1. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP:
IDENTIFYING
NEW PLATFORMS
TO INCREASE
REVENUE AND PROFITS
Bob Fitzgerald
2. INDEX BY CATEGORY
Food/Beverage
• Snack Nuts: Flavor House Products
• Foodservice Trade: Coca-Cola
• Beverage Merchandising: Coca-Cola
• Confections: Brach’s
• RTE Cereal: General Foods Post Cereals
• Instant Breakfast/Breakfast Bars: Carnation
• Frozen Seafood: Van de Kamp’s
HBA
• Shampoo: Johnson & Johnson
3. INDEX BY CATEGORY
Lifestyle
• Cameras/Film: Polaroid
• Consumer Papers: HammerMill
• Digital Photography: Jet Print Photo
• Crafting: Invent It!
Automotive Aftermarket
• Intelligent Parts: Coni-Seal
Promotions/Sponsorships
• Liberty Bowl Football Classic: AutoZone
• NASCAR: AutoZone
• Christmas Promotion: Polaroid/Delta Airlines
• Summer Cup Promotion: Coca-Cola/MTV
4. CASE HISTORIES
• Flavor House Products
• Johnson’s Baby Shampoo
• Polaroid Sun Camera and 600 Speed Film
• Polaroid Christmas Promotion With Delta Airlines
• Coca-Cola Foodservice Trade Marketing
• Coca-Cola Beverage Merchandising At Foodservice Retail Outlets
• Coca-Cola Summer Cup Promotion With MTV
• International Paper HammerMill Paper
• International Paper Jet Print Photo
• International Paper Invent It!
• Brach’s Gummi Candy Corn
• Carnation Instant Breakfast and Breakfast Bars
• Van de Kamp’s Frozen Seafood
• General Foods/Post Cereals Grape Nuts Flakes
• AutoZone Sports Marketing
• Coni-Seal IntelligentParts
6. Flavor House Products
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Flavor House had enjoyed consistent sales growth,
however, attainment of profit objectives had been
inconsistent
– Peanut products yielded only small profits,
sometimes losses
• Peanuts were a required part of the “full line requirement”
to gain and maintain distribution at retail accounts,
certainly not a “discretionary” item
• Peanuts were 40% of Flavor House sales
7. Flavor House Products
• NEW PLATFORM
– Developed new, higher margin, “added value” peanut items
• Party Mix (peanuts + sesame sticks + pretzels + reusable container)
• Double Roasted, Honey Roasted Peanuts (preferred Vs. Eagle, Planters)
• Mug ‘O Nuts (packaged in reusable beer mug with licensed sports logos)
– Improved margins on total product line
• Nitrogen Flushed packaging process enabled plastic jars (Vs. glass) and composite
cans (Vs. tins)
• Significantly reduced shipping weights
• Environmentally friendly (e.g., PET plastic)
• Consumer friendly (lighter weight, non-breakable)
• Christmas Gift Packs (2 or 3 cans in a decorative gift box)
• Bag line (entrée to single serve snacking and baking nut segments)
• Export sales
• Opportunistic buying strategy, especially for cashews and mixed nuts
8. Flavor House Products
• RESULTS
– Sales increased 57%, from $47 million to $74 million
– Achieved record net income of $3 million (4.3% net sales)
in year prior to sale of company
– Sold Flavor House for 10x return on equity investment
10. Johnson & Johnson
Baby Shampoo
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Narrow target audience niche of infants and mothers
of infants
– Brand relegated to shelf position in infant section of
F/D/M stores
– Advertising restricted to “baby books” and other
magazines with concentrations of new/expectant
mothers
– Research indicated “no more tears” formula providing
“baby gentleness” attribute resonated with other HH
members
11. Johnson & Johnson
Baby Shampoo
• NEW PLATFORM
– Segmentation strategy targeted four new demographic platforms:
adult women, teenage girls, adult men, and women 50+
– Same core attribute (baby gentleness), leveraged differently to
each target group, promised highly meaningful and relevant
benefits specific to each…
• Adult women: soft, shiny, bouncy hair
• Teenage girls: won’t cause split ends like harsher shampoos
• Adult men: frequent shampooing from active lifestyles won’t hurt hair
• Women 50+: helps brittle, damaged hair look healthy
– Media strategy reflecting media habits of each demo
– Dual distribution at retail (adult HBA and infant sections)
12. Johnson & Johnson
Baby Shampoo
• RESULTS
– Replaced P&G’s Head & Shoulders as the
#1 brand in the total shampoo category
– Segmentation strategy featured as a Harvard
Business School case history
14. Polaroid Sun Cameras
and 600 Speed Film
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Instant imaging enabled immediate sharing of
photos, making these moments more enjoyable.
