LIVE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM TRAINING – BRANDING
Branding – Module 5
SESSIONS
- Week 1 – Positioning/Depositioning
- Week 2 – Depositioning/Repositioning
Session 1
Topic: Positioning
The first step in growing your brand is brand positioning. Said simply, brand positioning is deciding what your brand stands for in the mind of the consumer. In this session you’ll learn how to identify your strengths; how to determine what matters to your shoppers; choosing the areas where you can effectively differentiate; and building a plan that outlines what you need to do to win.
Topic: Depositioning
Competing against bigger, national chains with more money and resources to spend on marketing can often feel like an insurmountable challenge. But IGA’s competitors are not perfect. In fact, big companies have just as many flaws as they have advantages, and (tactfully) exposing their flaws can often be a powerful marketing tool to help shoppers choose your store over theirs. In this session we learn how to identify your competitors’ weaknesses and contrast their shortcomings with our better, more heroic actions.
Date: April 13, 2021
Time: 9:45 a.m. Central Time (11 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. MT, 8 a.m. PT)
Duration: 1 hr
Session 2
Topic: Depositioning
Competing against bigger, national chains with more money and resources to spend on marketing can often feel like an insurmountable challenge. But IGA’s competitors are not perfect. In fact, big companies have just as many flaws as they have advantages, and (tactfully) exposing their flaws can often be a powerful marketing tool to help shoppers choose your store over theirs. In this session we learn how to identify your competitors’ weaknesses and contrast their shortcomings with our better, more heroic actions.
Topic: Repositioning
Increasing labor and health care costs. Economic downturn. Shopper concerns about health and safety. New competitors and technologies syphoning sales. No matter how well your brand positioning and marketing have worked in the past, you must be ready to adapt when your marketplace and customer needs change and sales begin to slip. In this session you will learn how to diagnose the problem, find ways to connect with shoppers again, and reposition your brand for success.
Date: April 20, 2021
Time: 10 a.m. Central Time (11 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. MT, 8 a.m. PT)
Duration: 1 hr
Note: Certificates will be issued to participants who sign in with proper names and have perfect attendance.
CLASS DETAILS
- Module 5 – Branding – Driving Sales through Differentiation
- Faculty: John Ross
- Duration: 2 Weeks
- Class Size: 20 students (Maximum capacity)
- Effort: 2-5 hours per week
- Format: 100% online
- Model: Instructor-led
- Class Day/Time: Tuesdays 10:00 AM CST
- Registration Fee: $250
John Ross
Branding – Module 4
IGA, Inc.
John Ross, President/CEO
Mr. John Ross has been the Chief Executive Officer and President at IGA, Inc. since October 2017. Mr. Ross is responsible for IGA’s domestic and global operations. He served as the Chief Marketing Officer, Executive Vice President of Inmar, Inc. and also served as the President of Inmar Analytics. He served as President of Inmar Promotion Network.
Mr. Ross served as President of IPG Emerging Media Lab at The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. He also founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of IPG’s Shopper Sciences, where he led the media brands retail practice, working with retailers and brands across the world on branding, shopper marketing, media strategy and innovation. He has spent a majority of his career in retail, serving in store operations and merchandising, e-commerce and marketing. His early career was in retail in-store operations, merchandising, e-commerce and marketing.
Before joining IPG, he spent 11 years with Home Depot in various marketing roles, including e-commerce, branding, global marketing and advertising. He worked to launch Home Depot into international markets; developed marketing plans to launch the chain into new categories like major appliances; supported the development of proprietary brands, many of which, like Hampton Bay and Ryobi, have become industry leading brands; and during his tenure, saw the chain more than double in size. He has dedicated his career to listening to shoppers, understanding their evolving needs and delivering differentiated experiences that inspire loyalty both in-store and online. He has extensive shopper analytics expertise and executive management experience. He has championed the rise of the technology-empowered shopper and advanced the role data analytics play in marketing and retail.
With more than 30 years of retail, data science and marketing experience, he has been a contributor to the company’s initiatives to use technology and data to improve the delivery of information, goods and services that make a difference in the lives of shoppers and those who serve them across the globe. Foremost in his accomplishments was pioneering new customer scoring and analytics tools to parse shopper data and manage loyalty for retail clients in categories ranging from specialty pharmacy and health to traditional grocery, convenience, discount and mass merchandising. He serves as a Member of Strategic Advisory Board at Inmar, Inc. Mr. Ross is the Author of the book “Fire in the Zoo”, covering retail marketing science, shopper marketing and the value of data-driven listening. He co-authored the Google shopper marketing book, “The Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT),” and founded both IPG’s Shopper Sciences and the “Neural Shopping Matrix” path-to-purchase research methodology. Mr. Ross holds an MBA from Tulane University.