Consequences stemming from the recession have many retailers facing a challenging equation:

Rising cost of fuel + Shifting consumer purchase behaviors + Increasing costs to produce goods = Retailer anxiety.

In order to overcome these challenges, we recommend retailers think local.

By leveraging all that’s local (from manufacturing and supply chains to promotional activities), retailers can optimize operational efficiencies – all while maximizing inventory and preventing rising costs for the shopper. Additional benefits include:

• Relevant product mixes and inventory to meet local consumer needs. The reverse homogenization… read more.

Success translates well into narrative. Who hasn’t heard those wonderful stories of marketing campaigns gone astray when introduced into a global setting? Remember when Puffs tissue started marketing their tissues in Germany and it didn’t do well because "Puff" means "brothel" in German? Or when Bacardi launched a fruit drink named Pavian in France because it translated into slang as "chick," but when they promoted it in Germany, the same word meant "Baboon"?

We’ve all heard… read more.

The Brand Show is excited to introduce a new format, customized for busy marketing professionals like you. Enjoy our condensed 3-minute take–away from our interviews with some of the most fascinating and successful brands.

This week we interviewed global home-fashion icon, Kathy Ireland from Kathy Ireland Worldwide (KIWW), to speak about her philosophy in leading a successful retail empire. KIWW currently ranks above brands such as Harley, Sony and Coca Cola on the Top 100… read more.

More popular than dental floss and more ubiquitous than Kleenex, WD-40 can be found under sinks and inside toolboxes in four out of five American homes. Not to mention the other 160+ other countries that use it worldwide. Shannon Edwards, Assistant Brand Manager at WD-40, joins us to talk about the brand’s nearly 60-year legacy of legendary customer loyalty. Since joining WD-40 in 2000, Shannon has contributed to the brand’s success by working with its largest national accounts and focusing on new product development. In her current role as Assistant Brand… read more.

Sustainable and globally conscious consumer brands are here to stay, according to the recently released U.S. ImagePower Green Brands Survey by Landor Associates. Russ Meyer, Chief Strategy Officer with Landor, joins The Brand Show to share his company’s findings and discuss how brands can cash in on this booming business.

During our conversation, Russ addresses:

• Why consumers spend more on globally conscious… read more.

Taking a brand global requires much attention to detail. Marketers must research each particular market and take into consideration cultural sensitivities, currency conversions and language translations before introducing their brand. Some brands, like McDonalds, are successfully communicating abroad while others seem to be speaking the wrong language. From Pakistan and Sweden to the U.S. and Mexico, this show covers the dos and don’ts of going global.

The manufacturer of the highly profitable drug Oxycontin, Purdue Pharma, was fined $635 million for falsely marketing the highly addictive drug. Details on the court case can be heard during this… read more.