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An excellent article headlined “Retailing’s Battlefield: Fight for Market Share” written by Evan Clark appeared in the March 10 edition of WWD.  Clark artfully and convincingly made the case of how aggressively and brutally the fight to win today’s consumer’s transactions and loyalty really is, and how strongly success, and even survival, depend on retailers’ constant injection of change into their business strategies—changes in product categories and mix, changes in distribution channels, changes in pricing, changes in the paths used to reach their customers with their marketing messages.  I agree that the magnitude and the pace of change have never been greater, but having worked in the retail industry for nearly 50 years, (I started working in an IGA grocery store at age 14), I also note that the industry has always experienced and been driven by significant change. Granted, current changes are dramatic, but in fact they are simply the current [...]

Just finished looking through, and then actually reading, cover to cover, a brilliant marketing piece received from Brooks Brothers.  Don’t believe I’ve ever seen a more masterful blend of brand imaging and communication of actual product attributes.  So often in our discussions, even with highly respected industry executives, their views on brand building are focused exclusively on advertising, marketing, PR, etc., with little if any attention to the attributes and features of products to be sold under the brand.  While the imaging throughout the Brooks Brothers “1818 Lifestyle Magazine” was beautiful and compelling, it was the combination of the imaging and real product information about real product attributes which I’m convinced would ring the bell of both current and prospective customers.  What made it all work was that the product attributes were as bull’s eye brand appropriate as the imaging. -The authenticity of Brooks Brothers’ Scottish Tartans, the cashmeres from the oldest [...]