The Forge

"Supermarket brands aren’t just cheaper – they are becoming more innovative and exciting for consumers too" Daniel Quinn in The Grocer on the increasing threat to brands posed by own-label. There are 6 reasons why retailers are set to dominate NPD in the near future: 🏭 Retailers aren’t manufacturers. They don't need to build production capacity to make new products, which means they can jump onto new trends quickly. 📊 Their category teams have invested in consumer data capacity, analysis and AI to spot trends across categories and understand how and when innovations will succeed. 🦄 The supplier infrastructure generates a steady stream of inspiring new concepts and products, ready to commission, launch and scale. 🧪 They can list new products online or soft launch in specific stores, giving them the confidence to experiment, monitor sales and see what works. ™️ Own label is less constrained by brand heritage. Supermarket master brands can simultaneously deliver quality and value, with flexibility for sub-brands to differentiate within. This gives them the freedom to do new things at lower risk. 📺 The launch of retail media networks will increase the promotional firepower they have to support own-label innovations. And three things that brands can do to fight back: 1️⃣ Move beyond shrinkflation to understanding what consumers truly value beyond price. 2️⃣ Invest in the med-long term. 3️⃣ Move away from deals and promotions To read the full article, click the link in the comments...

😎 The Forge's summer party was a blast! 💥 Getting everyone from The Forge together with all of our partners, friends and family of the business is one of the highlights of the year. Thank you for all of the help and support you have shown us over the years. We couldn't do it without you. 🫶 Onwards and upwards 🚀

Thank you Grant McKenzie for joining us for an episode of The Persuasion Game podcast. We loved talking to you about your experiences leading your team to embrace the no-low alc opportunity. Episode launching in September!

Thank you so much Alex O'Rourke (nee Smith) for being such an brilliantly insightful and interesting guest on our brand new podcast - The Persuasion Game - coming in September.

🎙️ Another 2 Persuasion Game podcasts in the hopper. We loved speaking to these 2 legends in the marketing world: Paul Thomas & Mark McCulloch. Launching in September...

Laura Halliday & Simon Garnett in full flow recording Ep.1 of The Persuasion Game launching in September. It's hard work but with talent like this, we are excited with what we are creating! If any of our clients love podcasting and would like to guest on the show, then get in touch!

Here's Joe Catling explaining how Demand Spaces should be built.

Next up in the How to Create Demand Spaces series, Shanna Boland explains How To Define Your Category.

Thank you LockSmith for the last three months of training and coaching on Unlocking Better Client Relationships. We've learned: 🤝 How to be intentional about the relationship as much as the project 💬 A common language we can use to describe relationships 🔍 How to recognise different personality types 🚀 How to get the best out of each other 💪 About building relationships individually and as a collective ⛑️ How to help each other with the things we find difficult Hopefully, our clients are already noticing the difference! A huge thanks to Alex O'Rourke (nee Smith) and Chris Lock for all of your hard work and getting us to a great place.

With H2 and 2025 planning coming into focus, we know some clients have Demand Spaces on the agenda. So let's revisit our video series... first up... Do I need Demand Spaces? Take it away Danielle Todd...