Up to the minute Twitter updates for this week’s Demand Data Analytics Conference – available all week www.twitter.com/dataalchemy.
The entire Kenosia team is at the 2009 Demand Analytics Conference here in New Orleans, Louisiana. This morning, there was a huge announcement at today’s Intelligence Unleashed conference. As DataAlchemy enters a new era of technology, it’s evolution was necessary. The new brand – alqemyiQ, will transform intelligence – creating more profits for Kenosia’s customers. After the conclusion of CEO, Ron Bienvenu’s presentation on mobility and demand data, attendees were presented with the vision for the new alqemyiQ and were given gift bags with alqemyiQ promotional material. DataAlchemy Evolved will help revolutionize the process of analytics with faster data outputs due to its new messaging, staging and DSR layer among other emerging technologies it intends to innovate.
For more details visit Kenosia’s Conference Web site at: http://www.kenosia.com. You can register online or email palma@process.com for more details.
Must Know Category Management Events of 2009-2010
Sales managers, retail management personnel and category managers are desirable careers; however, to compete for these positions, it is essential that professionals and hopefuls stay up to date on the latest industry news. Here are some of the most important conferences remaining in 2009 and two worthwhile events for the beginning of 2010.
See if you should attend the next event by reviewing six of the most important events coming up…read more
Category management strategies are commonplace for most businesses in the retail and manufacturing industries. The Partnering Group and IDG defines an eight (8) step process for creating tactical plans for successful category management. Creating tactical plans can improve the effectiveness of a category manager’s role in the retail environment, ensuring that consumers’ demands are continually met or exceeded at the point-of-sale. The eight steps are:
Creating an effective data management strategy
Category management strategies are commonplace for most businesses in the retail and manufacturing industries. The Partnering Group and IDG defines an eight (8) step process for creating tactical plans for successful category management. Creating tactical plans can improve the effectiveness of a category manager’s role in the retail environment, ensuring that consumers’ demands are continually met or exceeded at the point-of-sale.
According to Peter Drucker (1985), “The business has two and only these two basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation both produce results, all the rest are costs.” Unfortunately, somehow the two have become separated. In 2010, major changes are taking place that every category manager, brand manager and demand planner should embrace. The following marketing and innovation trends are essential to any organization implementing competitive advantage strategies:
A recent quote from Gartner Research VP Dale Hagemeyer reported that “81% of the manufacturers…said they want more category captain spots… ironically, though, 57% said there [are] not enough people to interpret the results and be able to make recommendations.”
This shows the difficulty that many category management professionals face. There is not a standardized educational program for creating effective category captains. Unfortunately, even books are less than stellar when it comes to managing category growth. Data management plans, advice and training for category managers are obviously needed if managers intend on pursuing career advancement.
Owning the market in your category sounds like nirvana. SoftSheen-Carson is the No. 1 manufacturer of ethnic hair and skin care products in the world with a 20 percent share of its category in the United States, and No. 1 in the category in South Africa and key European markets. The unique story behind SoftSheen-Carson is that 45 percent of its products are sold in barber shops, beauty salons and beauty supply stores — frequently mom-and-pop shops — and only 55 percent is sold at traditional consumer goods (CG) channels. The former is known for being a difficult locale to collect point-of-sale (POS) data — leading to challenges for the brand.
Insight into the Future of Category Management
In today’s market, there are more disparate data sources than ever. So, how does a category manager gain a strong position in any one category over its competitors? The short answer is demand data management. Not only will category managers have to manage more sources of data, but more data is now being collected on consumer behavior and product performance than ever before. Managers have to strategically align the brands values with what consumers want – and they have to do it faster and better than the competition. To complicate things