Greetings from Chicago

Click play >> to view the 40 second welcome video for this month.

BECOME A BRAND CHAMPION! START HERE ON APRIL 10-12.

I am inspired after being in Chicago for 3 days and am more convinced than ever that successful brands have to work consistently and passionately to make sure their brands come alive within the organization and within the customers – we have to “Make it Stick”.

One of the first critical steps in developing a brand strategy that “sticks’ is to establish a “brand strategy committee” within your organization. It is crucial to have every area represented if it’s going to work – aka “stick”. Pull someone from R&D, HR, Operations, Merchandising as well as the good ‘ol marketing dept, etc.. This committee will require strong leadership and a “brand champion”—to make sure that everyone participates and buys into the strategy and to insure its implementation.

That’s why I am so excited that this spring’s Global Retail Marketing’s Global Retail Marketing Executive Leadership Summit which will be held just down the water from my office in St. Pete Beach. Chief Executive Offer Stephanie Fischer and the GRM team have put together a program that looks at leadership from every perspective and brings to the stage some outstanding experts that will surely enlighten even the most senior marketing executive. To encourage you and your organization to participate, here are some highlights: (OK, yes, I’m a special advisor to GRM, but this program really excites me and I am devoting this article to it!)t

 Start off with Carter Drew who brings his experience at McDonald’s (not a bad brand!) He will share his views on “Authentic Leadership” which will dive into what it takes to develop a vision that’s essential to a strong brand.
 Next, we have all heard about “Blue Ocean Strategy” and Gabor Burt. Gabor, the foremost expert on this hot process, will help any marketer who wants to get a leg up on the competition see how its done in today’s marketplace. His examples will demonstrate how to get the strategy into action.
 The next day will keep the attendees focused on making the strategy work with presentations by experts like Gary Hamel, who Fortune calls the world’s leading expert on business strategy. Gary looks at leadership a being the head of a revolution and we certainly need some revolutionary thinking to get our brands to stand out.
 Following Gary is Peter McLaughlin who will bring this whole idea to heart by talking about how we can ignite the energy of our marketing internally and make us better champions of our brand. It’s not all strategy as you know and the bottom line is always a prevailing consideration.
 That’s why Joel Makower will show how the new “greening of our business and marketing” can be profitable if you do it right. Nobody can talk about the right way to make “Green” exciting and profitable for a brand like Joel, He has written more than a dozen books and several articles that make a difference to who?.

 Finally, I am glad to see Dan Burrus is bringing his futuristic, yet common sense, approach to technology trends back to this summit. Last year, I was truly inspired by his ideas and concepts that got everyone involved and excited about the future—if you do it right and look at the marketplace. Even after seeing Dan again at the NSA Convention in July, I am amazed at his wealth of knowledge and ability to cut through the confusion in technology to inspire us to think differently about our brands and our customers.

Top all this off with ample opportunities to network with our marketing counterparts from other retailers and key marketers from some of best partner companies out there, it will be an extraordinary event. GRM has a long history of bring people together to share ideas and build new relationships that pay off back at the office and this year looks like it will be even better.

The setting ain’t so bad either with the beautiful and historic Don CeSar Hotel providing the meeting location and amenities. Golf and boat cruises in the Gulf are a great way to enjoy the time away while you stimulate your thinking and become a true brand champion for your company.

I know this sounds like a sales pitch—and it is. I believe so strongly in the need for strategy leadership in in order to bring brands to life. I am convinced that this is a great opportunity that warrants your time and effort to attend. On top of that, if you’re a retail marketing executive, there’s no charge for the summit. Just take the time to get on a plane (or boat in my case) to Tampa Bay then spend some of the best 3 days in your branding quest. It’s April 10 thru April 12, and spend the weekend if you can. I guarantee it will be sunny and warm!

Just click on the link to the right, or go to www.globalretailmarketing.com. See you there.
Ken