This differentiated brand from other photography
systems.
– Original camera models achieved broad
distribution but were plagued by quickly
declining film burn because of…
• Toy-like perception
• Picture quality lacked sharpness
• Usage occasions primarily limited to indoor
special events
15. Polaroid Sun Cameras
and 600 Speed Film
• NEW PLATFORM
– Sun Camera
• Black body design resembling hi-tech electronics
• User friendly, advanced features including auto flash and auto
focus
– 600 high speed film, in combination with advanced camera
electronics, created a “Light Management System” for clear,
sharp pictures
– Television advertising with star presenters Jim Garner and
Mariette Hartley
• Reinforced Polaroid core value of instantly sharing the moment
over again
• Promised “a piece of the sun” with every exposure to properly light
every photo indoors and outside
– Magazine advertising emphasized the engineering details of
the “Light Management System”
16. Polaroid Sun Cameras
and 600 Speed Film
• RESULTS
– Clearer, sharper photos, inside and outside
– Significantly increased film burn
– $500+ million total sales
– TV campaign awarded “Campaign of the
Year” by Advertising Age
18. POLAROID
CHRISTMAS PROMOTION
WITH DELTA AIRLINES
• National Promotion Strategy
– Offer: With qualifying purchase of Polaroid camera or
film, get a free companion ticket with purchase of one
ticket on Delta Airlines
– Network television advertising featuring Polaroid star
presenters, Jim Garner and Mariette Hartley
– POS counter cards with tear-off coupons at retail
– Tie-in advertising with retailers
19. POLAROID
CHRISTMAS PROMOTION
WITH DELTA AIRLINES
• Polaroid “win”
– Provided significant added value to consumers at
minimal incremental cost
• Consumer added value > purchase price of camera or film
• Secured Delta tickets in exchange for production cost of
one custom TV spot (celebrity talent already under
contract) and reallocation of small share of previously
budgeted brand image holiday television plan
– Leveraged peak sales seasonality of gift giving, holiday
season
– Increased holiday sales 12% Vs. prior year
20. POLAROID
CHRISTMAS PROMOTION
WITH DELTA AIRLINES
• Delta Airlines “win”
– Leveraged award winning Polaroid advertising and star
presenters to increase Delta brand awareness
– Financial commitment limited mostly to using under
capacity seats
22. Coca-Cola
Foodservice Trade
Marketing
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– CCUSA had a differentiating sales story based on…
• Syndicated and proprietary data documenting it had
leadership (#1) brands in the most popular soft drink
flavor categories…over 20 million drinkers a day
consuming Coke brands at U.S. Fountain outlets
• Superior fountain dispenser technology
• Outstanding service programs
– But long term contract negotiations were still being
influenced too much by pricing despite the
differentiation of Coke’s brand leadership and
technology/service programs
– Meanwhile, PepsiCo was expanding ownership in,
and share of sales from, Quick Service Restaurants
23. Coca-Cola
Foodservice Trade
Marketing
• NEW PLATFORM
– Changed the competitive playing field with an aggressive
trade advertising and sales collateral campaign,
“Commitment…Not Competition”
– Leveraged proprietary and syndicated data to document
leadership position of Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, and
Sprite in the sugar cola, diet cola, and lemon lime categories
in Fountain outlets
– Utilized data from PepsiCo Annual Report to demonstrate
PepsiCo was competing for the total restaurant sales and
profits of the same foodservice operators it was selling
fountain drinks to
24. Coca-Cola
Foodservice Trade
Marketing
• RESULTS
– Burger King account went to Coca-Cola
– Pepsi Fountain new account growth stymied
– Factor in PepsiCo divesting restaurant system into Yum
brands
28. Coca-Cola
Beverage Merchandising
At Foodservice
Retail Outlets
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Primary consumer messaging media for CCUSA
Fountain was in-store merchandising
– Since allocation of space to CCUSA was obviously
secondary to the foodservice account brand,
merchandising space was limited
