Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/247183
50 Sunday, August 11, 2013 David Biernbaum (Cont'd. from p. 1) also a master broker of national sales, has taken many brands from start up to full maturity often resulting in significant profits for his branded client companies. Chain Drugstore Daily recently asked Biernbaum about his Modus Operandi. CDD: How would you describe the services you provide your branded clients? DB: I provide across-the-board consulting, national sales and marketing expertise, equity development, leadership and guidance, connectivity, industry resources, and in-depth marketing savvy; all at a sensible cost. I specialize with brands delivering innovation, product differentiation, and on-the-shelf productivity. I lead my clients through the retail minefield helping them avoid making the misEmpowered Products (Cont'd. from p. 1) product lines: PINK for women, and Gun Oil for men. Our product lines include silicone-based, water-based, and water/silicone hybrid formulas. PINK and Gun Oil silicone-based products are made with a superior proprietary, three-molecule blend, and infused with Aloe Vera and Vitamin E for restorative and healing properties. PINK and Gun Oil water-based lubricants are premier, purified water-based formulations that provide the long-lasting glide of silicone, but also offer a wetter, lighter texture that is both slippery smooth and feels clean. We have infused these products with Ginseng and Guarana to heighten sensation and increase blood flow. CDD: How have your target markets responded to the PINK and Gun Oil offerings? SF: Better than expected, especially for Vitatech (Cont'd. from p. 1) manufacturing company with a 60-year history of serving the Natural Products Industry. We have 150,000-plus square feet of GMP manufacturing and corporate offices which are headquartered in Tustin, Calif. Our customers have historically looked to us as a trusted and high quality manufacturer for their own brand products. We have recently expanded our scope of services by partnering with inLife Business Development Group to form a comprehensive manufacturing/ sales/marketing entity for CinSulin® brand products. CDD: Tell us a little bit about your partner, inLife Business Development Group? TT: inLife Business Development group is headquartered in Issaquah, Wash., with satellite offices in Atlanta, Ga. and California. Their principals have decades of experience working with retailers in the food, drug, mass, club, and natural products channels and they are well respected throughout the industry for takes that can make the difference between success and failure. CDD: Do you handle national sales for your client companies? Do you hire and manage the reps and brokers? DB: For companies that need national sales and sales management services, I certainly do provide that. I work with an excellent group of rep firms and individual brokers covering every footprint and territory in the U.S. However, some of my clients already have an internal sales organization and for those clients I provide retail expertise and sales assistance. I know the retail channels extremely well and have outstanding connections on all levels and many departments within. Chain Drugstore Daily ed companies? DB: Absolutely. Many companies have learned the hard way that bigger is usually not better, and that relationships with big national organizations were not the right fit. When clients hire "David Biernbaum," they get David Biernbaum. They won't be working with layers of line management, empty suits, and people that are afraid of their own shadow. They will be working directly with top level experience, years of knowledge, high level connections, and a team of veteran sales representatives that know the business inside and out. CDD: What are the main criteria you look for in a new branded client? CDD: Have you taken on clients that are already well beyond the startup phases; maybe even very well established brand- DB: Point of differentiation: Every item I touch needs to serve a new purpose. I work only with category our PINK products. PINK is for everyday women, pre- and post-natal women, heterosexual couples, post-menopausal women, and lesbian couples. A reported 43 percent of women have some form of sexual function issue attributable to age or hormone replacement therapies that lubricants can greatly improve. Gun Oil has found a considerable audience among heterosexual men and couples for its masculine appeal and superior formulation. To our pleasant surprise, we see a lot of crossover with customers buying PINK and Gun Oil in the same transaction. pricing and outstanding customer service. In recent months, we have landed chain-wide and regional deals that will take us from 3,000 to more than 21,000 locations in the U.S. alone. We're here at NACDS to continue our mainstream expansion. CDD: Describe your success at moving into the national retail drug and grocery chains. SF: Empowered Products has carved out shelf space in the sexual wellness sections of the largest big box retailers, drug store chains and grocery stores with compelling branding and packaging, superior formulations, aggressive their sales