Making it MY STORE make it MY BRAND

Press Play >> now to view the 60 second video message from Ken.
Going Local. What a Novel Idea?

So, after facing a 2% overall sales decline last year, Macy’s has decided that all customers are not the same. Gee, I thought the same people shopped Herald Square as those who shop Dadeland in Miami or Fashion Square in Santa Monica??? There’s no doubt that Macy’s was--and is--one of the great Brands in retail. Its history and fame are unlike any other department store chain except it’s sister store Bloomingdales. The move to consolidate all of the department store brands by Federated a few years ago made perfect sense from not only the CFO’s point of view, but also for many customers as well. The efficiencies of marketing one brand nationwide with a singular voice and message promised to bring about some of the best marketing in the industry.

Now, we hear that it isn’t working and that a cookie cutter doesn’t fit on State Street in Chicago the same way as on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. Nothing new here. Reminds me of my old dress buying days at Hudson’s many moons ago. We knew back then that the key to success was to adjust our inventories and promotions from one branch to another, knowing that the customers who shopped downtown were a lot different than those who shopped at Northland or Pontiac Mall. In their heyday, the key to the success of the department store was their local personality and community commitment. Shopping at the department store was an experience not just a purchase trip. The promotions were unique to the market and the merchandise suited not just the geography but also the psyche of the local citizens. Sears and Penney’s were there, too, but it was the department store that knew its market, its customers and was a special place to shop.

With all of the consolidations in the past couple decades the disappearance of this “specialness” coincides with the poor performance of department stores compared to the discounters and the big box specialty chains. The overstocked racks of apparel topped by too many 75% off clearance signs and the mandatory Liz or Ralph shops, have, in fact, made these stores boring and no longer part of our lives. The brands have disappeared and so have the sales.

Why this is such a mystery that Terry Lundgren and other category CEO’s are just realizing amazes me. The importance of adjusting to the local market (meaning the individual store’s market area) has been identified for years. Walgreen’s realized this a couple decades ago when they made a commitment to developing the systems necessary to be able to adjust inventories by item and sku to meet the needs of the local (for drug stores that may be less than a mile around the store) marketplace. What sells in a downtown Chicago store may not sell as well at a beach store in Clearwater and vice versa. If you have what most of the customers want, you’ll sell more of it (even at regular prices) more often. Keeping the store and operations staff loyal and consistent is another key to why this chain continues to outperform the category by more than double the sales per store. Sure, they still are aggressive weekly sale advertisers, but it’s the every day sales that make a difference to customers who are in the store a few times a week.

I believe the department stores should take a lesson from our friends from Deerfield and also a lesson from their local predecessors who dominated their markets years ago.
 Make the stores special, make the events special, and I think the customers will return. Special is not having the Trumps, Stewarts, or P Diddy’s as spokespersons either.
 Make the message relevant and timely to the customers in each market.
 Make the store My Store and re-develop the relationships that are necessary for this category to survive.
That’s the key to branding today---just like always.

SPEAKING OF RELATIONSHIPS
Strong customer relationships don’t happen by accident. It takes an effective CRM program and a commitment to reaching your target more effectively. To learn how to do this, don’t forget the annual CRMC conference in Chicago on June 11-13 at the Westin River North Hotel. I have reviewed the program and it looks like one of the best since Fred Newell started this important opportunity 14 years ago.
Just go to www.loyalty.vg to learn more
or go to http://www.loyalty.vg/conferences/CRMC2008/CRMC2008_agenda.aspx to view the program.

مرحبا Wal-Mart! Hello Saks! Hey, Honey Baked Ham!

Push Play >> now to view the 90 second intro video from Ken

Despite all of the bad economic news over the past few weeks, I refuse to dwell on the poor performers in the retail world in this post. It’s time we look at some companies who are doing things right,living up to their brand, and having positive sales trends as a result!


Photo courtesy Newsweek magazine.
First, Wal-Mart opened a store in a suburb of my native Detroit (Dearborn) that caters to the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the middle-east. An article in Newsweek details how this store has adjusted its merchandise mix, its store associates, and its marketing efforts to target the nearly half a million Arab-Americans in this city. With over 550 items in stock appealing to this target customer,they realize that the brand must be a "store of the community". It’s a good example that even as big as Wal-Mart is, it’s not just low prices that appeals to today’s shopper. Granted, they have the lowest price perception of any retailer in the market, but Wal-Mart has rectified some the mistakes of the past few years and gone back to building trust first and athen selling a lot of items at better prices as a result. Their new marketing campaigns are a throw-back to the real people with real benefits for shopping the store (Better than a blue light hawking weekly specials, I believe.) Their programs tied in with the Salvation Army and Second Harvest Food Banks continue to build trust.

The economic woes haven’t adversely affected sales at Saks Fifth Avenue either and it’s not because its customers have more money than most. Realizing that shoes are a major driver of traffic (Nordstrom figured that out a long time ago.), Saks didn’t just increase inventory, it: introduced its new shoe dept. with its own zip code 10222-SHOE. The flagship store devoted its entire 8th Floor with 150% more inventory. The result was that shoes was the #1 category increase for the holiday selling period. Management credits the increase for the 10.6% increase overall With Deborah Messing helping to open the new zip code, Saks has re-branded itself and has made a commitment to live up to that brand in all categories. See http://ny1.com/ny1/content/index for a ‘news’ report covering the launch.

Finally, many people only think about Honey Baked Ham as a great piece of meat. You might be surprised to learn that they do a heckuva retail business too and sell more than just hams--especially at the holidays with Easter leading the way. I was there using a Christmas (Yes, I always save it for later use.) gift certificate for our Easter ham and was impressed not only with the system and logistics of moving over a hundred people through the line but also with the complimentary sales of side dishes, desserts and condiments. The power of this brand resulted in a line up at 9am on the Saturday before Easter that was not unlike the Starbucks queue for a $4 buck cup at the airport when there is no line for the $1.50/cup of joe right across the aisle. Honey Baked charges almost three times per pound as the Sam’s Club or Costco down the street. Quality product backed by a consistent, believable marketing campaign results in brand loyalty all year round.

So, while some stores blame their negative trends on the poor economy and the real estate rollercoaster and weakening dollar, etc…stores like these continue to build their brands and their sales and we know how.

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