TieCon Event: What is the Right Channel to Take Consumer Products to Market

TiE, The Global Network of Entrepreneurs, organization will be hosting an event in the Bay Area this evening on the topic of What is the Right Channel to Take Consumer Products to Market?. For those able to attend, it should be a valuable roundtable discussion with several executives from leading national retailers, including BestBuy, and Walmart.  I will be attending this evening and for those of you who aren't in the area or cannot attend, I will blog on the main points and highlights of the event in the next few days.  Should be interesting.  You can click on this link to register or view the event details below:

Time and Place:

Tuesday, August 21, 6pm-9pm

TiE Conference Center, Suite Number 108

2903 Bunker Hill Lane

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Online registration closes at Noon, or you can register at the event.  Member fees USD 20.00 online; Non-member USD 50.00 online; Member USD 30.00 onsite; Non-member USD 60.00 onsite.

Topics of Discussion:

TiE Consumer Technologies SIG is pleased to announce its next event, focused on "What is the right channel to take consumer products to market? Understand how your target customer (consumer) will learn about the product, and how will they want to buy it? impulse or considered purchase? how long is that consumer sales cycle?

If you are in the business of Consumer products, and would like to know how to choose the right channel for your company this panel cannot be missed.

Some of the questions this group will discuss:

- What are the choices for taking new product to market?
- Common mistakes to avoid? what are some of the most spectacular mistakes you've seen?
- Direct mail campaign with phone support?
- What about infomercials? shopping channels like HSN? how to work with this channel and not waste money in that channel?
- How do I compare the effectiveness of the various channels? how to measure? quantitative vs qualitative components. (where do the impressions go? what's the typical response rate, conversion rates, click-through rates & typical sell-through rates? return rates? etc.)
- What is a hard goods retailer looking for? What should I be prepared to pay for? what should I be ready to support? returns? what are typical terms? how long will a retailer try a new product category? how much inventory is required?
- How to balance channels: what is multi-channel retailing? should I pursue a multi-channel strategy? when is it right for me - why should I care? (because you have limited marketing funds - prioritize and spend funds wisely) - use the right channel for the right audience
- How to think about direct marketing - such as BestBuy's direct mail program? is this something startups should think seriously about?
- Does direct mail still work? if so, when should it be considered?
- Q&A