– So, how could CCUSA increase the merchandising
space available and the message impact for its
multiple strategies?…
• By point of purchase (drive-thru, carry out, eat-in)
• By daypart (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
• Oz. per transaction (large cup merchandising)
• Purchase incidence (combination meal merchandising)
29. Coca-Cola
Beverage Merchandising
At Foodservice
Retail Outlets
• NEW PLATFORM
– New locations to place CCUSA signage without decreasing space
available to host foodservice account brand
• Drive Thru: menu boards, light posts, driveways
• Inside: windows, counters, ceilings, cash registers, crew
– New merchandising “hardware”
• Drive Thru: menu board extenders, free-standing banner stands, and
light post banner fixtures
• Inside: counter cards, ceiling danglers, cash register flags, employee
buttons, window static clings, “Coke & Ice” directional signs
(convenience stores) and static clings
– “Coke &” Campaign “software”
• Mnemonic design element which standardized POS/collateral within a
common campaign theme and design treatment
30. Coca-Cola
Beverage Merchandising
At Foodservice
Retail Outlets
• RESULTS
– Contributed to 12% annual revenue growth
34. COCA-COLA
SUMMER CUP PROMOTION
WITH MTV
• National Promotion Strategy
– Offer: Peel-off game coupon with purchase of 32 oz
game cups at fountain outlets provided consumers with
chance to win prizes instantly or major prizes announced
live on MTV
– Television advertising produced by MTV featuring
comedian Rob Schneider
– POS produced by Coca-Cola featured at foodservice
retail outlets
– Prizes supplied by co-sponsors (Pontiac, Panasonic,
American Airlines) in exchange for sponsorship credits on
MTV advertising/programming and Coca-Cola retail POS
35. COCA-COLA
SUMMER CUP PROMOTION
WITH MTV
• Coca-Cola “win”
– Leverage peak beverage sales summer seasonality
– Promote sales of large size cups
– Increase share of youth market by leveraging MTV
image and audience franchise
– Cost of major event limited to POS and game cup
production
– Increased same period sales 8% vs. prior year
36. COCA-COLA
SUMMER CUP PROMOTION
WITH MTV
• MTV “win”
– Expand viewership of youth target market by
leveraging…
• youth summer traffic at foodservice outlets
• Coca-Cola brand image
37. COCA-COLA
SUMMER CUP PROMOTION
WITH MTV
• Co-Sponsor Prize Suppliers “win”
– Increase awareness against youth target market
– Leverage hip image of MTV
– Association with prestige of #1 global brand, Coca-Cola
39. International Paper
HAMMERMILL
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Home & Office Paper Division lost $40 million net income
– Sales heavily weighted (90%) in favor of low margin,
commodity paper (copy paper)
– Traditional category practice was to merchandise papers
according to type of printer used (e.g., copy machine, inkjet
printer, laser printer)
– Research indicated consumer was confused “in a field of
reams” about how to shop the section
– Research also revealed the “aspirational” SOHO (small
office / home office) target audience was willing to spend
more for better results if they better understood the selection
criteria
40. International Paper
HAMMERMILL
• NEW PLATFORM
– New line of papers designed to maximize performance based on
intended use Vs. type of printer used
• E.g., “Presentations & Proposals” vs. commodity copy paper
– Primary packaging emphasis on intended use application;
secondary emphasis on printer used
– Tested new planogram with Staples re-setting the HammerMill
area of the section according to intended use
– Educational point-of-sale
– Media plan utilized TV, print, direct mail, direct response TV,
loyalty magazine, and vertical industry magazines
41. International Paper
HAMMERMILL
• RESULTS
– HammerMill value added sales increased
$41 million
– Contributed to improved margin mix for The
Home and Office Paper Division
• Total Value Added sales increased from
$82 million to $165 million
• Total Net Income improved from $40 million
loss to +$10 million profit
44. International Paper
JET PRINT PHOTO
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Research projected that digital photography
would replace traditional film process as most
popular format [and it did]!
