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Kmart Announces Launch of Smart Sense at The Private Brand Movement Conference

The Private Brand Movement Conference concluded today with a series of panels and great presentations. I will continue to post insights from the three days over the next week as well as a few videos of presentations.

In exciting news yesterday, Kim Coovert, Brand Manager – Own Brand Food & Drug for Kmart, presented a first look at their new mid tier Private Brand Smart Sense. The brand was designed by New York based design agency CBX and is a brighter, fresher take on Private Brands than Kmart has seen in years. The new brand includes a range of items including everything from snacks and beverages, to oral care, paper products, household cleaners and over-the-counter medications. The quality of the Smart Sense line is comparable to that of national name brands, and on average costs 20 percent less.

The launch of the new brand includes a fully integrated web and in store campaign featuring a $15,000 sweepstakes that gives away a three-year supply of Smart Sense products.

According to a press release from Kmart: “With the introduction of the Smart Sense line, Kmart is looking to offer a more affordable Kmart brand product assortment that will rival the quality of more nationally recognized brands,” said Mark Snyder, chief marketing officer, Kmart. “While the Smart Sense line will offer the everyday essentials, Kmart is also taking it a step further by providing unique products that you wouldn’t typically expect to see under a store brand.”

The Smart Sense line currently consists of hundreds of products available in Kmart stores and the product line will expand to more than 1,200 items by early 2011. Kmart will also support the Smart Sense line launch through multiple communications channels, including advertising, coupon offers, merchandising displays, sampling, digital marketing and event marketing.

In addition to the introduction of the Smart Sense line, a new look has been created for many other Kmart brand products. The brighter and more vibrant packaging has been designed to capture the “colorful thinking” Kmart is demonstrating through its new product and brand announcements. In addition to the Smart Sense line roll-out, Kmart is also introducing products in a re-launch of its other exclusive brands, which include, Little Ones baby care products, Champion Breed pet care products, Image Essentials personal care products and VitaSmart vitamin products.

This post was brought to you courtesy of Christopher Durham, President & Blogger-in-Chief, My Private Brand. Christopher is The Private Brand Movement 2010 Conference Chairman.

The Private Brand Movement Continues with Sam’s & Ahold

The Private Brand Movement Conference continues with an exciting couple of days from the worlds largest retailers. Kmart, Target and Walmart all presented their groundbreaking Private Brand work and the crowd responded with lively conversations around each. I will post more on the events as time permits, in the meantime here are a few snapshots from the groundbreaking conference.

The Power of Articulating Your Brand Promise was presented by Matt Biespiel, Senior Director, Global Brand Strategy, MCDONALD'S CORPORATION

Stephen Gates the Senior Creative Director, STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS presents a lively discussion on, Transforming a Design Team into a Brand-Building Design Force

A CONVERSATION WITH…IDEAS, STORIES & PERSPECTIVES
Design & Packaging Roundtable: Stepping Out of Brand Name Shadows

Panelists included:
Maurice D. Markey, Vice President, Private Brands, SAM’S CLUB, WALMART STORES, INC.
Melissa Smith-Hazen, Director, Strategic Design, Corporate Brands, AHOLD USA

Moderated by Felicia Rogers, Executive Vice President, DECISION ANALYST

This post was brought to you courtesy of Christopher Durham, President & Blogger-in-Chief, My Private Brand. Christopher is The Private Brand Movement 2010 Conference Chairman.

The Private Brand Movement Pushes Change: Day One

The 2010 Private Brand Movement Conference began yesterday morning in the Sax Hotel in Chicago, with more than 150 retailers, suppliers, agencies and press from all around the world.

