Comments on: What I Learned About Marketing From The Candy Man

By: Sherrie Bakshi

Sherrie Bakshi — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:03:37 +0000

I agree. I live near a Harris Teeter and because I often walk to it, I always end up going through the express lane, which is not located in the regular check out aisle. But, on the other side of the store. And, there is no room for candies, tabloids, etc. We do though have a lot of displays. The Harris Teeter also does something interesting with candy. It displays all the festive candies (holiday, halloween) in front of the aisles where tons of people pass by. You seriously can’t help but pick up a bag of chocolate then.

It’s all about getting creative with your displays and placement of items in your store when it comes to promotions.

By: Garry

Garry — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:34:32 +0000

Hershey Kisses have gone through a ton of differentiation :)

Dark Chocolate
“Hugs”
Almond
Peppermint
Caramel
Peanut Butter
Cherry
Truffle!

I remember when I was a kid they only had “Plain Jane” Kisses. Now there is a plethora!

I do agree on some points. #1 - Wegmans is Awesome! #2 - Less marketing potential with automated checkouts/interactionsn with employees is imminent but I think they just may figure out a way to grab our attention before this all comes to a head ;)

Garry

By: Ray Stankiewicz

Ray Stankiewicz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Self checkout has definitely decreased the marketing potential of the grocery store experience. More than often, it’s entirely possible, if not preferable to got through the entire store without interacting with a single employee.

I recently made my first trip to Wegmans when I was up in Philly for Thanksgiving and was floored by the number of employees they had throughout the store. Sure they are huge stores and probably have a massive overhead cost, but they have rotating displays of new and existing merchandise and employees offering free samples, cooking tips and recipes for customers that get them to see and engage with products.

Mainstay items like Hershey Kisses and other candies haven’t changed in years. Doesn’t good marketing rely on differentiation and extension? Never mind how you check out, what makes you grab the product from the shelf in the first place?

By: Garry

Garry — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:58 +0000

I think the tabloids are in trouble with or without the checkout lane! The candy stuff, if technology is proceeding to the point where people are using digital shopping carts and lists, I would envision either putting chocolate at other key locations in the store, or them evolving to the point where your apps/iphone remind you that you need to buy chocolate!

As far as technology that I see impacting our business, I have one word:

Chatter!

Imagine a social layer built on your enterprise CRM that combines Facebook, your CRM, and then is so deeply embedded into the platform it will integrate with other social networks, and also allow your “apps to talk to you”, and in addition, every app already built on the platform becomes social too (over 100,000 apps). Check it out here:

http://www.salesforce.com/chatter/

I can’t wait to see where it goes…!

Garry

By: Trevor Davis

Trevor Davis — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:54:22 +0000

Absolutely, I think candy and tabloid manufacturers should be worried; I use the self scanner at the grocery store all the time. In addition, you have to think about the grocery store employees. At my Giant, there are about 8 self checkout lanes, and they are all managed by one employee if someone needs help. As self-checkout lanes become more and more prevalent, the grocery store workforce will drastically reduce in size.

By: Al

Al — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:45:37 +0000

Merry Christmas to you and your family and staff Joanna.

Thanks for the “My Favorites” section I will be doing my own review of Greg Mortenson’s book, it really looks inspiring.

AL Shoaff