Maybe I'm like most analysts, and I crave information in all forms. Maybe I just can't get enough popular culture. Either way, I love TV. I'm not ashamed to admit it ¿ it's even a job requirement! Lately, I've seen a lot of commercials and shows that relate to my day job. (Could this be the result of new TV ad-targeting techniques?)

Wal-Mart takes the PR offensive. During NBC Nightly News, I've noticed ads focusing on Wal-Mart as a good employer and a positive contributor to local communities. It makes sense that Wal-Mart is being proactive about public relations. At the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in January, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott pointed to the recent legal and public image challenges: "My mornings start with reading sales, followed by a visit from our general counsel." Ouch.

Wal-Mart doesn't use TV spots for supplier relations, but it does take a hands-on approach when discussing its supplier technology initiatives. At NRF, Scott rallied suppliers around Wal-Mart's January 1, 2005, mandate by emphasizing RFID's positive impact on business efficiencies and consumer prices. Forrester believes in the benefits of RFID, but the industry still has a long way to go before achieving the vision. We recently dug into the RFID technology market and retailer mandates. We've concluded that a typical CPG manufacturer will spend more than $9 million on Wal-Mart compliance in 2004 alone. RFID vendors must address high tag costs, middleware gaps, and data management challenges to make the retailer mandates and supplier business case more attainable. For more on the subject, check out our recent VideoView RFID At What Cost?    .

Ellen DeGeneres speaks for grocery shoppers everywhere.
I just got Comcast On Demand, and the first show I watched was an Ellen DeGeneres comedy special. One of my favorite parts: Ellen rails against her local supermarket¿s lack of cheddar cheese and rejects substitutes like cottage cheese: "That's like going into a music store for a tuba and walking out with a shoe horn!" Forrester believes that recent M&A activity in the supply chain market ¿ like Comergent's purchase of Profile Systems ¿ can help the industry tackle problems like out-of-stocks. But these applications are only as good as the data that goes into them. Good data means a good data synchronization strategy. Fortunately, my colleague George Lawrie just published a killer report on how to build a data sync action plan.

New products launch in time for spring. Speaking of cheese, Kraft just announced a bevy of new products to improve its health and wellness business. I'm a snacker, so the latest commercials for Kraft¿s Sugar-Free Crème Savers caught my eye (can¿t wait to try the Chocolate & Caramel Crème). CPG manufacturers must introduce new products like these to fight against brand erosion and the popularity of private-label products. How can companies avoid the 90% failure rate of new products? One way is to increase consumers' role in their development. The action item for CPG firms: Make sure your product life-cycle management tools can support consumer feedback through every stage of the development process.

American Idol makes me want to figure out my mobile phone. I admit it. I've had my Panasonic EB TX320 mobile phone for more than a year, but I've never sent a text message. But Fantasia Barrino's amazing performances on American Idol make me want to try it out. Apparently, I'm not the only one, because more than one-third of American Idol voters have never previously sent a text message. Mobile marketing and advertainment is hot for youth-oriented brands like Sony Pictures and Coke, but many mainline CPG brands will still get better results from email and online advertising programs. Email marketers: Use my colleague Jim Nail's email evaluation tool to gauge your campaign's effectiveness.

Well, that's it for now. I hope that 2004 is going well so far. Those of you facing the retailer RFID mandates will certainly have some busy months ahead. We're committed to publishing research that helps you with RFID pilots, so please email me at christineoverby@forrester.com with any topics that you'd like us to write about!

Cheers,

Christine Overby
Senior Analyst, Consumer Packaged Goods

Research Referenced In This Issue Analysis Of Wal-Mart CEO's NRF Remarks (33841) Consumer Goods Readies For PLM Vendor Shakeout (33138) CPG Technology Predictions For 2004 (33576) Exposing The Myth Of The 5-Cent RFID Tag (33905) How Good Is Your Email Marketing? (33524) RFID At What Cost? (33695)    RFID Mandates Require New Technology (33954) Supply Chain Vendor Shakeout Speeds Up (33883) TV Ad Targeting Creeps Over The Horizon (33623) US Mobile Marketing Is Still Two Years Away (33617) Vendors Race To Fill A New Void: RFID Middleware (33754) What's Holding Back Online Groceries? (34079) Winning The CPG Data Synchronization Race (33934)

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