CPG Insiders

On this episode, Mark and Robb welcome master broker David Biernbaum back to the show to discuss the timing of getting your product onto retail shelves. They explore a number of practical recommendations on how to impress buyers during your meeting, as well as the technicalities of what to expect once you have a contract with a retailer.  

As a manufacturer in the CPG industry, it always helps to have a broker working with you who understands the business already. If you’re lucky enough to get a meeting with a retail buyer, you have to remember that you are selling to the buyer, not to the consumer. Be prepared to explain how you’ll get consumers into the store, but the buyer needs to quickly understand that going into business with you will be worth it for them. 

David brings a wealth of advice and warnings about the process of getting into retail, offering crucial insights you won’t want to miss.

About the guest:

David Biernbaum is an acclaimed consumer products and retail consumer goods strategist, consultant, and master broker of national retail sales, specializing in the health and wellness space, and driving success through a loyal network of independent brokers nationwide. Since 1977, David and his teams have brought success to more than 200 highly successful consumer brands by providing hands-on expertise and personal passion and energy, to help consumer goods clients build brands and increase retail sales and profits, without the “big agency” overhead and bureaucracy. 

In addition, David is also an investor and board member who is always on the lookout for the next innovation, or brand. He is a “BrainTrust” panelist and blogger on RetailWire.com, a guest editor for CPG Trade Media, and a speaker on consumer goods and retail topics who is frequently quoted in Forbes, CNBC and in industry trade publications.

In 2010, David founded “Consumer Goods & Retail Professionals”, a LinkedIn group for members to share industry information, news, referrals and friendship that now has more than 70,000 connections. David resides in suburban St. Louis and is a devoted fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues, as well as the Tigers of the University of Missouri-Columbia, his alma mater.

Visit his website, http://biernbaum.com/, and follow him on Twitter: @davidbiernbaum.

On this episode, Mark and Robb welcome Amanda Igrisan, Social Media Director at Jekyll & Hyde, to discuss the ins and outs of social media marketing.

They talk about how to best use social media, how to handle negative comments and why social media marketing is more than just putting content out for people to see. Social media is a good place for brands to develop their personality, but you also need to build an audience. Amanda discusses some elements of achieving this successfully.

They talk through the various major platforms and how they differ, discuss the useful data you can learn from a social media audience, and cover some of the common marketing misconceptions about social media campaigns.

To contact Jekyll & Hyde, visit https://jekyllhydeagency.com/ or call 800.500.4210.

Walmart represents a huge opportunity for CPG brands to grow exponentially. To explore the possibilities, Mark is joined by Chad Bugos, co-founder and CEO of Infinity Worlds Inc. The company is a dedicated team of manufacturer brokers that specialize in Walmart distribution for their clients.

On the show, Mark and Chad discuss the kinds of products, brands and clients that Infinity Worlds partners with to help present to Walmart buyers. Chad talks about how Walmart differs from other types of retailers, considering the challenges and benefits that come with getting on a Walmart shelf.

Chad offers some advice for being prepared for Walmart consideration, what to anticipate and provide for a presentation to Walmart, how to use Retail Link as a great resource once your product is in Walmart and more. He offers invaluable insider information that is useful to CPG brands seeking a place at Walmart and those who are already there. 

Special Guest:

Chad Bugos’s Road to Retail was a little unconventional. After graduating from the University of Iowa Pharmacy program and later receiving his MBA, Chad worked as a Walmart pharmacist, then moved into Pharmacy Operations as a Regional manager before eventually landing at the Walmart Home Office as a senior buyer. He was known to his suppliers as a very strategic buyer, possessing great vision for where to take his categories to maximize the most gain. 

As Co-Founder and CEO of Infinity Worlds Inc, Chad believes in collaboration and open communication with his team and his clients to realize the common goal of maximizing sales. Well-respected within the Walmart walls, Chad is able to forge and build relationships based on his understanding of how Walmart thinks and what Walmart needs in order to serve the needs of the end consumer. Chad’s love of merchandise, searching for truly inspiring products and companies, and then helping those companies succeed is what he loves most about his job. When he is able to disengage long enough to get in some personal time, since he is an avid sportsman, you will find him happily in a deer stand or a duck blind.