Attendees included:
Ace Hardware Corp, ACNielsen, Ahold USA, Ampro Industries, Angilella Design S.A. de C.V., Anthem Worldwide, b2 Retail Solutions, Barkley, Birdsong Gregory, BNP Media, BrandImage, Burnette Foods Inc, Cabela’s, Canadian Tire Corporation, CBA Brand Ignition, ConAgra Foods, Cuddeback & Company LLC, Daymon Worldwide, Decision Analyst Inc, Delhaize Group, Design Resource Center, Deutsch Design Works, Dole Fresh Vegetables, Dollar General , DowDesign, Downlite Company Store, Dragon Rouge, eMart, Emotional Branding, Euromonitor International, Family Dollar, Flood Creative, Group360, Groupe Catalpa Inc, Hallmark Cards Inc, Henkel, Henkel Corporation, Hershey, Home Depot, Karlin Foods Corporation, Kendal King Group, Kraft Foods Inc, LL Bean Inc, Lowe’s, Marketing Support Inc, MARS Advertising, Mars Petcare USA, McDonalds Corporation, Meijer, Midmark Corporation, Nellson Nutraceutical LLC, Newmarketbuilders, Nice Pak Products Inc, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Pearlfisher Inc, PETCO , PETCO Animal Supplies Inc, PetSmart, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Pigeon Branding & Design, Princess Auto, Private Label Buyer, Private Label Magazine, Procter & Gamble, Prophet, Queue Marketing, REI, Safeway, Sam’s Club, SCA Tissues North America, Schawk, Schwanns Consumer Brands North America, Seal Strip Corporation, Sears , Sensory Logic, Smart Design, Smurfit Stone, Sonoco, Speaker Bureau, Specialized Technology Resources, Staples, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Sterling Brands, Sun Products Corporation, Supermarket News, SuperValu Inc, Synovate, Target, TEAMS Design USA, Tetra Pak Inc, The Shear Partnership, Tobii Technology Inc, True Value Company, Turner Duckworth, United, Vestcom International Inc, Voicebox Creative, Wallace Church Inc,

The day began with a presentation from Scott Davis the Chief Growth Officer of PROPHET and author of the Shift. Scott offered this quote about Private Brands to begin to conference: Scott presented the groundbreaking work from his book as well as the following observations:

"I do not believe in Private Brands, we do not call them that in my house; in my house they are our favorite brands.”

“Where you guys are today is where the cable industry was three to five years ago to the networks.”

Scott went on to talk discuss the role that “visionary” marketers have in companies

These visionaries have made five important shifts:
First Shift: From creating marketing strategies to driving business impact
Second Shift: From controlling the message to galvanizing the network
Third Shift: From incremental improvements to pervasive innovation
Fourth Shift: From managing marketing investments to inspiring marketing excellence
Fifth Shift: From an operational focus to a relentless customer focus
Store Brands Update: Where Are Trends Heading Now? Was on tap next with an insightful look at the research and trends from Lisa Rider the VP Retail Marketing for THE NIELSEN COMPANY. Lisa presented a challenging perspective on the continued growth of private brands in the grocery sector with a projected .2% growth rate over the next five years. The challenge I have to this statement is simply that it is based on retailers doing what they have always done; if they can build great brands and engage customers the sky is the limit.

Next up was Matt Biespiel the Senior Director, Global Brand Strategy for MCDONALD’S CORPORATION his presentation “The Power of Articulating Your Brand Promise.” He showed the continuing development of the McDonalds brand and it’s implementation throughout the world. Although McDonalds does not seem directly relevant to Private Brands the audience was engaged and excited by the brand building of America’s fast food brand.

Stay tuned for more from the conference.

This post was brought to you courtesy of Christopher Durham, President & Blogger-in-Chief, My Private Brand. Christopher is The Private Brand Movement 2010 Conference Chairman.

Breaking News: Walmart to Present at the Private Brand Movement Conference

Michael Ellgass, Senior Director of Grocery Marketing, Walmart

Get the inside scoop on how Walmart rebranded the world’s largest CPG brand. See the advertising that is attempting to evolve it from thrifty alternative to the everyday presence of the Walmart brand.

Session: Tuesday, Sept. 28th at 4:25 pm
"Great Value Relaunch: Connecting the Brand to Save Money, Live Better"

It's not too late to register for The Private Brand Movement! Visit the event site to download the brochure, check out our speaker line-up, and register to join us in Chicago!

The Private Brand Pulse: Maurice Markey, Vice President, Private Brands Sam’s Club

Leading up to The Private Brand Movement event next month, we invited a few of our excellent speakers to discuss their roles within their organization and their presentations at event. We had a chance to talk with speaker, Maurice Markey, Vice President, Private Brands at Sam's Club. Maurice is responsible for leading the strategic development and growth of Sams Clubs proprietary Private Brands; to include Members Mark®, Bakers and Chef® and ProForce®. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Maurice will participate in the discussion, "Design & Packaging Roundtable: Stepping Out of Brand Name Shadows" at The Private Brand Movement, September 27-29, 2010 at Hotel Sax in Chicago.

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