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Overview:
New Item Speed to Shelf:
New Item on Shelves in 20,000 Stores
Two Weeks! Effort was So
Successful, it was Repeated 5 More Times.*
As president, associate led multiple new item
launches where a prescription drug was being converted to "over the
counter." These launches required 20,000+ stores to be
merchandised in two weeks, a
5-6 month planning and coordination
cycle and working side by side with manufacturer.
Associate's firm did several additional launches for
the same manufacturer and others, totaling 6 major launches.
Extremely difficult work to execute in so short a time frame.
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Problems /
Challenges Faced:
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New item
launches are an enormous investment and risk for the manufacturer.
Easily costs $20-$30 million (new packaging, samples, displays, ads,
etc.)
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Enormous risk
for the buyer that chooses the merchandising company – a good
outcome could make their career - or a bad outcome could cost them their
job.
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Retailers are
all given the same first sell date. The manufacturer must get
product in the store, merchandised, promoted and ready to sell in
20,000+ stores in just a few weeks.
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Manufacturer
will spend millions on TV advertising during the one or two week
blitz period
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Chicken and egg
problem.
If the merchandising company has not done this before, it is very
hard for the buyer to trust them
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The
manufacturer’s people are so consumed with all of the other details
of the launch that merchandising is often not thought through until
very late in the game.
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Solution:
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The
manufacturer’s president will expect a report on his or her desk
every day of the 14 day execution period.
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The
merchandising organization must know about problems immediately
and be able to correct them immediately
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Merchandising
must be completed before ad campaigns can kick off on TV.
Many millions of dollars of advertising are at risk
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Planning and
prep period needs to be super diligent.
Merchandising
organization needs to work closely with manufacturer and retailers
beginning 3-4 months ahead of the launch
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Results:
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New Item on Shelves in 20,000 Stores
Two Weeks!
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Effort was So Successful, it was Repeated 5 More Times.
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