Contact Infinity Worlds, Inc:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (479) 250.0915 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infinity-worlds-inc./about/

To contact Jekyll & Hyde, visit https://jekyllhydeagency.com/ or call 800.500.4210.

On this episode, we welcome Jekyll & Hyde’s Digital Media Director, Cameron Solu, to provide an overview of digital media marketing. Mark, Robb and Cameron cover tactics such as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), display ads, social media sponsored ads, retargeting campaigns and more.

They talk about types of targeting that can be done on different platforms, the type of media that appeals to users on those platforms and some different strategies across devices.

Also, they cover the strategy behind content marketing based on user behaviors, exploring tried and true tactics on the path that can convert someone in your targeted audience into a buyer. It’s crucial to understand your audience to appropriately market to them online.

Digital has to be a part of your ad campaign in this day and age, but it has to be done intelligently and efficiently to be successful.

Mark and Robb are joined by J&H’s Director of Traditional Media, Jeff Peterman. They discuss the reach of different types of media, including which are usually best for CPG products. They cover the value of recency in planning media and how it can offset the need for frequency.

They compare different formats and lengths of commercials on tv, radio and podcasts and why you would choose one for your product’s advertising.

They also explain why print is not dead, but they consider how changing trends in media consumption mean advertisers must adapt to capturing their modern audiences.

Mark and Robb explore the factors that determine how much you should spend on your advertising campaign, breaking down share of voice, share of market, frequency and more. They discuss why the category in which your product sells can make such an impact, plus strategies that can help tackle a greater share for your campaigns.

Mark lists what he would discuss with a client who comes to him asking about advertising budgets. They also cover some figures presented by Neilsen about advertising success and some common budget problems that can cause a campaign to fail.

Consultant and Master Broker David Biernbaum joins Mark and Robb on the podcast to discuss what a company should know before meeting with retail buyers. They go through steps in the process of getting a product on a retail shelf, exploring some of the thinking behind the store-level planning that determines whether or not a product will be approved. Category reviews at retail stores are major endeavors that any brand needs to be well-prepared for.

Smaller products and companies tend to be the higher margin products, with better innovation, but they’re still competing against the name recognition of big brands. Retail buyers are risk-avoidant, so a brand must make it clear that the risk for the retailer would be not adding your product to their shelves.

They explain the difference between brokers and master brokers and why brands need them to get into retail.

About the guest:

David Biernbaum is an acclaimed consumer products and retail consumer goods strategist, consultant, and master broker of national retail sales, specializing in the health and wellness space, and driving success through a loyal network of independent brokers nationwide. Since 1977, David and his teams have brought success to more than 200 highly successful consumer brands by providing hands-on expertise and personal passion and energy, to help consumer goods clients build brands and increase retail sales and profits, without the “big agency” overhead and bureaucracy.

In addition, David is also an investor and board member who is always on the lookout for the next innovation, or brand. He is a “BrainTrust” panelist and blogger on RetailWire.com, a guest editor for CPG Trade Media, and a speaker on consumer goods and retail topics who is frequently quoted in Forbes, CNBC and in industry trade publications.

In 2010, David founded “Consumer Goods & Retail Professionals”, a LinkedIn group for members to share industry information, news, referrals and friendship that now has more than 70,000 connections. David resides in suburban St. Louis and is a devoted fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues, as well as the Tigers of the University of Missouri-Columbia, his alma mater.

Visit his website, http://biernbaum.com/, and follow him on Twitter: @davidbiernbaum.

Mark Young and Robb Taylor explain why a CPG product needs both a paid search campaign and an organic search strategy in their overall digital marketing strategy. They talk through typical consumer behavior that makes it important for your product to show up at the top of their search.

They cover the differences between intent terms, conquest terms and consideration terms and how they can be used to support your advertising campaigns. 

Mark Young and Robb Taylor explain the strategy of offering premium-priced products to consumers compared to presenting yourself as a low-price leader. They explore the differences for your company, your product and the retailers where you want to earn shelf space.

Mark Young and Robb Taylor of Jekyll & Hyde Advertising expand on the difference between brand building and increasing sales for CPG companies. They explain what brand awareness, unaided brand awareness and top-of-mind awareness mean, in terms of measuring success – and what can make these figures nearly irrelevant.

They offer insight on what a brand really needs to do in order to shape how consumers experience the brand.