Road Trips with People Building and Growing Emerging Brands.

On today’s episode of Road2Retail, we interview Joe Tarnowski the VP of Thought Leadership and Global Media for RangeMe. On this episode Joe details exactly what the RangeMe product is and shares best practices for brands on how to utilize the RangeMe platform to showcase their brands and reach buyers from all types of retailers. Joe goes into detail explaining RangeMe Premium and RangeMe Sourcing programs. This episode is great for those small and emerging brands that are not yet using RangeMe to reach buyers or submit for category reviews with major retailers. This episode will also be insightful for those brands using RangeMe but wanting to optimize their reach.

On today’s Road2Retail episode we speak with John Pinto, the founder of the BoomBoom brand of all-natural nasal inhalers. John shares with us how the brand started, the opportunity he saw in the market as well as the successes and challenges he has faced while building his brand. John shares his experiences on the following topics: • How to know you are ready for retail • The challenges of working with a retailer • When to raise money and what to look for in an investor • What he would do differently if granted a 'do over' Please subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, iTunes or the Road2Retail YouTube channel

Taking a price increase on your brand In today’s episode, we are discussing all of the important aspects of taking a price increase on your brand. We cover the impact of taking a price increase on the end consumer as well as the steps in the process of executing a price increase. Taking a price increase in today's environment can have potentially positive and negative impacts on your brand as it pertains to the consumer and the retailer.

In today's episode we talk about the many important issues to consider and decisions that need to be made when considering initial brick & mortar retail distribution as well as expanding from your initial distribution. We discuss classes of trade, demographic match between your brand and the retailer's shoppers, understanding the costs of securing distribution, performance expectations, and how many skus should you launch with. We also touch on the need to be able to fulfill orders and the cash it will take to produce, ship and market this first order into your retailer. Lastly, where you go first matters! Play to your geographic strength if you have one- and expand from there. We hope you enjoy today's episode. Please follow us on our YouTube channel, Spotify, and iTunes.

Today we speak with Wayne Bennett, SVP of Retail for ECRM and RangeMe. Wayne shares with us examples of winning actions taken by small, emerging, and challenger brands over the course of his career that helped build their business. Wayne also shares some insights into exactly how ECM and RangeMe can help small/emerging brands connect with retailers. ECRM and RangeMe are the industry leaders in the product discovery, sourcing, and purchasing experience between top retailers and brands from around the world. They facilitate the buying and selling process by providing both face to face and virtual connections between retailers and brands. Please enjoy today's discussion with Wayne and we hope you take away some ideas for driving your business. Please follow us at on our LinkedIn page, Spotify, and iTunes.

Today on the Road2Retail we speak with Richard Palmer- Executive Director of Little Big Brands. LBB is a fantastic branding and design firm that has a long history of doing excellent work for their clients and helping them grow their business. Today Richard discusses the importance of truly understanding your consumer, how to create a brand personality and voice, and the dangers of cutting corners by not doing research. Richard also covers some of the key points to consider with regard to a brand's physical packaging structures and how this can become a key competitive advantage for your brand. We hope you enjoy, and learn something, from today's episode. Please follow Road2Retail on our LinkedIn page, Apple iTunes or Spotify

In today’s episode of Road2Retail, the discussion centers around how to handle getting "The Call”. The call in question is when your buyer calls you and tells you things are not going well, your brand is not meeting expectations, and action needs to be taken. We discuss the importance of not going into a panic and how to think through and frame your response to the buyer's call or email. If you understood and captured the buyer's expectations (including what success looked like) at the time of acceptance- you should not be surprised if you are tracking the data. We will offer you a checklist to consider before engaging with your buyer.

Road2Retail- Episode # 13: Hiring a Broker to Assist with Sales On today's Road2Retail podcast we interview Rob Maxwell- Senior Vice President of Dirty Hands Growth Services. In this episode, we begin the discussion with Rob by asking how to know when a small/emerging brand is ready to hire a broker to assist with the Sales effort.

In today's episode, we speak with Afif Ghannoum- CEO of BIOHM Health. BIOHM Health is a firm helping consumers support their overall wellness by helping to optimize their gut health. Afif shares with us his insights into building a science based brand, the importance of differentiation, some tips on being well organized before attempting to raise money, and some watch outs when you consider whether or not the time is right to go to traditional retail. Afif also offers his viewpoints on getting started as a DTC business. We hope you enjoy this episode and pick up a few ideas to help you with your business building journey.

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In today's episode our guest is Krista Anderson- the founder and CEO of Esstar. Esstar focuses on helping consumers find brands that promote a healthy eating lifestyle. Krista currently lives in, and works from, the South of France. Krista has a tremendous business origin story as a stage 4 cancer survivor; she shares with us some great insight into her entrepreneurial journey.

On today's Road2Retail podcast we speak with Minor Hinson. Minor is the Chief Investment Officer for Bourne Partners Strategic Capital. Minor provides an overview of what investors look for when considering an investment in small, emerging brand as well as what kind of information should be included in a pitch deck and finally- what makes a good match between an investor and an emerging brand/entrepreneur. We hope you find today's show informative. Please follow us at Road2Retail on YouTube or share via our LinkedIn page.

On today’s podcast we interview Dawn Kelley, the CEO of Barney Butter- the great tasting almond products brand. In this episode, Dawn shares great advice for small and emerging brands on the lessons she has learned on her journey to building the Barney Butter brand into one of the leading positions in the almond butter category. Dawn shares key moves her brand has made, what she would do differently if she could, and explains why sell through for a brand is more important than sell in. She also discusses her approach to retailer expansion and what she would be looking for in an investor if Barney Butter were to raise growth capital. We hope you enjoy (and share!) this great episode.

In today's episode (Episode 8) of The Road2Retail we discuss the importance of having a Go-to-Market strategy for your brand. This document becomes your GPS to building and growing your brand at retail. We discuss the specific components of the Go-to-Market strategy including, the optimal class of trade to approach first, the specific retailer within the class of trade to focus your efforts, pricing, and most importantly- the cost of failure. Please follow us on our Road2Retail LinkedIn page or our YouTube channel for our past and future episodes.

On today’s Road2Retail podcast we interview Chris Hunter, the co-founder and CEO of the Koia brand. In this episode, Chris shares great advice to small and emerging brands on the lessons he has learned on his journey in developing the Koia brand. Chris shares his view on how to know you are ready for retail, mistakes to avoid, and how best to raise investment funds. You don’t want to miss this great episode. Follow us on our YouTube channel at Road2Retail.

In this week's Road2Retail podcast episode, Bruce Montgomery offers his views and commentary on the recently completed NACDS Annual conference which was held in Florida April 23-26. This is a key event for manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers in the health and wellness space. It is great to see key industry meetings coming back to in person attendance.