Strength in Numbers
Marketing has become a top priority for the National Retail Federation, as evidenced by its late-February alliance with the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. Washington, DC-based NRF has historically tackled operations and technology issues for its 50,000 corporate members. RAMA, on the other hand, has focused strictly on marketing and promotion, running the top marketing conference in the retail industry, the Retail Advertising Conference.
The two decided to join forces last fall, and sealed the deal at RAC in February. “The retail industry is embracing the concept of marketing like never before,” says RAMA president Douglas Raymond. “The credibility of NRF strengthens RAMA, and vice versa.”
The alliance helps NRF kick-start its marketing expertise – the group essentially bought the Retail Advertising Conference and the experience of its staff. In May, NRF adds a “Retail Marketing Solutions” section to its member newsletter, with plans to eventually spin it off as a separate publication.
For RAMA, the advantage is potential NRF funding and manpower, as well as access to NRF members. There’s some overlap between the two groups, with 2,300 marketing execs joining RAMA as their corporations join NRF.
Separately, RAMA presented the RAC Awards at its show in February. Winners included Target Stores of Minneapolis, named Best of Show for its Grand Opening campaign, and The Gap of San Francisco, first winner of the new Saffer Branding Award. Paul Higham, senior vp-marketing for Wal-Mart, Bentonville, AR, was inducted into the Retail Advertising Hall of Fame.
