The Brand Man Speaks

Martha Stewart partners with J. C. Penney to expand brand and help shore up weak sales at retailer

Martha Stewart proves if your brand is targeted right and the core brand essence is compelling enough it can appeal to a broad spectrum of Americans across socio-economic levels.

Stewart is partnering this time with J. C. Penney for the development of mini Martha Stewart boutiques inside the lagging retailer's stores nationwide. Penney has taken nearly a 17% stake in Martha Stewart's public company. For Penney's CEO Ron Johnson sees this co-branded venture as a way to increase the retailers exposure and importance as he tries to get the company back on its feet. Penney's is doing poorly relative to Macys and other traditional department store entities. Johnson recently took over the helm of Penney's after notable tentures at both Target and Apple where he developed the wildly successful Apple retail concept.

Stewart will provide new exclusive products for her shop in shop concept that will not directly compete with her current products sold at Macys, Home Depot and PetSmart. Staffers will be exclusive to Stewart's mini stores to ensure the brand message stays on target.

Although Stewart's empire has taken a big hit in the past few years because it is so advertising dependant (her magazine is a big part of her empire), her alliances continue to prove she has staying power and remains one of the iconic brands of the past several decades especially given her stint away from the business for illegal stock transactions followed by jail time.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Risks of Celebrity Branding: Dior dumps Sharon Stone in China over "karma" statement

Companies, especially luxury goods manufacturers and retailers, all over the world turn to celebrities to promote their products especially fashion and cosmetic brands believing the cache of the celebrity endorser will enhance consumer awareness and sales.

This can be a very successful marketing tactic but it can also cause havoc if the celebrity's behavior or statements become problematic or downright damaging to the brand they are promoting.

Sharon Stone who has been a spokesman for Dior is no stranger to taboo subjects feeling comfortable speaking her mind in some cases carelessly around the globe. This past week the "Basic Instinct" star was quoted at the Cannes Film Festival as saying that "karma" might explain the massive earthquake in China given the Chinese government's poor treatment of people in Tibet. The Chinese exploded in anger over the statement. Additionally, many people around the world felt that the statement was extremely insensitive to the millions of Chinese people who were impacted by the quake who have nothing to do with the government and whose lives are forever changed by this disaster.

From a global business perspective, China is the fastest growing luxury-goods market on the planet and is helping save the financial futures of many top brands that have seen sales plummet in the US with the recession economy.

Christian Dior, a French fashion house, has been using Sharon Stone for quite some time to promote its cosmetics brands around the world. Once Stone made her negative statement against the Chinese Dior dropped Stone immediately fearing a backlash against the brand. Dior a part of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is one of several luxury brands that are taking hits for their use of celebrities who say negative things about the Chinese government.

Stone will be used in Dior ads outside of China for the moment but it is likely they might drop her altogether to appease the Chinese. A recent headline in a Chinese newspaper read, "Sharon Stone Discarded". Stone has apologized but the Chinese are known not to quickly accept such apologies.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Pet food companies settle legal disputes over poisoned food

The Associated Press has released an announcement indicating that companies involved in the outrageous pet food poisoning scandal and resulting lawsuits (as a result of poisoned ingredients from China) have settled. A judge is expected to approve the settlement terms by the end of this month.

The companies have agreed to pay pet owners whose animals died from the poisoning a total of $24 Million across both the US and Canada.

This settlement appears to include the largest guilty party, Canadian-based Menu Foods Income Fund which to the surprise of millions of pet owners produced over 90 different brands of pet food. As you might remember the pet food was poisoned with a wheat gluten that was contaminated with melamine a chemical that is used to make plastic.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

The Paris Hilton Brand to last "forever"- by Eli

Celebutante Paris Hilton has announced that she has invested thousands to be frozen when she dies so she can "live on forever". Ms. Hilton also will be freezing her various little dogs to join her in the frozen afterlife.

If you thought one day the Paris Hilton brand would disappear, forget about it.....it will outlast us all.

This information has been confirmed by the Cryonics Institute where Ms. Hilton will be frozen Egyptian-style for all to see.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

WalMart finds toxic pet food among brands it sells-by Eli

Months after the devastating pet food poisoning recall throughout the US, WalMart has announced that two more brands of pet food treats for dogs have tested positive for the toxic ingredient Melamine.

The products Chicken Jerky Strips and Chicken Jerky from Chinese producers are quietly being recalled from the world's largest retailer. WalMart is surprisingly NOT publicizing this recall but has informed inquiring consumers (whose pets have been sickened by the products) to return the pet food for a refund.

Details are available here on MSNBC.com .

The Brand Man Speaks encourages WalMart to take a more proactive stance and to actively promote the recall as there is no need for more pet deaths from Chinese produced tainted pet foods.

Additionally, the Brand Man recommends consumers BOYCOTT any brands of food, pet or human, that has a Chinese manufacturing name on it or is listed as made in China. There is no assurance that anything coming out of China is safe today so it is best to avoid all products out of that country.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Wall Street Journal unveils commodization of pet food brands and The Brand Man gets coverage-by Eli

The Brand Man Speaks outed the pet food industry over the past six weeks....helping consumers understand that over 150 brands of pet foods they thought were unique, differentiated and  specifically relevant to their pets needs were in effect much more similar than dissimilar.