– First to market companies (HP, Kodak)
introduced specialty paper for printing digital
exposures on home PC but only offered one
standard paper grade (“Premium”)
45. International Paper
JET PRINT PHOTO
• NEW PLATFORM
– Developed products for new platform of digital vs. film
photography
– Borrowed learnings from HammerMill research regarding
appeal of customized papers by intended use application
and developed papers for four different uses
• Proofing
• Multi-Project --> “good”
• Premium --> “better”
• Professional --> “best”
– Media campaign utilized TV, vertical print (PC and
photography enthusiast) and high end print targeting
affluent, early adopter males
46. International Paper
JET PRINT PHOTO
• RESULTS
– $18 million sales
– Gross profit margins by item
ranging from 25% to 45% Vs.
average copy paper margins
of 12%
48. International Paper
INVENT IT!
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– PC printers were viewed exclusively as
equipment to print “papers”
– Crafting industry was experiencing rapid
growth
49. International Paper
INVENT IT!
• NEW PLATFORM
– Positioned PC printers as equipment that could produce “media”,
not just 8 1/2” x 11” “papers”, with new output including…
• Greeting cards
• Invitations
• Calendars
• Scrap Books
• Banners
– Advertising included vertical print (PC and crafting enthusiast) and
women’s magazines targeting gatekeeper mothers
– Dedicated website and loyalty magazine to communicate variety of
crafting activities
– Sampling program with The Learning Company (software) to
launch retail distribution
50. International Paper
INVENT IT!
• RESULTS
– $10 million sales
– Gross profit margins by item ranging
from 30% to 45% vs. average copy
paper margins of 12%
52. Brach’s
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– 36% of Brach’s sales from seasonal items
– Halloween represented 44% of Brach’s seasonal sales
– Candy Corn
• Iconic shape representative of Halloween candy
• Brach’s was segment leader with 77% share
• But candy corn category only had 11% HH penetration and 2%
growth Vs. YAG
• Candy Corn is a “Candy Dish” item appealing to adults (adults =
90% of Brach’s; 10% of Category)
• But “Trick or Treat” represented 90% Category sales and only
10% Brach’s
– Gummi candy
• YAG Category Halloween sales of only $8 million but 47% growth
• Unlike candy corn, enjoys significant year long sales (15% growth vs.
YAG on full year basis)
• Appeals to kids
• “Trick or Treat” item
53. Brach’s
• NEW PLATFORM
– Combine iconic shape of candy corn
with taste and texture of gummi candy =
“Gummi Candy Corn”
– Package in 60-count “Treat Packs” for
Halloween “Trick or Treating”
54. Brach’s
• RESULTS
– Highly successful trade sell-in for Halloween ‘08
– Intended to:
• Leverage and grow Brach’s leadership and
equity in candy corn
• Support extension of Brach’s consumer franchise
to younger audiences
• Grow Brach’s share of “Trick of Treat” sales
• Leverage popularity and growth trend of gummi
candy
56. Carnation Instant Breakfast
and Breakfast Bars
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Brands originally launched with convenient breakfast
nutrition positioning
– Uniqueness of positioning challenged over time by
other “portable” food items, e.g., granola bars, which
also provided more appealing taste
– Research indicated “flavor boredom” was becoming
an increasingly significant dislike among users
– While Carnation enjoyed a dominant segment share
in the 70% range, sales were steadily declining
57. Carnation Instant Breakfast
and Breakfast Bars
• NEW PLATFORM
– Repositioned both brands by switching primary
benefit emphasis from convenient nutrition to
variety of great tastes
– Line extended both brands with new, more
enticing flavors
– Developed new packaging and advertising to
communicate the excitement of new flavors and
overall taste satisfaction
58. Carnation Instant Breakfast
and Breakfast Bars
• RESULTS
– Modest sales growth replaced
years of declining sales
60. Van de Kamp’s
Frozen Seafood
