2008 Advanced Learning Sessions

Wednesday, April 16, 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Visual Solutions to Marketing Problems: From Consumer Insights to the Retail Floor

Join Stephen J. Hoch, Don Hootstein and other senior Proteus design colleagues as they demonstrate how to take consumer, brand and market insights and translate them into visual solutions to support in-store marketing on the retail floor.

In this half-day interactive workshop, you’ll obtain a deep understanding of what drives consumer behavior to influence brand, product and in-store marketing design. Workshop includes:

Consumer Dynamics Analysis & Brainstorm: Consumer behavior is constantly changing. Consumers are smarter, more brand conscious, more cynical and opportunistic, controlling, busy, mobile, greener and organic. Consumer notions of product desirability and quality continually change to adapt to new lifestyles. This opening section will explore how consumer behavioral changes in response to societal and market pressures can influence brand and product innovation.

Interactive Group Design Exercise: How can we use consumer, brand and market insights to inform and drive the marketing, product and merchandising design process? Seminar participants will break into groups and design a simple product using the tools for the "Consumer Archetype Visualization" process.

Case Studies: Engage in three in-depth case studies illustrating how to translate consumer and market insights into brand strategy and product design. Then develop merchandising and packaging to communicate with the consumer trends: the environmentally conscious customer; the time-starved customer looking for convenience and quality; and the self-service customer who needs in-store education.

Wednesday, April 16, 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Best Practices in Environmental Sustainability

Join industry experts in a half-day symposium on how retail suppliers can adopt sustainability practices that may be critical to their future survival. A timely and invaluable event for any brand or agency professional involved in merchandising, packaging and distribution.

Buildings & Global Warming

Retailers are ideally positioned to significantly impact efforts toward sustainable development. Climate change, waste production, resource depletion and unhealthy environments are all problems we must tackle to achieve natural and economic harmony. Momentum will develop when retailers with multiple buildings embrace sustainable principles. O’Donnell, who has been trained by former Vice President Al Gore as one of his “1,000” presenters of “An Inconvenient Truth,” presents basic sustainable design strategies, explains how they can be implemented and showcases examples of companies who are excellent role models. Kevin will:

• Identify the three key issues retailers must address in order to think sustainably
• Describe basic strategies and inventory a sampling of products, methods and practices that contribute to sustainable design and an overall green approach
• Recognize companies that are making a significant contribution to green design, incorporating sustainable architecture as an integral part of their business plan and are good role models to watch

Managing the Changing Face at Wal-Mart– and the Tools to put it in the Bag

All retail experts agree: When it comes to sustainability, Wal-Mart sets the agenda, so a clear understanding of the company’s evolving goals, practices and policies is essential. Kerry Bailey is the Wal-Mart expert at The Retail Integration Institute and a member of Wal-Mart’s Supplier Value Network in P-O-P, package development and graphic printing. The Supplier Value Network is a group of sustainable suppliers that were chosen by Wal-Mart to participate in the initial launch of its sustainability efforts by providing research, support, innovation and input. Bailey has unique insight into Wal-Mart’s environmental sustainability initiatives. Attendees will:

• Study the Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club Packaging Scorecard, a system that evaluates and rates 60,000 suppliers on their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, landfill waste and range of supply chain costs
• Understand the steps needed to integrate design-savings calculations into production process techniques
• Gain insight into how Wal-Mart’s initiatives will affect in-store marketing opportunities over the next five years

Sustainability From the Packaging Perspective

Adopting sustainability practices has gone from being a nice idea to a mandate. While all manufacturing businesses have an interest in “going green,” urgency within the packaging industry has increased due to directives from mega-retailers such as Wal-Mart. This sustainability mandate focuses on the complete lifecycle of product packaging – from design, material choice and machinery use, through distribution and, ultimately, to recycling. The goal is to maximize cost-effectiveness while minimizing the environmental impact. Tom will:

• Provide an understanding of sustainability from the packaging perspective and deliver insight into ways suppliers and end-users are working together to achieve sustainability goals
• Explore the various definitions of sustainability and present examples of successful sustainability application
• Discuss data from a sustainability study conducted by PMMI and research consulting firm Jacobs Jenner & Kent

Being a ‘Green Retailing’ Pioneer

In early 2006, Harbor Industries formed a cross-functional Green Team to help the company, which manufactures displays and fixtures, implement changes in processes that would positively impact the environment. Its first project, replacing metal halide light fixtures in the plant, saved enough electricity to power 100 homes. The team then created a recycling program that has diverted over 600,000 pounds of manufacturing waste from a landfill to a recycling center. From there, they’ve initiated several programs ranging from employee education and energy conservation to satellite-controlled sprinkler heads and material impact studies. Learn:

• What sustainability means from a design and manufacturing perspective
• How to organize a cross-functional Green Team that can have a positive impact on the “Triple Bottom Line”
• How to monitor suppliers to find the latest ideas in eco-friendly materials