Has Chinese New Year lost its spark?

[Nicolas Peden] Is China losing its appetite for the hustle and energy of its New Years celebrations? Or is the holiday still an opportunity to connect with consumers? Having delved into hazy Shanghai to unearth the city's "Chinese New Year (CYN) Spirit", I found that just days away from this most important of traditional holidays, the streets are no more animated than usual. It seems Shanghai has lost its New Year spark. 25 Jan 2012 13:54

[2012 trends] Back to school for marketers on teen basics

[Cathryn Treasure] It's back to basics for marketers on teen marketing - between all the talk about millennials and the born-digital, marketers have been swept up in a wave that makes it easy to forget the fundamentals. Here are several that marketers need to keep in mind when talking with today's teens (age range 11-19), regardless of what channel you choose to use. 25 Jan 2012 12:23

Capitalising on festive spending patterns

[Kathryn Aquadro] Following the results of Deloitte's Christmas Spending Survey 2011, which contained statements such as "South African shoppers are undoubtedly stressed and looking for options that allow them to spend less", my group set out to explore who is doing what and how the past year is going to influence shoppers this festive season. 12 Dec 2011 11:15

Global food leader, winning entrepreneurship project partner for township retail model

In an effort to make it even more simple and convenient to buy and sell the much-loved South African brands of Halls, Cadbury Éclairs and Chappies, Kraft Foods has partnered with the Awethu Project to launch its new 3-in-1 display unit to the market. 2 Nov 2011 10:27

Bizcommunity.com

Bizcommunity launches new dedicated sectors, newsletters

Bizcommunity.com - South Africa's largest online B2B publisher - is set to grow even more with the introduction of 16 new content channels, with weekly newsletters, as from last week Tuesday, 20 September 2011. 20 Sep 2011 15:45

Retailers need to sense a brand revolution

[Michael Hinze] Legions of squealing teenage girls would vehemently disagree, but they're actually not in love with Justin Bieber. Infatuation - yes. Fantasy - yes. Love and a relationship? No. And that's why anyone who thinks consumers can form meaningful relationships with brands based on one-dimensional visual interactions is also living in a fantasy world. 16 Sep 2011 13:20

[Biz Takeouts Podcast] 13: Break into new markets using innovative strategies

Find out how to break into new markets with innovative strategies by listening to the Biz Takeouts podcast of last week's Bizcommunity/Chai FM Media & Marketing radio show, which airs every Wednesday 6pm-7pm on 101.9 FM in Johannesburg and via streaming audio. [twitterfall] 5 Sep 2011 14:08

Easy navigation, clever merchandising create more sales

With a little insight and attention to detail, retailers can go a long way towards bettering the experience for their customers and ultimately boost sales. 23 Aug 2011 10:40

Naartjie Kids peels off to Saudi Arabia

[Adele Shevel] Home-grown clothing retailer Naartjie Kids has opened its first stores in Saudi Arabia as it expands into the Middle East and North Africa. 22 Aug 2011 14:55

It's party time at Bizcommunity! #happybiz10

On 20 August 2001, Andre Rademan and Ken van Ginkel sent out the very first Bizcommunity.com newsletter. Now, almost 10 years to the day, we're mixing up potions and even baking in preparation for our 'high calorie', 'light-fuse-and-stand-back' 10th birthday celebrations! [twitterfall] 22 Aug 2011 10:10

Are retailers forgetting the basics?

[Dave Nemeth] The retail sector is very aware that they need to do things differently in the wake of the recession, fast-paced technology and ever-changing consumer attitudes. These attitudes are still an unknown and we will be seeing retailers experiment with an array of different techniques and strategies to meaningfully connect with their consumers. While spending a couple of days in the field investigating various stores, what became glaring obvious to me is that in their pursuit of future brilliance, retailers have simply forgotten the basics. 30 Jun 2011 14:26

Ready, aim, converge for smarter commerce

[Srini Rangaswamy] B2B companies want to turn their online interactions with buyers into ongoing sales relationships. To do so, companies are making the most of proven B2C-like merchandising techniques such as cross-sells, up-sells, targeted offers based on role, order history, promotional pricing, and search-driven merchandising to influence order size and drive additional sales. 15 Jun 2011 15:11

Clover to merchandise all Danone products

With effect from 1 May 2011, Danone Southern Africa will outsource all its merchandising to Clover. All current Danone merchandisers will be transferred to Clover, under the same employment terms and conditions and Clover will complete all merchandising tasks on behalf of Danone. 6 Apr 2011 13:07

Boosting sales with retail displays

[Willem de Bruine] Increasingly, the challenge in retail marketing is to help the customer to buy rather than trying to sell him/her something. Among an endless range of retail marketing ideas, those that stand apart from the rest originate from one-of-a-kind concepts that give customers a practical and visually attractive reason to make a purchase. 30 Mar 2011 13:19