The Store is Dead! Long Live the Store!
The distinction between online and off-line retail sales grows blurrier by the minute, as shoppers meld their consideration and purchasing behaviors into an "al...
Where’s the ROI for social media?
An Instant Poll that recently appeared on the home page of CPGmatters.com sheds some light on an important part of social media evaluation; namely, ROI. Do mark...
Independent grocers can gain an edge in trade promotion game
When it comes to capturing their fair share of impact from trade deals, independent grocers have long struggled to match their crosstown, big-chain rivals. But ...
Loblaw does personalization right
In most cases, when marketers and retailers try to ascribe loyalty to their card-carrying customers, they're delusional. When they demonstrate their commitment ...
Omni-Channel at Macy’s: It’s About Inventory Too
Omni-channel is very much about "inventory optimization through technology," said Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy's Inc., in a talk delivere...
BrainTrust Query: The Incredible Dissolving Store
How should category management professionals adjust to a world with vastly more information and a good deal less control? The accompanying diagram identifies te...
BrainTrust Query: Men are from Mars, Retailers are from Venus
Last week the planet Venus made its transit across the face of the sun. That's something like a solar eclipse by the moon, except much rarer and harder to obser...
BrainTrust Query: Of Habit and Target
The New York Times Magazine made people nervous with its February 19th cover story by author Charles Duhigg. Its chilling headline, "How Companies Learn Your Se...
CPGmatters: Has In-Store Implementation Reached Its Moment of Truth?
With a mandate of finding ways to run stores more efficiently, the In-Store Implementation (ISI) Network hosted "Sense & Perform," a pre-conference workshop at ...
BrainTrust Query: Why In-Store Implementation Is the Next Frontier
Call it the Paradox of Scale: grocery chains keep getting bigger, but industry profit performance remains stagnant. It's been a doggedly persistent trend. Why h...
BrainTrust Query: In Pursuit of Shopper Relevance, A-List Merchants Shine as ‘Curators’
The theme at this year's Global Retailing Conference was "Inspiring Innovation," and while the speakers addressed this from various perspectives, one striking p...
BrainTrust Query: The Epsilon Imperative
In what some observers say was the largest breach of consumer data in history, servers at Epsilon Interactive last week were compromised by hackers, exposing th...
Braintrust Query: Social Media? – Nah, It’s Personal
All the recent chatter about "social media for business" is driving Jamie Tenser around the bend. Do you agree with the author that effective mobile media is mo...
BrainTrust Query: What Constitutes Compliance?
In James Tenser's role as director of the In-Store Implementation Network, the challenge of merchandising compliance is frequently addressed, from a variety of ...
BrainTrust Query: Is ‘Social Media for Business’ an Oxymoron?
As new marketing verbs like tweet, blog, and social networking permeate our thinking, we need to acquire a clarifying thought vocabulary that will allow us to g...
CPGmatters: Generalizations Don’t Work Because Shopper Behavior Varies – dunnhumby
Can the spectrum of purchase behaviors within a category mean that average measurements mask what's really going on? What are the opportunities as well as chall...
CPGmatters: Integrated Customer Marketing Paying Off for ConAgra Foods
Over the past five years, the sales and marketing function at ConAgra Foods has been entirely reorganized from 100 separate operating companies into an integrat...
CPGmatters: Marketers Gain Efficiency with Online Sampling
CPG marketers want efficient promotions, while consumers welcome free stuff. The two may have common ground in the relatively new world of online sampling. What...
BrainTrust Query: Are we ready to cure performance anxiety?
Sure, you can plan alright, but how well can you implement? This question keeps truly conscious merchants and consumer product marketers awake nights..... Can r...
BrainTrust Query: How are increased border security measures on merchandise shipments affecting U.S. consumers?
Roughly two weeks ago, BrainTrust panelist Jamie Tenser was a passenger in a van traveling south on Rte. 15 toward Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. About 100 kilomet...