers, health-care, how to provide it and manage costs, has long been an important consideration. Shandra Martinez wrote a significant piece for The Grand Rapids Press, detailing the health-care conundrum for retail [...]

Posted in Drug Stores, Grocery, Mass Merchandiser, Retail/Market Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Isn’t Shopper Marketing on the CEO Agenda?

By Steven Skinner | August 3, 2009

Sam Walton once said “There is only one boss.  The customer.  And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”  It is clear to most of us that Mr. Walton had a pretty clear handle on what the focal point of a company should [...]

Posted in Activation at Retail, Retail/Market Trends | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments
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