and marketing expertise. CDD: Can you elaborate on the CinSulin brand? What makes it unique? TT: CinSulin is a patent-protected, clinically proven water-extracted cinnamon ingredient that took over five years to develop. It's derived from a select species of cinnamon bark and processed through a proprietary patented water extraction process that separates the unwanted fat-soluble compounds that naturally occur in cinnamon from the beneficial water-soluble compounds. By separating the two, we are able to basically eliminate the fat-soluble compounds and concentrate the water-solubles, which makes for a safer and highly concentrated material. CDD: Tell us why that is better than other forms of cinnamon. TT: Whole cinnamon products are inexpensive to produce and inexpensive for consumers to purchase. With ground cinnamon, the consumer is getting ground up plant parts from any number CDD: What is happening in the market for sexual wellness products? SF: The personal lubricant market is growing faster than many other wellness product categories. High-quality personal lubricants and sexual wellness products will expand their presence in the mainstream media and national retail marketplace. Baby boomers who remain sexually and physically active are demanding more sophisticated products and will use them in greater volumes. They expect to be able to shop for them in the places they shop for everything else they buy. CDD: Describe Empowered Products' of random species with no idea how much of the potentially toxic fat-soluble parts per million they're consuming. CinSulin is highly concentrated and, most importantly, it's standardized to yield at least three percent Type A Polymers, which are the active watersoluble compounds making our cinnamon so beneficial. One might say a person would need to consume ten 500 mg capsules of whole cinnamon to get a therapeutic effect, but would also be ingesting as much as 10,000 parts per million of dietary negatives. CinSulin eliminates those concerns. By comparison, a person would only need to consume two 250 mg capsules of our Advanced Strength CinSulin to get the same therapeutic effect with virtually none of the bad stuff. CDD: You mentioned a therapeutic effect. Who is the target consumer for CinSulin products? TT: CinSulin has been tested in five human clinical studies, which have all been peer reviewed and published, for its effect on fasting blood sugar levels. expanders. Productivity: "The true performers manifest the right blend of higher price points, margins, and profits. I like delivering the highest productivity index on a point of per distribution basis. Energy: Brands I work with are nationally advertised and deploy a highly-skilled intelligent use of the social media. I will put folks in touch with the right resources to make those things happen. Destination: Simply put, these brands deliver the retailer's most coveted consumer with the most desirable shopping basket mix and results. Finally, innovation: This is where entrepreneurs rock! Big brands will eventually buy out their products and innovations but rarely do the big companies invest in the initial groundbreaking. For more information, contact David Biernbaum at 314-434-6008 email david@biernbaum.com or go online to www.consultdavidb.com. current marketing and distribution strategy. SF: We have supported our brands with advertising in wellness and lifestyle publications for some time, and generate considerable awareness and consumer engagement through events, public relations and social media including Facebook and Twitter. We are a leading brand in the alternate lifestyle markets and do extensive product sampling promotions at pride events across the country. We've been featured on the Dr. Oz show and received unsolicited endorsements from celebrities including Marlo Thomas and Jenny McCarthy. In September, we will launch our first Free Standing Insert campaigns in targeted markets to support our presence in large national chains. To learn more about Empowered Products, visit vooth 4343, go to www.empowered products.com, call 800-929-0407, or email wholesale@empoweredproducts.com. All of the studies, as well as a metaanalysis conducted by researchers at U.C. Davis in California, validated the results that 500 mg of CinSulin daily supports healthy blood sugar levels. So, our target consumer is anyone with regular blood sugar readings in the 100-125 mg/dl range, or those who are close and want to prevent getting to that level. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are nearly 20 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes and 79 million confirmed pre-diabetics. The sad reality is that there are also 7 million people out there who are undiagnosed and don't even know they're at risk. Note, we are not medical doctors and make no medical claims about CinSulin. In fact, we encourage your readers to ask their physicians to review the published CinSulin literature. Anyone interested in carrying the brand in their stores can contact our Director of Sales for National Accounts, Neil Hanson, at 925-513-0645. For more information, visit booth 4644, go online to www.cinsulin.com, or call 855-844-4370.