Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/808992
Chain Drugstore Daily 3 3 Monday, April 24, 2017 CDD: How do you keep the company dynamic without losing that 'boutique' specialness? JK: Our team is committed to achieving successful outcomes that support the long-term growth of organizations around the world in both the for-profit and non-profit arenas. Our services are completely customized and based on each organization's needs. Our services are never the 'canned, one-size-fits-all' solutions found elsewhere. CDD: You're service-oriented rather than product production. How is it you fit here at NACDS? JK: Since I founded JBK 14 years ago, I have built JBK into a firm with a track record and reputation for incredible client service. Many of our clients are here at NACDS and we are highly consultative in ensuring they can connect with us on pro- viding the most extraordinary talent the market has to offer. After all, innovation is what drives growth, and the talent that we bring to our clients provides amazing opportunities for innovation. CDD: How do you accomplish that? JK: Our searches are based on the potential for success rather than simply on skills and skill levels. We take into consideration the potential for success for both the client com- pany and the candidate. Once we identify a JBK Associates (Cont'd. from p. 1) qualified candidate, we then take 'good fit' one-step further, as we believe that the can- didate must also be a good fit for the culture of the client organization. Tangible skills and experience are, of course, vital in hiring, but extraordinary leadership skills and the abili- ty to be agile and adapt are key critical com- ponents as well that our clients insist upon. Our own company culture is based on hard work, results, diversity, social responsibility, mutual respect and appreciation, and we take special care in providing an environ- ment where our employees can succeed. CDD: JBK has gathered many awards over the years. JK: Yes, we have been honored with a variety of awards. Most recently JBK Associates International was named one of the 2017 Best Places to Work in New Jersey for the second consecutive year. JBK Associates has been named to the list of Top 500 Privately Owned Companies in the US. We are also on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies for four consecutive years, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012. CDD: Do you have offices other than your headquarters in New Jersey? JK: Yes, we have satellites in New York, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Florida, Michigan and Switzerland. For more information, go to www.jbk associates.net or call 201.567.9070. healthy and bring wellness to people around the world. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality, innovative products at the best value to our cus- tomers. Understanding our consumer's desires and needs has fueled our success. Hence, being such a consumer centric company is what drives our opportunity to get our consumers the products they want and need. CDD: Can you describe your Wellness 360 approach? SR: We approach this business as a total health and wellness category. Our Wellness 360 approach is all about how we incorporate supplements and other healthy living techniques, such as exercise, healthy eating, vitamin and essential oil recipes to better educate our consumers. It's not just about our products, but what techniques work well with the products for great over- all health and wellness. For instance, there are strong syner- gies between vitamins, beauty and aro- matherapy, so we offer products across all these segments for a total approach to wellness. We have our finger on the pulse when it comes to identifying emerging trends, and our innovative formulas and packaging will bring new users into the wellness category. CDD: You say Piping Rock thinks strate- gically outside of the box. Can you explain this in more detail? SR: When we think about wellness and today's consumer, we do not limit our- selves to think just about the typical vita- mins as the category was once defined. Piping Rock (Cont'd. from p. 1) We approach the business not only with an open mind, but through the eyes of the consumer, to offer them products to sup- port their unique wellness goals and lifestyle. This has enabled us to bring new categories into the vitamin aisle, such as aromatherapy and now our new beauty serums. It's all about a total approach to health and wellness on the inside and out. Aromatherapy is fueling incremental growth in the vitamin aisle, contributing 271 percent growth in the last year and bringing in new users. This emerging segment has been instrumental to category growth this past year, and I expect to continue to see strong growth trends throughout 2017 as well. CDD: Do you see a shift toward more natural and organic products in vitamins and supplements? If so, how is Piping Rock responding? Is Piping Rock expanding into new product areas or innovations? SR: We are launching new products that are non-GMO and support many of the 'free of' statements. We are also launch- ing many new herbal products, like Charcoal and Turmeric, and others that I can't discuss just yet. Innovation is key to the growth of this industry and we are always looking into the future and creat- ing