SIMA & BRA Industry Bootcamp: Manufacturers Presentation

kailee bradstreet

• March 20 2009
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Charlie Cotton, Quiksilver’s v.p. of merchandising, discusses “Getting Products Sold”

On the manufacturers side of Thursday’s SIMA and BRA Industry Bootcamp, presenters emphasized finding solutions to make the best use of tradeshow budgets and connecting to customers to generate sales. Quiksilver’s V.P. of Merchandising Charlie Cotton was the first to take the podium, and focused on a simple but critical concept: The most important way manufacturers can truly understand how to sell product is to first understand the customer.

“I’m going to harp on the customer, I’m sorry, but I think it’s really important to get back to the basics and get back to what got this industry started,” Cotton said. “Successful businesses are still run by people directly involved with the customer.”‘

According to Cotton, manufacturers as well as reps and designers should concentrate on getting out of the office and onto the sales floor to personally find out what the customer wants. In addition, they should have a good knowledge of retail math so the desired product is always in stock and available to the customer, says Cotton.

Beyond gathering feedback from customers, Cotton also encouraged manufacturers to develop close relationships with retailers during the sell-in process to help properly convey their brand’s story. The “Sock-ology” theory, a product placement strategy that creates attention around one particular product classification instead of a number of classifications on one fixture, is also a method of creating effective “buy response” merchandising statements, according to Cotton. Other examples of this that are working for some of Quiksilver’s accounts are well-organized boardshort walls and emphasizing product adjacency to generate multiple sales, he said.

Here are Charlie’s Top Six Slogans for Manufacturers:

1.If you have only price to sell, you have no story to tell.

2. Tell the brand story well at retail, and the product and the brand will become more desirable.

3. You must know how many units to sell to determine how much inventory to buy.

4. Getting market share is war - addressing the details wins the battles.

5. You must understand the customer to sell more product.

6. Energy sells merchandise - you and your company’s energy collectively.

Kevin Flanagan encourages manufacturers to take advantage of tradshow tips.

Taking the floor next was Kevin Flanagan, Reef’s V.P. of marketing and former ASR show director, joined by a panel of experts to discuss how to maximize spending for tradeshows in a down economy. Panelists included Leonard Fiedorowicz, sales and marketing manager at Volcom, Reef’s Tradeshow and Instore Manager Jake Barret and O’Neill’s Instore/Tradeshow Manager Wendell Wong.

Although an increasing amount of manufacturers made the choice to forgo trade shows this season, Flanagan reinforced the importance of attendance and the panelists each listed at least a dozen ways to be more cost efficient while planning and executing tradeshow setup.

Here’s a master list of ideas drawn from each panelist’s presentation and comments from other industry members. Flanagan encouraged people to use the list of generated ideas as a guideline to prepare for their company’s next tradeshow.

Panelists from left to right: Jake Barret, Leonard Fiedorowicz and Wendell Wong.

- Do your research on freight companies. The cheaper trucking company might not pay off in the long run due to multiple trips and drivers who aren’t as willing to go the extra mile.

- Take advantage of special offers and discounts that apply to brands who have all their paperwork in on time. Pay attention to due dates and be sure to hit them!

- “Don’t be afraid to cut laborers who are lagging,” Wong says. “You have to remember that you are paying them.”

- Utilize the free security lock up for your booth once it’s set up on the tradeshow floor. Product theft is one of the most prevalent problems seen on the tradeshow floor.

- Keep all your paperwork on hand at the tradeshow pertaining to contracts for electrical work, construction, and other booth setup costs. “If it’s your word against theirs, nine out of ten times they are going to win,” says Wong.

- Make sure to double check all bills (preferably before signing off on anything at the show) to make sure that you are getting charged the correct amount.

- Widen hotel reservations for staff to accommodate additional people and longer stays just in case, because it’s easier to book more and cancel then scramble at the last minute. Be sure you know the last possible date to cancel these without being charged.

- Draw up a plan for staff of what your booth space will look like on the tradeshow floor. Give construction crews a detailed map of how to setup the booth, and make sure to include the direction the booth should be facing in the space.

-”Use us as a leverage partner,” Surf Expo Show Director Roy Turner says of tradeshow administration. “If someone on the floor is giving you a hard time, come find us.”