Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all high drama – it’s just that the more interesting times (to read about anyway) are when the proverbial hits the fan. At least life is never dull. On today’s agenda is an NPD meeting with a supplier. These are always good as you get to see what’s coming up over the next 12 to 18 months. It’s also a nice opportunity for the stress levels to return to something approaching normal, at least for a couple of hours anyway.
Anyway, we all grab a coffee and settle down to peruse the upcoming developments across the suppliers brand portfolio for the next 18 months. The first marketer trawls in looking distinctly under whelmed at having to present their brand plans for the boring old trade. I can’t honestly say that I blame her – the actual execution of how a product gets to shelf is totally necessary but even I recognise, rather unsexy.
In addition to the unsexy issue there’s also the whole secrecy and confidentiality thing - marketers aren’t always really that keen on sharing their brands future (all very secret squirrel). We make a solemn promise that nothing mentioned over the next 2 hours will go any further then the confines of the room, sign it in blood and then get underway.
Some great executional ideas come out for some of the upcoming launches. Unfortunately, we also uncover a few potential stumbling blocks such as the brand plan that required a complete category relay at store to accommodate a me-too type product. I’m forced to explain (albeit gently so we stand a chance of being invited again) to the brand manager that a complete relay is highly unlikely under normal circumstances but in the absence of a really compelling category story I can almost guarantee it won’t be happening. This doesn’t go down well but it’s always better to honest at an early stage when there’s half a chance of damage limitation then wait until 6 weeks before launch to deliver the good news. Ummm – perhaps we won’t be getting a second invite after all…
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