products as we see trends emerge. Our essential oils are 100 percent pure plant based and we clearly call that out on the front panel. Just over a year since our aromatherapy launch, we are the leading brand, with more than a 59 per- cent share in XAOC. We will continue to create new, unique and trending products to fuel growth. For more information, visit booth #604. Now, CURAD has developed SoothePlus gauze and pads for the consumer market based on the same principles. The SoothePlus product line is infused with the deodorizing benefits of ARM & HAMMER™ baking soda. In a market ripe for innovation, the SoothePlus prod- uct line provides an affordable, broad- reach solution that helps fights bacterial odor and also lessens the sting associated with a variety of irritating cuts, scrapes and chronic wounds. Germ Shield™ With so much concern about bacterial strains becoming resistant to the effects of antibiotics, Germ Shield antimicro- bial gel is a timely option for con- sumers. Unlike typical antibiotic oint- ments, Germ Shield kills a wider spec- trum of microbes, including bacteria, fungus and yeast, and maintains effec- tiveness for up to three days. In addi- tion, this unique gel isn't prone to bac- terial resistance. Soothe & Cool™ Damage from minor burns continues even when the heat source has been removed. That's why new Soothe & Cool bandages are made to quickly pull heat from the burn. The special hydrogel pad provides immediate cooling to relieve pain and help reduce damage. Waterproof adhesive helps seal the bandage up to five days, preventing contamination and promoting an ideal healing environment. They're great for minor burns, as well as CURAD (Cont'd. from p. 1) blisters, scrapes and abrasions. QuickStop! ® Some cuts just don't want to stop bleed- ing, especially cuts suffered by the mil- lions of people taking blood thinners. Now QuickStop! bandages and spray offer a quick and easy solution to stop minor bleeding fast. Made with M•Doc™, a natural cotton derivative, QuickStop! products rapidly stop bleed- ing from minor skin injuries and form a protective layer to help prevent reopen- ing. For minor cuts and scrapes, QuickStop! can stop bleeding in seconds. Truly Ouchless! ® For children and people with delicate skin, Truly Ouchless helps avoid the pain of using typical bandages. With special EZ Release™ adhesive technology, Truly Ouchless are the bandages made specifi- cally to Hold Tight, Let Go Easy. These first aid innovations are the prod- uct of CURAD and its parent company, Medline, a leading developer of advanced wound care for hospitals and long-term care facilities. With deep industry knowledge and experience on the frontlines of healthcare, CURAD is well-positioned to make advanced solu- tions and technology for a broad range of health concerns available to consumers to use at home. For more information, visit booth #699, go to www.curad.com, www.facebook .com/curadbrand or www.twitter.com/ curad (@Curad). TZV program to analyze retailers and build customized recommendations that satisfy the Refresh, Reward and Remind need states, optimize category adjacen- cies and maximize conversion of incre- mental items. More than a dozen retailers nation- wide are seeing results. For example, Wrigley and Mars Chocolate recently worked with a grocery retailer to test a redesigned self-checkout, and subse- quently saw need-state items experience a 20 percent dollar sales lift. The test indicates strong growth in unit sales and household penetration, as well as basket size. The beauty of the TZV is that it can be applied to any retailer and the compa- nies have active partnerships across drug, value, mass and food channels. Drug Store Insights One relevant trend for drug stores is shoppers are prioritizing products that support health and wellness. However, depending on the shopper, this could be a variety of different items. For example, shoppers may pick up Orbit™ sugarfree gum not only to refresh themselves, but also for the oral health benefits. It's also interesting to note that 89 percent of drug channel shoppers believe a reward like confectionery has a place within a bal- Mars (Cont'd. from p. 4) anced lifestyle. Offering shoppers a range of options that let them choose what they need in the moment will ulti- mately help them feel better about their experience. Outside of the register area, Wrigley and Mars Chocolate have started apply- ing the next phase of research to the area where shoppers wait in line to pay. They found several opportunities where drug stores can maximize this time, including: featuring eye-catching floor displays, advertising promotions and seasonal con- fections in the checkout queue; and engaging shoppers in "the other front end," or the pharmacy, where nearly two- thirds of shoppers wait for prescriptions. The pharmacy counter and area around it can include additional displays of need- state products Over the next year, Wrigley and Mars Chocolate will be exploring opportuni- ties with mobile and e-commerce. These recommendations will allow the compa- nies to further help retailers implement the TZV program and satisfy the key Refresh, Reward and Remind need states. For more information, visit booths #336- 338, go to www.mars.com, call 800.631.7630 or contact your Mars Chocolate or Wrigley representative.