Is couponing a strategy that helps build long term loyal customers?

First, think about your marketing strategy for a second and regardless of a coupons ability to bring (lasting) brand value to your consumer, as important, is the need for trade support. The all important need to add value to the trade relationship is a mandatory and couponing is a retail traffic builder.

We helped our clients drop billions (yes, billions) of coupons over the years and we see couponing as a significant tool in the marketing mix. As a matter of fact when used in conjunction with other sales building vehicles/tools, coupons effectively increase the register ring with multiple, cross category purchases if used in tie-in programming and other meaningful sales programs.

• They help build awareness when used in in-home FSI or other direct mail solutions.

• They can be used as defensive strategies to offset a competitors program used as regional overlays or on a national program.

So back to the original question, lasting brand loyalty, maybe, but the fact is they are an important part of a brand marketers necessary toolkit and shouldn't be discounted.

Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling 2006 memoir launched a self-discovery movement that could best be described by its full title: Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

Although Sony Pictures has simplified the title, the ongoing search for "everything" remains an integral part of the movie release Friday -- especially if "everything" includes the slew of merchandising items, from the "I Deserve Something Beautiful" lotus petal necklace (Dogeared Jewels and Gifts, $72) to the "Only True Love Remains" organic tee (Signorelli, $45) to the official prayer beads (World Market, $4.99).

Effective and creative solutions for direct marketing success.

Reach your audience directly in their homes. Brochures, catalogs, postcards, flyers, pamphlets, you name it. LSC will help you find the right strategy for communicating services, promoting products, announcing events or any type of campaign you need to develop to grow your business or organization. We make sure each piece delivers your message through your brand.

We'll work with the printers and mailhouses to provide the best, high-quality, cost-effective solution for your needs.

"The current crisis demands significant and immediate action, doing nothing is not an option," warned Jonathan Copulsky, leader of Deloitte's Customer & National Market Strategy practice. "It's important to keep in mind that customers have memories. Taking short-term actions that produce measurable but modest benefits might make you feel like you're doing something effective, but if they end up damaging relationships that you'll need in the future, what's the point?"

Grocery stores, like consumers' food budgets, are shrinking. This month Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened four pilot Marketplace stores in Arizona that are half the size of a traditional supermarket.

Supervalu-owned Jewel-Osco is testing its own small-format store in Chicago known as Urban Fresh. Safeway trialed its version in Southern California. And Whole Foods has said it is scaling down the size of its new stores.

Overall, there is a high opportunity cost from delisting items. The estimated percent sales lost due to delisting has historically been greater than the new item dollar share. In highly marketed categories, roughly 30% of category sales are generated from SKU movement. With such a substantial chunk of category sales tied to listing and delisting decisions, the accuracy of assortment management is critical.

Good real estate comes at a price - and the aisles of a retail store are no exception. When a manufacturer launches a new product, there needs to be room on the store shelf for its placement. To make that room, the retail buyer will notoriously ask the manufacturer to delist an item from the portfolio. But which item gets the ax? Is there a compelling story that identifies what item to delist?

The survey, conducted by IDC Global Retail Insights and titled “Being Consumer-Centric: A Retailer and Manufacturer Update”, shows companies are seeing benefits from the concept, but more opportunities are available. Consumer centricity was defined in the survey as any strategy for which an organization uses shopper data to develop insight as a driver for decision-making.

“This survey confirms that retailers and consumer products manufacturers have become more consumer-centric for several years and are serious about committing to this type of initiative,” said Marc Dietz, vice president of marketing at DemandTec. “Given the difference between top-performing retailers and the rest of the pack, it is interesting to see the tremendous opportunity for additional investment and improvement.”

Every brand makes a promise to the customer; but a truly strong brand makes a highly relevant and distinctive promise, then delivers it consistently across the board. This is no small task, and one that requires everyone within an organization to know and understand the brand promise and how each and every activity of the company connects with delivering that promise.

BRADFORD, England -- The global recession is spoiling the summer for a lot of industries, but not the U.K.'s supermarkets. They're loving it. With an estimated five million Britons staying home this summer instead of traveling, the country's leading grocers are slugging it out for shoppers' time and money. They're slashing prices, launching new budget brands and taunting the price claims of rivals in advertising.

It's a precarious time for brands. Consumers are spending less money and investing it more carefully. They may be abandoning favored brands for low-priced competitors or generic alternatives. That's why it's more important that ever for established brands to engage in aggressive value building.

Value building is not a new concept. In good times and bad, smart brand marketers have always recognized the need to build value and differentiate-to make their brands a little better than competitors by adding a new feature, creating a special promotion or forging a unique alliance with another brand.