BRAND EXPERIENCE
NPD CASE
Market Situation:
Refrigerated fruit was a single brand category, and the trade not content with Del Monte. Sunkist brand was available with high awareness, positive image.
Problem:
Need to formulate new product for competitive advantage . Requires reliable sourcing.
Solution:
New product development based on two key elements
1) fruit packed in juice
2) packaging
Winning Tactics:
Licensed Sunkist brand
Worked with Costco for product development partnership. Invested in fully-vetted global supply.
Outcome:
2 years, reached 100% distribution in all Costco Clubs. Del Monte was delisted, Sunkist reached $20M in year two. Sundia brands acquired the brand and the company.
RE-BRANDING CASE
Market Situation:
Schlage Door Lock Company was a long standing, but eroding professional locksmith and commercial brand. Huge DIY market including Home Depot and Lowe’s begging for professional brands.
Problem:
Schlage had minimal consumer branding programs and limited go-to-market know-how. How to move to retail without abandoning the Professional base ?
Solution:
Convince parent company, Ingersoll-Rand to fully invest in a brand overhaul and go-to-market organization
Winning Tactics:
Target Home Depot as the primary national DIY partner, re-package for a DIY shelf, multi-million dollar demand generation Cable TV and national print investments.
Outcome:
Won vendor of the year at Home Depot Year 2 .Lowe’s asked for similar program. Then 2300 plus DIY stores had Schlage as anchor brand , adding nearly $60MM to top line in two years.
INNOVATION CASE
Market Situation:
Garage storage and cabinetry were emerging as a national DIY category at Home Depot and Lowe’s, while an installation service industry was forming. No affordable priced products were available in a ready-to-assemble format for DIYers.
Problem:
Very few RTA Manufacturers could match-high volume of large chains. No existing surface technologies could withstand the demand of garage environment
Solution:
Develop a proprietary surface finish solution via licensing and a go-to-market-plan for national DIY and other channels.
Winning Tactics:
License Rhino Linings® as a known garage brand ( truck bed liners) , develop a line of seven sku’s . Win line reviews and install tests at Lowe’s and Costco.
Outcome:
Rollout to two regions of Lowe’s and twenty store test at Costco year one. Reached $8MM in sales at its peak.
SERVICE CASE
Market Situation:
Country Insurance and Financial Services was Illinois-only farm bureau, full-line insurance company.
Problem:
Operated mostly rural markets, farm owners. Couldn’t scale the business
Solution:
Expand Geography and sales team
Winning Tactics:
Build out agent marcomm plans and agent development program base in Chicago and add adjacent states coverage. Deploy research,
Outcome:
Country now has expanded to 22 states , made several acquisitions and surpassed $3B revenues.
NPD CASE
Market Situation:
US public Education adopted iPads and Google’s Chromebook platforms to transform classroom learning starting in 2014 . Hardware manufacturers had no protective solutions against students daily abuse/accidents. Industry needed a global platform
Problem:
Hardware manufacturers licensed Google Chrome and Apple iPad platforms, but all had different specifications for devices. No universal designs existed
Solution:
Leverage Targus’ know how with Google and Apple to gain hardware device specs
Winning Tactics:
License Google Chrome® and Apple® Made-For–Ipad ( MFI), Develop universal protective case designs, push product into specialty EDU Distribution channels in US , CANADA, UK
Outcome:
Grew category to $14MM in year three in the US , became one category-leading brand in EDU space
Market Situation:
US public Education adopted iPads and Google’s Chromebook platforms to transform classroom learning starting in 2014 . Hardware manufacturers had no protective solutions against students daily abuse/accidents. Industry needed a global platform
Problem:
Hardware manufacturers licensed Google Chrome and Apple iPad platforms, but all had different specifications for devices. No universal designs existed
Solution:
Leverage Targus’ know how with Google and Apple to gain hardware device specs
Winning Tactics:
License Google Chrome® and Apple® Made-For–Ipad ( MFI), Develop universal protective case designs, push product into specialty EDU Distribution channels in US , CANADA, UK
Outcome:
Grew category to $14MM in year three in the US, became one category-leading brand in EDU space
SHELF MANAGEMENT CASE
Market Situation:
Staples was suffering shrinking margins and poor inventory turns for PC Accessories. It was reliant on consignment inventory model and had confused its offering with excess brands and no coherent category destination story
Problem:
Required consolidation of offering to improve metrics/defend shelf space. POS Investment limited due to consignment inventory costs.
Solution:
Re-map the PC accessories category, fill gaps and source higher margin products.
Winning Tactics:
Targus partnered with the retailer to share critical volume information, use global sourcing to quickly, package to Targus brand. Execute in less than 90 days.
Outcome:
Targus earned twelve new skus, and gained 4 four feet of retail space in over 1500 stores. New terms increased cash flow, reduced working capital and grew sell through.
Product Platform Case
Market Situation:
In late 90’s, Small work vehicle market was emerging , dominated by John Deere – Gator brand. Club Car major golf car vehicle producer saw large space to compete and had a global distribution system to leverage
Problem:
How could Club Car convert its golf industry reputation to serve more rugged work market? Significant product development and branding challenge
Solution:
Leverage high volume chassis production and develop a brand fitting for the work/farm/sport markets
Winning Tactics:
Sub-brand XRT, develop multiple models and implements/accessories to serve a wide range of users and distribution models. Develop separate sales team and marketing approach for new platform
Outcome:
US rollout gained over 75% distribution by year 2, global distribution in twenty countries. XRT surpassed $25M revenue, elevated over company margin and reputation