The Wall Street Journal unveiled the curtain on product commodization in the pet food industry exposing a case of wide-spread perceived deception of consumers in an article that appears today, (Read Wall St. Journal Story here). Yours truly is a quoted source in this expose.

Unfortunately the pet food crisis opened up a Pandora's box...many products are not produced by the brands and companies one thinks but rather in most cases by Menu Foods of Ontario, Canada.  We are all aware by now that poisoned protein spiked product ingredients were deliberately mixed in with pet food products killing as many as 4,000 pets nationwide.

The Wall Street Journal exposes a disturbing truth in today's marketing world...other than marketing and price many products are commodities....virtually the same....and consumer trust is being eroded by this news. Given that trust is a main component of successful brands, the concept of "branding" is under fire.

As a branding expert, I foresee the need for consumer package goods companies to be more authentic and truthful about the products they produce and forcing product manufacturing back in-house--increasing transparency-- to win back consumer trust.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Pet food recall silver lining: New and small brands of natural pet food now in big demand- by Eli

Great story in Newsweek  about the success of small upstart all natural, fresh refrigerated pet food brands (primarily for dogs) like FreshPet whose business is booming as a result of the pet food poison scare affecting over 150 brands of traditional dry and wet pet food.

With humans more interested in all natural and organic foods it is no surprise that this trend would expand into the pet food market. The only difference is the expansion would not have occurred at the pace it has in the past two months had it not been for the massive recall and consumer loss of trust in traditional brands such as Iams, Science Diet and Petpride.

There has been a reported 40% increase in sales of natural and organic products, some of which like FreshPet must be refrigerated because they have no preservatives.

It is important to note, that although these alternative types of pet food are safer (and generally more expensive--anywhere from 10 to 50% + more expensive---) they are NOT necessarily any healthier for your pet, according to Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

New Pet Food Recall Update: May 3, 2007-by Eli

RECALL UPDATE:
Our "friends" at Menu Foods have admitted that there are more pet food brands in need of recalling from store shelves...and from consumer homes...due to "cross-contamination" of food products during the manufacturing process. The latest report from MSNBC .

What this means...and is no surprise...that despite assurances that the poisoned wheat gluten and/or melamine tainted ingredients were isolated cases, contaminated products got mixed with uncontaminated products...doing what? Contaminating MORE brands of pet food.

I will post the brands involved as soon as this information becomes available to me. If you already know it, send me a comment by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

YOU CANNOT TRUST A SINGLE WORD YOU HEAR FROM MENU FOODS, THE FDA OR ANY PET FOOD MANUFACTURER. They must stop making statements through their PR machines that the recall and "scare" are over. They are NOT!

We as pet owners (and me as a branding expert and commentator) must stay vigilant or this matter will get swept under the carpet. How many more animals must become ill or die for this situation to get the level of attention it needs? When will CEOs of the companies that "produce" (really they distribute versus produce from what we have all learned) the top pet food brands step to the plate and take a stand and get this matter resolved once and for all? Do they really care?

If Dick Cheney's dog or cat died from this pet food poison something would be done about the problem...instead pet owners remain confused and concerned about what to feed their loved ones and no one is in a position to assure them what path is the best to take...other than preparing your own pet food from natural "human" food ingredients...(although we learned two days ago, human food has been tainted with melamine..so that pathway is not necessarily a safe one either anymore).

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

Why the US must boycott all food ingredients from China-by Eli

The Washington Post Online today presents a report from the FDA that confirms that several Chinese suppliers of food additives have admitted that they deliberately used poisonous ingredients such as Melamine and previously Urea to spike protein content levels in ingredients they sell for pet foods. In both cases, the additives caused death among animals.

These chemicals were clearly used to illegally and unethically raise the perceived level of protein (to gain higher prices) with no regard for possible side effects.

The Post says this is just another game to fool American food manufacturers that they are purchasing high-quality products overseas.

The big problem is protecting the food supply. Determining that these ingredients are dangerous is incredibly difficult and complicated:

The report states:

Such products pose three problems: Their makeup is not obvious by mere visual inspection; they can be easily and invisibly contaminated or intentionally spiked with chemicals that are not on the FDA's standard battery of tests; and their origins are often vague, because they have been through several stages of processing and trade.

I hold American companies and their brands of pet food fully responsible for this crisis believing they full well know what they are buying with an eye to saving money at the cost of animal health and welfare. Additionally, we should ban all Chinese ingredient imports for a period of time to put economic pressure on the American companies to find safer resources. Of course this is easier said than done, but our pets deserve better.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli

April 26: The Pet Food Recall continues: More Brands recalled due to tainted rice protein-by Eli

Several more brands of pet food were recalled today due to contamination of rice protein ingredients.

The brands are:
Doctors Foster and Smith, Lick Your Chops, and a private label brand SmartPak.

The company has posted a telephone number for more information: 610-821-0608. For more details on the story read MSNBC's latest pet food recall report .

There has not been a week in the past six or more without a brand or brands being recalled. Despite pet company missives indicating the scare is over, this is just not the case and pet owners must continue to be wary, cautious and vigilant...about what they feed their loved ones.

A Florida based Vet also says the scare is over as reported by the NBC affiliate in Coral Springs, FL . Again, I do not agree and think it would be foolhardy for pet owners to think what is still on the shelves is safe. Even Vets are not privy to information that assures them what brands are ok and which are not at this point.

Watching out for you everyday.

Eli