PROFILE
Michael La Kier
Principal, What Brands Want, LLC
Michael La Kier has a proven track record in building consumer-loved and shopper-relevant brands by unearthing insights to break new ground, enter new markets and create richer, more profitable relationships.
Michael founded What Brands Want, LLC in 2013 as an advisory service to help companies better position and effectively present their offering to brands and consumers. With deep of experience working with some of the world’s best brands – including Coca-Cola, The Food Channel, USA Today and Save the Children – Michael brings a wealth of marketing experience to help a diverse client based ranging from digital and traditional brands to marketing tech startups.
For more information, visit: www.whatbrandswant.com
Michael founded What Brands Want, LLC in 2013 as an advisory service to help companies better position and effectively present their offering to brands and consumers. With deep of experience working with some of the world’s best brands – including Coca-Cola, The Food Channel, USA Today and Save the Children – Michael brings a wealth of marketing experience to help a diverse client based ranging from digital and traditional brands to marketing tech startups.
For more information, visit: www.whatbrandswant.com
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- Posted on: 04/04/2018
Bed Bath & Beyond offers an exchange for Toys ‘R’ Us gift cards
From Bed Bath & Beyond's standpoint this is a smart move to bring shoppers into their stores. They have a history of heavy promotion and discounts so this is just another way to bring in shoppers using that same strategy. However, the shoppers do seem different. It remains to be seen if a couple with a baby jogger on their registry with many sleepless nights in their future will swap this for a fancy new toaster or bedding set. - Posted on: 03/23/2018
In this digital revolution, stores are media
It's much too early to say digital-only retail is coming to an end. It's better to think of stores as the physical manifestation of a brand vs. a "media channel." It's a place where people can touch and feel merchandise and immerse themselves in the experience. Thinking about it in this manner means a physical location is a significant asset. The trick is -- as many are finding out -- don't overbuild! - Posted on: 03/22/2018
Segmentation is central to Nike’s success
The more a brand knows about its customer the better. This is true for all brands. While the dream of true 1:1 personalization still exists, products and services usually need scale audiences (segments) to be successful. People do place a premium on their personal data (less so in the U.S. than Europe) so there must be some type of value exchange to make them share. Brands need to answer the question, "what's in it for me?" from their customer's perspective and deliver upon that to be successful. - Posted on: 03/22/2018
Luxury brands are racing to embrace ecommerce
All brands need to wake up to the fact that all channels make up the shopping experience, not just in-store. Shopping starts when inspiration or consideration hits, not only when people walk in the store. The same is true for luxury brands. Their luxury and brand must be consistent across channels. This does not always mean exclusive. - Posted on: 03/20/2018
Macy’s CEO discusses mobile checkouts and other planned changes
Macy's is really pushing to be a leader in the technology-enhanced retail space. Bravo! The recognition that the mobile phone is the "front window to Macy’s and we consider it a flagship" is significant and should serve them well. The VR may help with big ticket items, but the throughput and usage of that solution will pale in comparison to mobile in general. - Posted on: 03/20/2018
Retailers differ on the value of location analytics
Location analytics is a big, "complicated" space. For retailers and others, it may be overwhelming to find out and understand all this new data -- and data-driven answers always beget more questions. Could it be that it's too massive to wrap your arms around? I believe there is a need to "productize" location analytics against key questions and objectives within the retail industry vs talk on a macro level. When asked are you interested in where best to add a store, how to improve merchandising or how to gauge store performance, all retailers would likely say yes. This solves real problems vs offering up data. - Posted on: 03/19/2018
What’s the next leap for user generated content?
Perhaps it is best to think of this not as User Generated Content -- and the question not how do we better integrate UGC - but rather, how can we increase engagement between consumers and brands. UGC is an expression of that relationship. Brands that highlight people's contribution to (and love of) should reciprocate that love by recognizing their audience. Reviews and photos are ideal ways to do this. - Posted on: 03/19/2018
Partnership gives a free Lyft to pharmacy customers
This is a great idea. Mobility is an important factor to consider. The "last mile" is not always getting from retailer to shopper.... - Posted on: 03/06/2018
Walmart debuts prepared meals and meal kits
If you've been to a grocery store in the past few months or consumed almost any type of media you've probably seen some marketing for meal kits. Meal kits are becoming quite ubiquitous; first with e-commerce players and now at many physical grocery chains and -- notably here -- Walmart. Keys for retailers are hitting the right mix of price, nutrition, taste and variety to get shoppers in and keep them engaged. - Posted on: 02/27/2018
Sam’s Club to push same-day grocery deliveries with Instacart deal
The joy and cost of shopping at warehouse clubs is the treasure hunt aspect and unexpected purchases (and the size of your final bill). Most shoppers cannot go in and leave with only the items on their list (assuming they have one). The Instacart partnership will be a boon for small businesses that can now get delivery (and given the above, it may even reduce their bills ... it certainly will for non-business shoppers), but may come back to bite Sam's Club as it will eliminate large and profitable unexpected impulse purchases. - Posted on: 02/26/2018
What do shoppers want most?
From my perspective, less aggregation is important as it's code for shoppers who desire to "be better, smarter and faster." Helping them achieve this (particularly for day-to-day shopping) will be rewarded. Some of the other elements -- including personalization -- fit into this framework. - Posted on: 02/21/2018
Unilever warns social platforms to clean up content
The context of where brands advertise has never been more important. The surrounding conversation -- or noise -- does rub off on brands, so brand safety is critical. Note to brands: boycott threats are not as effective as actual boycotts! - Posted on: 02/21/2018
Is influencer marketing just getting started?
Beg to disagree here, but marketing is not "much more about making sure there’s content and stories that people are interested in” -- it has ALWAYS been about this! At least for brands that were more customer-centric vs being self-centered. What we call Influencer Marketing today is socially-infused Word of Mouth Marketing. Technology has rapidly advanced this practice and "Shoppable Content" will be a natural extension. - Posted on: 02/20/2018
Albertsons and Rite Aid combine to create food, health and wellness giant
Smart move. The combination will strengthen the company's negotiating power with manufacturers, better position them versus competition and has potential to better ingrate them with shoppers. It also positions Albertsons to enter many new markets based on the Rite Aid footprint as well as shore up their heartland. - Posted on: 02/20/2018
Amazon gives Prime members another reason to shop at Whole Foods
The biggest benefit of this new combination between Whole Foods and Amazon will be tighter connection between the shopper and the retailer ... and, as a result, better data on their shoppers' omnichannel behavior. While the success of this initiative will indeed come down to execution, it does set a precedent of increasing discounting by Amazon. Something that will be interesting to keep an eye on.
