I received an email this week from one of our valued customers, who was very surprised to discover that a major US mass retailer has taken it upon themselves to label professional products by saying that "this product is intended for sale" by them and if found at other outlets they should call an advice line. They are printing this copy on a supposed security label.
I think this is a good indication that we are starting to win the battle, because when a major retailer finds it necessary to legitimize the sale of a brand is us a sure sign that our campaign to keep professional products in the hands of stylists is starting to work.
Hopefully we will have more good news soon.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
David - It's good to see you're making a bit of progress on the bricks & mortar front...
You're a good marketer who knows perception is reality. So I'm curious as to how you expect your tried and true distribution (salons/spas) to get behind the anti-diversion efforts when your web-strategy is not perceived by the best of them to be in their best interests - and that's putting it mildly.
Why do I say that? Because you've created sites i.e.. www.kerastase.com where the consumer can go direct, yet at the same time you've contractually prohibited your clients (salons/spas) from selling goods on-line.
Sure I know, you tell them they can make $ if their clients buy from you on-line - but frankly the salons/spas don't see this system of your marketing directly to the consumer once she orders as particularly "friendly" - especially when you've offered samples etc. that the salons (until recently) didn't have access to.
Then there are sites like www.luxuryparlor.com selling Kérastase at a discount (with free shipping and delivery)…ouch! Frankly how do you explain that phenomenon your clients?
Are you between a rock and a hard place? Maybe, but once again perception is reality.
So what would happen if you stopped selling directly to the consumer (since when did the consumer become a professional product company's client?) and put more muscle behind your real clients marketing efforts. Wouldn't be taking a step in the right direction in changing the perception of your distribution by transparently putting your money where your mouth is?
Hi there,
I have noticed in the past year that Redken products (as well as other salon lines) are being sold in every mass merchandiser and every grocery store in my area. I had read about Diversion in a Redken email newsletter awhile back and after seeing all of these products in all of these stores, decided to email Redken about it via the Diversion email address. The response I received was just plainly "yes they are fake." I was sort of baffled by the response and was expecting to maybe be thanked for reporting specific retailers and locations. I thought that was the purpose of making reports, so that you can pursue the issue (legally?) and somehow put an end to these unauthorized merchants selling the items. The very breif response that I received to my email led me to think that maybe Diversion isn't real, since I did not receive much of a reply and it seemed as though the person on the other end really didn't care about the report. I love Redken and Pureology products and do not like to see counterfeits in every Kmart and Weis Markets. I thought I was doing a good thing by making the report, but it seemed to just be a bother to the person who received the email. I would love to hear more feedback on this issue and I am willing to provide the information again as to the specific retailers and locations if you are able to put an end to this unauthorize selling of these products. I am happy to support Redken, as well as the other lines from Loreal Professional in any way that I can.
Mandy,
I want you to know that the issue of Diversion is very real to our PPD employees and to L’Oreal and I personally thank you for our support and I can assure that we are reading and aggregating all of the feedback we receive from our brands. We document each report and follow up on these diverters.
Regarding the Amazon.com pricing question, our findings are based on national price checks and were validated by the independent research of Good Morning America & ABC15 (KNXV-TV) news. There will always be specific exceptions, but I kindly remind you that costs is just one of the 4 Cs (cost, counterfeit, contaminated & crime) which are the dangers of buying diverted products.
Thanks,
David
Post a Comment