From the CEO:
POSTED BY DENNISB Date:1/13/2008 5:53:20 PM
Memo to Mike DeBoer
Thank you for the photo. We favour the use of durable displays where possible in order to project a consistent marketing profile. Most retailers are skeptical about the installation of durable branded displays because it is perceived by the store as diminishing their design flexibility. We are therefore keen to make the most of the display that you refer to while we have permission to have it in place. We have put these custom units on durable casters to let department managers move it easily to different locations and to let janitorial staff to move it out of the way when using floor cleaning equipment. We need to be careful about inferring too much from the number of bottles on a given rack. Some of the originally supplied inventory may have been removed for placement elsewhere in the store.
The in-store merchandising environment is very dynamic (ie always changing) – we will continue to generate ideas in discussions with the new retail partners. It must be remembered that we are still establishing ourselves at the more basic level of brand identity. This limits the influence we have with the retailers for the time being. In their view, we have yet to prove ourselves. When the time comes that we can put U.S. national advertising on air, there will be more options that we can propose to the participating stores.
The most significant achievement in eventually securing a U.S. national retailer for Winning Colours® Stain Remover is not the volume of projected sales through that one chain (as one might reasonably assume) but rather the ability to then conduct TV advertising in any broadcast market with the tag line “…available at ______ stores”. This will make it possible to use the same commercial everywhere and establish credibility, while on the other hand making a contribution to the marketing profile of our retail partner for mutual gain.
This sequence of events will take time – however we have the plan to do so. As has observed before, “There is nothing so practical as a good plan”.
Eric Lehner, CEO
Winning Brands Corporation
www.WinningBrands.ca
