Prepare for Upcoming Brand Extensions

Retailing excitement has been in shorter supply as manufacturers trimmed product introductions. The word is that this is changing in 2010, at least for retailers who sell consumer packaged goods (CPGs). Companies like Procter & Gamble, Energizer, Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex, Scott, Depends), Unilever (Lipton, Dove, Cif), and Reckitt Benckiser (Lysol, Vanish, Clearasil) are each promising new offerings will come out next year. The companies also say they'll provide ample marketing support for the rollouts.
     Take steps so your business can use the opportunities:

• Assess the performance of your house brands. Industry gurus are saying CPG marketers are acting from fear about consumers moving towards house brands at the expense of market share for the name brands. You'll almost certainly want to keep at least some house brands in your merchandise mix. Determine which ones you'll be replacing because of factors like inadequate sales performance, inadequate product quality, or signs of consumer boredom.
• Prepare your customers for the product improvements. Some of the new products will be incremental improvements to what you currently carry. For instance, Energizer is expected to roll out an innovative Schick shaving system. When you know what's coming, start talking about the distinctive features of the new products.
• Prepare for the brand extensions. The real driver of customer excitement will be the brand extensions—a well-known brand name on a product line not previously sold under that brand name by your store. As soon as you learn what sorts of products are on the horizon for you to sell, create ways to arouse shopper enthusiasm about the product categories. If you don't currently sell shavers, but would like to try selling the Schick entry, find ways to get people thinking about your store as the shaving place and as having expertise about the Schick brand.