This is a private show where we present Uniden's product plan for 2012 to buyers from retail chains throughout the US. This year it was held in Phoenix, Arizona on March 15. It is a marketing event that allows us to see how buyers react and how we can mediate their needs with our product plan. At the same time, it is an important venue that allows us to speak directly with major customers to learn about the current state of retail for consumer products, including the competitor's.
Large-scale retail chains throughout the US replace their product offerings for the new fiscal year between April and May. This is our chance to see the whole line of products our competitors are offering in 2011. It amounts to being our first chance at mapping specific products in our own product plan against the competitor's offerings. The theme is on spring models to be rolled out in 2012, so this is the most opportune time to talk with retail chain buyers who, by now, are at ease having finished selecting spring models to replace products lined up for the Christmas shopping season.
A product plan serves as the starting point for everything from development, purchasing, and production. Therefore, the pressure is always there to visualize the whole picture as early as possible. The more we can reflect the customer's needs in a product about to be developed, the easier it is for sales to sell, resulting in greater visibility on store shelves, and expanded opportunities for exposure to consumers. That is the vertical viewpoint. Our product plan looks ahead several years from both this vertical viewpoint and from a horizontal viewpoint where we match ourselves up to the competitor's product line at the same location. This makes the summit held a year before a new product launches our last chance to make any directional changes.
If we could have it our way, we would rather rebuild our plan after seeing what is on the shelves for the new fiscal year from April to May. Unfortunately, development periods make this physically impossible so we have to rely on our keen senses to a certain extent. The real work of marketing is that of a coordinator, aligning and realigning the buyer's requests against the competitive environment while updating the plan according to the stage of development.
Yuji Suzuki
Director of Sales Headquarters
In charge of marketing at Uniden America Corporation
Joined company in 1992
Responsible for marketing in the North American market. Yuji Suzuki is responsible for finding the fastest and most efficient way to connect customer needs to the final product. He helps bring new products on to the market by communicating thoroughly with the customer, and coordinating efforts between development and production on a daily basis.
