Reworking the Food Chain

J. BROWN AGENCY

J. Brown/LMC Group redefined “retail execution” when it merged with Crosscut, the marketing arm of food broker Crossmark, in January 2004 to form The J. Brown Agency. It’s the first merger between a food broker and promotions agency in the U.S., and gives J. Brown 6,400 merchandisers to ensure promos run as planned.

“We use shopper insights to center promotions on the shopper and the store, and then we make sure our ideas happen,” says CEO Jon Kramer.

The two collaborated for six months before merging. The joint venture between Dallas-based Crossmark and J. Brown parent Grey Global Group also gives J. Brown daily, store-specific data to track stock and merchandising, and to set store- or region-specific promotion strategy.

“Only three companies get Nielsen’s store-specific data: P&G, Kraft, and us,” says J. Brown President Jim Norred, a Crossmark veteran.

Store-level diligence got 97% compliance for the 2004 Slim-Fast Challenge in 3,500 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores and bumped sales 13%.

Business wins include Hershey’s Food Corp. (June 2003) and Dannon (July 2003), “the poster child for how our whole vision will come to pass,” says Kramer.

The vision? “Forget overlays. Build promotions from retailers’ and shoppers’ perspective,” says Kramer. “Then retailers will embrace them.”