October 2010
Loblaw Launches ‘Recipe To Riches’ To Fuel President’s Choice Innovation
Sunday, October 23rd, 2011Tweet Canadian primetime is about to be transformed with a new exciting and competitive cooking reality show. This week, we saw the debut episode of Recipe To Riches, which follows sixteen contestants on a quest to develop the best recipes in seven different categories. As the sponsor of the show, Loblaw is about to enter [...]
AMA – The Grinch That Tried to Steal Halloween
Sunday, October 31st, 2010Tweet I was standing in-line at Safeway this morning and saw a great display of Cadbury Halloween treats stacked right at the checkout. I was particularly interested by Cadbury’s partnership with UNICEF, which was clearly marked on all packages of mini-Halloween treats. I thought to myself “What a great fit!”, especially given that UNICEF probably [...]
QR Codes – The Next Generation of In-Store Communication
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010Tweet To restate the obvious, mobile technology has changed our world forever. We live in a wired world where dinner party questions are answered by Google or Wikipedia instead of through lively debate. We demand information immediately. Shoppers are also using on-line and mobile tools to help them gather information to help them make decisions [...]
Dollar Store Battle in Canada Heats Up
Sunday, October 17th, 2010Tweet You may have missed the story this week (maybe because the deal was announced on Thanksgiving Monday), but the dollar store market in Canada is set to get another boost through increased competition for channel leader Dollarama. The new competition comes from south of the border, with US operator Dollar Tree purchasing the Vancouver-based, [...]
Halal Foods – A Growing Opportunity for Canadian Retailers / Brands
Sunday, October 10th, 2010Tweet This week, the Canadian division of Campbell Soup Co. was portrayed negatively in the American blogosphere for its launch of a line of ten Halal Soups targeted at Muslim consumers who have specific dietary requirements. The blogosphere is wrong. In fact, Campbell Canada is doing something that more of us should be thinking about [...]
Wal-mart Looks To Africa for Growth
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Tweet This past Monday, it was reported that Wal-mart will enter the African market through the purchase of Massmart, a leading South African retailer with 290 stores in 13 countries on the continent. This is not a total shock, as rumours have been swirling for a while now about Wal-mart’s move into the African market. [...]
Wal-mart / P&G Family Movie Collaboration Drives Sales
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Tweet I wrote a post several months ago about a unique project where Wal-mart and P&G had partnered to create feature length family movies for television. The movies featured both Wal-mart and P&G product placements and exclusive advertisements for both companies. An Advertising Age article this week gives a good post-analysis of the program and [...]
Using Social Media to Boost Your Promo Sales
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Tweet With the release of “The Social Network” this week – I thought I would jump on the Social Media bandwagon with a tip that might help you boost your sales by leveraging the power of the Internet. I have been noticing sites like SimplyFrugal.ca, Websaver.ca and Save.ca; which are on-line communities for bargain hunters [...]
CPG Firms Go Direct To Consumers
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Tweet I have noticed an emerging trend of CPG suppliers in Canada starting to sell direct to consumers through their own websites – an interesting development. The first example is from Johnson & Johnson, who has launched Neutrogena Skin ID, a line of skin care products that are tailored specifically to each consumer based on [...]
Argopur’s Premium In-Flight Sampling
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010Tweet Friday night on the way home from Montreal, I used my last Air Canada upgrade of the year. It was a welcome treat after a long week and the snack served on the way to Toronto was a great cheese plate – one of my favorites. On the tray, I found the card pictured [...]
