April 2008 Entries
Whether you refer to it as an “R” (recession) or an “ES” (economic slowdown), there is no doubt that it will begin playing havoc with your sales results very soon (if it hasn’t done so already). As mentioned previously in this blog, if you are a BRANDED manufacturer, you need to EXPAND our BRAND SUPPORT in the form of OPERATOR discounting, multiple buys, and price supports, or you may find yourself being replaced by the distributor’s “value brand”. The signs are everywhere, as outlined in this Sunday’s NY TIMES (link to the full article at the end of this post.)
“Spending...
There is a Chinese proverb that states: “May you live in interesting times”. Indeed. The press release earlier this week announcing that iTrade Network and Instill had “merged” is one of those interesting facts that only time will confirm as a "brilliant strategic maneuver" (or something else altogether). Regardless, it stikes me that Instill is the "lesser of equals" as the iTN business seems quite strong and well financed, while Instill has struggled of late to find its long term voice. But what do I know? Stay tuned. http://www.itradenetwork.com/pr_042108.cfm It will be interesting, nonetheless.
Dave DeWalt from Franklin Foodservice Solutions publishes a monthly newsletter focused on supply chain issues. His April “Foodservice Marketing Insights” newsletter presented comments regarding the GS1 initiative, and IFDA’s efforts to elevate this issue to an industry initiative. His “Still At It” commentary holds merit for all of us involved in TPM:
"Still At It"
IFDA has formed a committee to look into "the need for complete and accurate information in data exchange between trading partners."
Their intentions are right on the money. It's inexcusable that we're still talking about dealing with inaccurate or missing bar codes, inconsistent product descriptions, poor price maintenance practices...
I posted my take on “TPM and the Economy” yesterday. Today in the LEADERSHIP email feed there was an article published by Deloitte US entitled: Breathing Lessons: Managing in a Downturn”.
No surprise there…its been in all the papers. But what WAS especially interesting (to me) was the fact that many of my points about TPM in foodservice related directly to the more global “management” article by Deloitte. Great minds think alike…
Some key excerpts from Breathing Lessons:
Grow smart
Smart growth begins with hedging against recession by investing in counter-cyclical areas. It should also mean focusing on products and services with more consistent demand...
The lead article in the last several issues of Nations Restaurant News have preached gloom and doom for the commercial foodservice operator: Rising costs of energy, food, fuel, and general operating expenses combined with an overall slowdown of the overall economy, slowing patron traffic. (We older folks remember that as “stagflation” from the 70’s). Concurrently, articles throughout the media talk about how the high oil prices have substantially driven the costs of distribution up, squeezing the margins of foodservice manufacturers and distributors. Yet economists warn that consumers will stop eating out if menu prices rise.
So what should YOU do...
My good friend Jim Matorin of Smarketing has an interesting article in the current issue of Nations Restaurant News entitled “Morph Marketing”. It outlines an unusual new “outside the box” approach to marketing management and planning. Although it has no DIRECT connection with TPM, the marketing elements which drive TPM come from marketing. I recommend his article as a new view on an old subject. Enjoy.
http://www.nrn.com/article.aspx?id=352672
Are you having a hard time preventing your customers from treating your products and services like a commodity? It is the mission of many of todays tough, informed, and experienced procurement professionals to turn your product into a commodity, shaving any semblance of unique value that you provide, so they can buy at the lowest price, or at the “best deal”.
But what customers are REALLY buying is “business improvement”. They will only invest in your product if there is a BENEFIT: Increased revenues, or savings they can take to the bottom line. Think of your products and services as a...
Although this article has little to do with TPM, it has LOADS to do with personal interaction and managing people. Learn the techniques used by exotic animal trainers to improve personal relationships and and develop your people. Common sense, but with an interesting twist…
LINK TO ARTICLE: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/124/your-boss-is-a-monkey.html
The “Price Waterfall” concept, as used in CPG, allows manufacturers to track the revenue reductions thru product distribution. It is not a new concept, but up to now, has been difficult --- if not impossible --- to accomplish in foodservice, due to the lack of visibility and control over product travel throughout the supply chain.
The Answers Systems BLOG recently posted a detailed look at this process, demonstrating how technology now manufacturers to identify their actual “street price” to operators. Check out this link for this analysis: http://blog.answerssystems.com/2008/04/price-waterfall-analytics-in.html
One our first FORUM WEBINARS will further examine this concept, and the...
Apparently there are some who think that I am being coached or prompted to post specific subjects or content to this blog. Not true. This blog is entirely THE OPINIONS OF TOM RECTOR, AND IN NO WAY REFLECT ANY DIRECT INPUT FROM OTHERS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY.
Please read my entries in that light, and relax.
Some of you may have noticed that the “IFMA TPM???” entry was deleted. Upon second reading, I was convinced that it might have been a little harsh. I have no specific insight into the coming Sales & Marketing conference, and should not have implied that because I didn’t thoroughly understand its goals, that it might be “less than advertised”. Please don’t take my word for it… I encourage you to decide on your own if it is worth your time and money to attend.
It saddens me to see IFMA’s decline in membership, member services, and relevancy to the foodservice...
“Unless you’ve moved beyond fighting fires and are managing based on your business priorities, your TPM strategy isn’t as brilliant as you think…”
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal." --- -Hannah More
“To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.” Malcolm Gladwell
RFP: “Request for Paper”
MECE: “Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive”
“There are only two kinds of companies: brave and dead."
“A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.”--Samuel Goldwyn, film producer
“You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” --- Daniel K. Moran
TPMA and SAP are sponsoring a FREE Foodservice BENCHMARKING STUDY. This study will directly compare your trade spending activities against your peers. It is completely confidential. The data collection period is nearly over, so don’t delay! To participate:
Go to: http://www.tradepromo.org and click on the link “Take the TPMA/SAP Trade Promotion Benchmarking Survey” and register to participate. Select FOODSERVICE
Once registered, you will be sent a link to the online survey form.
For your participation, you will receive a customized report comparing your data to that of the survey group. ...
Reaction to the Sodexo CaRMA webinar held last Friday has been terrific. I have heard from many of you that the content was informative and that the resources will be helpful in dealing with this issue. If you didn’t have an opportunity to join us for this webinar, the resource materials (PowerPoint, script, talking points) are posted to the MATERIALS DOWNLOAD area of our website homepage. It’s not yet been confirmed, but it would appear that iTN and Sodexo have begun to pay attention to the feedback from their suppliers, and discussions around providing an API may be in the...
See the IFMA REDUX entry above...
Welcome to our new Trade Promotion Management blog. I will be posting news, views, commentary, and “musings” to this site several times per week. Like Wikipedia, view these entries in their broadest sense…they may be based on incorrect information, or misguided enthusiasm. Regardless, my objective will be to continue to keep this subject as “top of mind” for the industry. Help me out and leave comments, suggestions, or reaction whenever you want.