Camille Schuster (Ph.D. from The Ohio State University) is currently a Full Professor of Marketing and International Business at California State University San Marcos and President of Global Collaborations, Inc. Dr. Schuster has conducted seminars and worked with over 60 companies in more than 30 countries around the world.
Dr. Schuster has also taught at Xavier University, Arizona State University, Garvin School of International Business (Thunderbird), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Indiana University Northwest.
Dr. Schuster co-authored a book entitled, Global Business: Planning for Sales and Negotiations, with Michael Copeland from Procter & Gamble. She has co-authored a book entitled, The Consumer . . . Or Else! with Don Dufek, retired senior vice president and officer of The Kroger Company. A book entitled, The Rise of Consumer Power: Adopting the Right Marketing Communication Strategies was published in Singapore. Dr. Schuster has authored over 30 articles in professional and academic publications.
As the number of pet owners increases the purchases of pet products will increase. As the disposable income of pet owners increases, the purchases of pet products will increase. At some point these conditions will plateau but, in the short term, sales of pet products will increase.
Will 5G bring the tech benefits that consumers and marketers expect?
The main benefits of 5G have not been created - those enhanced consumer experiences. The tangible benefit now is faster speed. Those who are downloading a lot of material are excited about that benefit. Without other tangible benefits those who do not download or stream a lot may not see additional speed as something to be excited about.
Since so many of Walmart’s consumers have children, the market for the product would be there. Since so many of the families shopping at Walmart are on a budget, the price of the new tablet will need to be very low to entice these shoppers to purchase. Do these shoppers want their children spending time on a tablet? If yes, there is a market. If no, then the sales will be very low.
If the consumers are going to have a variety of responsibilities, such as cleaning up spills, processing refunds, or cart runs so that they may not even be in position at the front of the store, why not keep a greeter and at least one consumer host. There may be a need for more than one consumers since there are long lines at customer service for returns at time. Why is there a need to eliminate the greeters?
Large CPG brands have the advantage of name recognition with consumers, established relationships with channel members, and money for research. However, established processes also can limit new approaches to research, consumer understanding, integration of new technology, and speed. Companies need to find a way to balance innovation and sound management. J&J’s approach appears to focus on several areas of innovation such as product development, marketing, packaging or work processes. This is a lot of innovation affecting many parts of the company to manage. As such, it is an interesting approach to watch.
Does new retail need a new prototype?
Are the modules just a set of categories designed for small, medium, and large stores or are the modules uniques to each store? If they are the same groups of categories, the problem is not addressed. Where is the module that is unique to a specific store? The time has come for innovation that can accommodate different geographies, consumer tastes, and experiences. Modules of the same products is not flexible enough. A contest to see which retailer can come up with the most creative approach is intriguing.
What does innovation mean to retailers and brands?
Not many retailers have someone (or a team of people) assigned to monitor retail changes across the globe, changing consumer tastes, and changing marketplace conditions. As a result, retailers often respond to changes after they occur and, with long lead times, appear to be following changes rather than moving with them. While changes in this environment may be innovative for the retailer, they are not perceived as innovative to consumers. Constant experimentation and quick changes with the marketplace are required for a retailer or brand to be considered innovative.
Changing the format of some stores, observing results, and making changes in more similar stores is a sound approach to expansion. The caveat is that if and when changes are made to stores in markets that are not similar or with different consumers, the rollout is unpredictable because results do not transfer when stores are different. In that case, it is just continued experimentation.
What will it take to make department stores relevant again?
Being nimble, experimenting, and constantly changing are requirements for today’s marketplace. There is no one formula for success. There is no formula that will work for a long time. With experimentation that occurs often and quickly, retailers can identify changing consumer trends, different geographic preferences, technology use, and respond accordingly. Creating pop-up stores to do this is relatively easy. For success across established stores, purchasing, logistics, and marketing departments need to be nimble and adaptable to capitalize and adapt to changes.
This is a great example of the fragmented consumer market. Of course Santa Claus can have different personas - Santa already has lots of variations around the world. Now Santa may vary based upon consumer groups with different world views -- bikers, hipsters, traditionalists! etc. -- this is beginning to sound like a marketing research project report. With different Santas appealing to different consumer groups, brands can pick and choose which Santa appeals to which target segment and we continue to be more divided.
Should the Marlboro Man be vaping?
I find this effort confusing. If nicotine is the addicting and dangerous substance, how does eliminating tobacco solve the problem when the alternative uses nicotine? Changing the delivery system does not eliminate the problem. Altria is changing the delivery system but is selling the same product -- addiction to nicotine. The efforts to control or limit the new delivery system are ramping up. How has Altria changed their position from the old Philip Morris position of selling nicotine?
Amazon Prime offers a variety of benefits and different benefits have priority for individual customers. In addition, delivery from third parties is not under the same control as delivery from Amazon warehouses. Given the number of people using Prime, the number of items that can be purchased, and the variety of customer locations, logistics is a complicated issue. All of this means Amazon has an increasingly difficult time keeping its promise and customers care about the promise not the difficulties Amazon faces. As with any company, growth creates a challenge in terms of living up to its promises. For a company built on the premise of meeting customer needs this is a significant issue for them to resolve.
This is an interesting way of integrating new technology, offering a unique experience, exposing consumers to new technology, and increasing in-store traffic for Joann. For Glowforge the partnership provides more exposure for their technology. Great idea.
The Cost Plus ad was a cute story with a clever twist with the boy’s solution of a cookie jar. However, there was no real link with Cost Plus and I agree with Anne about the mom being uninvolved and unfeeling about the concern. The Meijier ad was cute but generic until the end. Santa’s footsteps, and the tag line “believe, we’ve got you covered for everything else” was a clever reason for shopping at Meijer. So my vote goes to Meijer.
Why are holiday gift returns spiking before Christmas this year?
There are several reasons for increased and earlier returns: difficulty in determining colors because of the differences in monitors, difficulty determining sizes because of the inability to try things on, earlier sales before Black Friday, a longer sales period over the Thanksgiving period, and people opening gifts when they receive them rather than waiting Christmas. For all these reasons consumers prefer shopping with retailers that have easy return policies. Because online shopping is increasing, returns will also increase. Increased online shopping, consumer expectations, and increased shipping prices all put pressure on retailers in the area of inventory management, quick shipping, and costs. Balancing the contradictions continues to provide a challenge for manufacturers and retailers.