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Research indicated significant dislikes of frozen
seafood among non users and also infrequent users
• Soggy texture
• Bland taste
– Dislikes were obstacles to growing sales from a kid
finger food niche to a broader franchise as an adult /
all family entree
61. Van de Kamp’s
Frozen Seafood
• NEW PLATFORM
– Developed two new formulations
• “Batter Dipped Fillets” provided crunchy
texture in new shape/cut (fillets) more
commensurate with entrees than prevailing
platform (fish sticks)
• “Zesty Italian Seasoned” line leveraged
learning from review of menus from Italian and
Seafood restaurants which had a large
percentage of seafood entrees linked to Italian
recipes using zesty spices and sauces
62. Van de Kamp’s
Frozen Seafood
• RESULTS
– Van de Kamp’s grew to #3 national brand
from regional, west coast beginnings
64. General Foods/Post Cereals
Grape Nuts Flakes
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Flagship product, Grape Nuts, developed unique
positioning based on “natural goodness” product
formulation and celebrity endorsement by Euell
Gibbons
– Research indicted hard texture of Grape Nuts
kernels narrowed brand appeal to mostly men
65. General Foods/Post Cereals
Grape Nuts Flakes
• NEW PLATFORM
– Grape Nuts Flakes featured a “flake” formulation
with a softer texture for greater appeal to women
– Grape Nuts Flakes fortified with supplemental
nutrients (e.g., iron) appealing to specific needs of
women
– Continued to leverage “natural goodness”
heritage of flagship but used campaign featuring
“today’s modern woman” vignettes Vs. flagship’s
celebrity personality
– Media mix for line extension targeted female
oriented media and programs
66. General Foods/Post Cereals
Grape Nuts Flakes
• RESULTS
– Achieved test market objectives
and expanded distribution
68. • AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL FOOTBALL CLASSIC
ACTIVATION STRATEGY
– Generate media impressions
• Sponsorship television package with ESPN national coverage
• Indirect media (e.g., sponsor name mentions)
• On-site (stadium merchandising)
– Headquarters community leadership
– Customer entertainment
– Store manager recognition
– Spot market promotional tie-ins (Memphis, two competing teams’
home markets)
69. • NASCAR AUTOZONE ELITE DIVISION
ACTIVATION STRATEGY
– National Promotions
• Coca-Cola
• NASCAR Day
– Promotion tie-ins with track operators (race
discounts at AZO stores)
– AutoZone Commercial Sales Contest
– AutoZone Commercial Customer entertainment
– Bounce-back coupons distributed at track
– Generate media impressions
• On-site (stadium merchandising)
• Sponsorship cable television package
• Indirect media (e.g., sponsor name mentions)
– Store appearances / tie-in promotions
70. • Results
– Autozone sports marketing program
generated incremental sales of over
$20 million
71.
72. Coni-Seal
IntelligentParts
• SITUATION / EXISTING PLATFORM
– Coni-Seal product line heritage
• Value Brand perception and pricing
• Lower margins typical of a commodity product sold
mostly as customers’ private labels
73. • NEW PLATFORM
– Develop new, proprietary, premium brand
• Differentiate with added value features improving on OE
• Provide higher margins vs. current Coni-Seal brand
– Positioning
• “The Installer Friendly” brand which improves on OE by providing “smart
solutions” to installers so they can “work smart” and provide “smart maintenance”
to an educated vehicle owner
– Benefits:
• Allow installers to “Do A Better Job Faster” to reduce lift time and comebacks
• Longer car life, better road performance and safety for the owner
74. Package Design
• RESULTS
– Developed comprehensive launch plan including
• Installer research, internal brainstorming, product concepts
• Logo, tagline, package design
• Business and marketing plans
75.
76.
77. Thank you!
• I am interested in
– Full time general manager or senior
marketing positions
– Part time consulting
• Please contact me at
– Business Cel: 732-552-5582
– bobfitz245@aol.com
– bob@BenchStrengthTeam.com
