Your Brand Reflects Your Core Values
CRUNCH TIME!
What do you think when you hear about how committed a company is to the environment and then see their product in a single-use plastic container? Corporate disconnect at best, hypocrisy at worst? Almost every company today says they are concerned about the environment but their...
How to Get the Most out of Your Company Swag
SWAG OR DRAG?
Don’t you just hate it when you get one of those free pens that goes dry in a few uses? How about a t-shirt you can see through after four washes? How do you feel about a company that proudly puts their name on a brand...
Product QA (Quality Assurance) Is the Best Form of Advertising
IT’S DEPENDABLE!
What is the #1 cause of startup failure? They simply can’t pay their bills. So why have bills that are not directly related to sales? We advise startups, especially in the CPG space, to outsource everything except Sales, Accounting, and Quality Assurance (also known as Quality...
Why Brand Integrity Matters and How to Get it
STAY ON BRAND!
There’s so much noise out there, you don’t have the luxury to try to be all things to all people. You must focus on the core value you offer to your customer. We are successful consumer brand developers but we made a ton of mistakes before...
What Types of Advertising Work Best for CPG Products?
“THAT’S MY BRAND!”
Our friend called us last week and recommended a new brand of granola. Guess what? We went right out and bought it! Why? Because we trusted our friend. And ultimately, isn’t that the very best form of advertising, a personal referral from an “advocate”? Personal Referrals...
Product Development Starts with Demand and Access
WHO WANTS IT?
“But all my friends thought it was so cool!” That’s the usual lament we hear from the producers of failed products. Why? They fell in love with their product, so much so that they actually thought success was based on the product itself. Probably the most...
What Can You Do with an Entrepreneurship Degree?
SAVING TIME AND MONEY!
After 4 years in college studying entrepreneurship, you might get the idea that no one will hire you. After all, you studied to start your own company, didn’t you? Even though that is the primary objective, it’s amazing how many growing companies today actually prefer grads...
Don’t Get Boxed In By the Big Box Store
YOU CHASE THEM ‘TIL THEY CATCH YOU!
What is a big box store? It can be your dream come true or your worst nightmare when you are a CPG producer. Why? Because they can buy so much of your products at a time that they can make you dependent on them and ultimately...
Treacherous Sales Channels Can Sink Your Entrepreneur Ship!
EVERYBODY WANTS SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
What are sales channels? They are more important than your product! Why? Because, simply, “If it ain’t there, they can’t buy it!” Where is there? It’s the point of sale. It’s the only place where your product, your consumer, their money and their decision all come...
Consumers are “Voting” for Earth Friendly Products
JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON …OR GET RUN OVER BY IT!
Nielsen, the CPG sales rating company, has been releasing reports indicating that consumers prefer sustainable products. Actually, consumers prefer products making sustainable claims. The implication is that the producers are living up to their claims. Then there’s the question about what the term “sustainable” means. The...
Business Based on Social Entrepreneurship Ideas Develops Strong Customer Loyalty
A SOCIAL REASON!
What is Social Entrepreneurship? It depends upon who you ask and when. The definition keeps changing over time and broadening to include an ever-widening group of enterprises that have a positive social impact. What they all have in common is that they either directly promote social...
Brand Positioning Examples in the CPG Space are Price Sensitive
JOCKEYING FOR POSITION
What is brand positioning? It’s relatively easy to identify your CPG product’s value proposition. But positioning your product in the harsh retail environment is quite another story. Think of the value proposition as a broad description of your products features, benefits, and what sets it apart...
What Is Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales in the CPG Space?
ONE THROAT TO CHOKE!
Depending on what you’re selling, how much you are selling at a time, and how you’re selling it, you will have different approaches to how the sale is made. You may also have different approaches to how the initial sale is made vs. how the subsequent...
How to Trademark a Logo for Your CPG Brand
7 Sales Strategy Tips to Increase Your CPG Sales Territory
WORKING BACKWARD
Effective CPG sales strategy planning requires a knowledge of, and respect for, the harsh realities of the retail marketplace. It’s a multifaceted landscape into which your product must fit, survive, and thrive. Due to the physical nature of the distribution system, there is a ridged process...
What Does Customer Service Mean To You? An Interview with the Founders of Barefoot Wine
SERVICING ALL THE PLAYERS
We are interviewed on this subject on a regular basis. The interviewers are usually podcasters, radio show hosts, or magazine writers. They are interested in practical and doable advice from a successful CPG producer. They want to know what customer service is for a CPG product...
How To Calculate Net Sales and not get Fooled by the Numbers
IT COSTS MONEY TO MAKE MONEY!
One of the biggest mistakes we see being made by new CPG branded product producers is they simply follow the net sales calculation formulas designed for accounting. This formula seems plausible and to the inexperienced, it may even seem complete. But it’s far from complete and...
The Risks of Rebranding May Outweigh the Benefits
“WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BRAND?”
To rebrand or not to rebrand? That is the question! Whether it is nobler to be new and different or tried and true? More than a few brands have disappeared as a result of well-meaning rebranding and repositioning. This is especially true of CPG brands. Unlike...