That's a wrap

On Sept. 18 and 19, retailers, store brand suppliers and service providers headed to sunny Scottsdale, Ariz., to take part in the inaugural Collaboration Summit, brought to the market by Private Label => Store Brands and Stagnito Media. The two-day event featured an esteemed lineup of speakers who shared collaboration success stories and strategies through both general sessions and concurrent panel discussions.

Here, we provide a wrap-up of the event via photographs and memorable speaker quotes.

"This is the future of work: a connected and engaged organization."
– Jacob Morgan, principal, Chess Media Group and author of The Collaborative Organization
General session titled "How to Develop Your Organizations Collaborative Capabilities – from the Inside Out"

"The biggest threat to continued private brand growth will revolve around how successfully retailers and private brand manufacturers adapt to new technologies. But the biggest threat also is the biggest opportunity."
– Jim Wisner, president, Wisner Marketing Group Inc.
General session titled "Will Social Media Burst the Store Brand Bubble?"

"So when does collaboration make sense? Well, I think it makes sense when people stop to listen. Not every organization and not every part of an organization is ready to stop and listen. We have the feeling that we know what we are doing. But sometimes, if we can just get that glimmer of doubt in the room and convince the organization to stop and listen to someone who might just be a little bit smarter – then that is where you engage in collaboration."
– Noel Matos, CEO, head of strategic export marketing, M Industry/Migros
General session titled "Collaboration is More than Cooperation"

"The environment in which private brands are competing is changing a lot, and this environment requires new sets of capabilities or approaches to be successful. Collaboration, whether it is internal or external, represents a way of accessing capabilities that a retailer may not possess – an affordable way to do things."
– Jim Lucas, executive vice president, global insights and strategy, SGK
Concurrent session titled "Collaboration: The Key Ingredient and Recipe for Successful Own Brands"

"We worked with other people that have expertise – and that is really the key with collaboration. When youre in a matrix organization, you need those experts to come together. ... You turn over a piece of that business to somebody else that knows it really well; they do their work, and they bring it back to you. But you are aligned along the way because otherwise it is wasted effort."
– Laura Sturdevant, director of product development for private brands, Walgreen Co.
General session titled "Effective Collaboration in the Building of Transparent Relationships"

"As I take a look at collaboration and the role collaboration had, collaboration really touches upon many areas. Certainly between Project 7 and Topco; between our suppliers, member retailers and brokers. Those were a couple of key parties participating in the success of Project 7 and Topcos collaboration."
– Paul Best, director, innovation, Topco Associates LLC
Concurrent session titled "Collaboration and Cobranding: When Does it Make Sense?"

"Collaboration is an important aspect of what we do with both our customers and internally. Collaboration is the process of pooling knowledge and resources and relationships to achieve a shared objective. Companies realize that in a world of reduced staffs and doing more with less, they need to extend their resources by joining forces to tackle big issues, and certainly sustainability is a big issue."
– John Rebecchi, senior vice president, marketing and new business development, DISC
Concurrent session titled "Collaboration to Produce Sustainable Packaging"

"Working together, can manufacturers, retailers and food producers can revitalize canned food usage and sales through consumer education, solution-based communication and collaborative cooperation."
– Greg Metzger, director of marketing, Red Gold Inc.
Concurrent session titled "Driving Store Brand Success at the Shelf: A Presentation by the Can Manufacturers Institute"

"We shared an open business model with our partners – total transparency."
– Pedro Leandro, chief commercial officer, Pingo Doce (Jerónimo Martins Group)
General session titled "The European Model for Successful Collaboration: A Benchmark for North American Retailers and Suppliers"

"Packaging optimization is deceptively simple but amazingly effective [and something on which] retailers and suppliers could work together."
– Jack Ampuja, president and CEO, Supply Chain Optimizers
Concurrent session titled "Collaboration to Build a Cost-Effective Logistics Program"

"For a long time, ingredient companies havent been included, but this is how brands go to market. Heres an opportunity to open up that black box."
– Evan Hyman, manager, private label business development, Ingredion Inc.
Concurrent session titled "Collaboration that drives New Product Development and Brand Building"

"Millennials shop differently than other consumers. Traditional retailers are not relevant to them."
– Brad Hanna, senior vice president, CPG Group practice leader, Barkley
Concurrent session titled "Collaboration and Sharing Data To Drive Store Brand Loyalty"

"Its not only important to have data, its important to have good data."
– Teri-Anne Foster, director of marketing and analytics, ESM Ferolie, a member of Beacon United
Concurrent session titled "Striking a Balance Between Store Brands and Brands"

"Weve trained the shopper to cherry pick, which further hurts the situation."
– Craig Rosenblum, partner, Willard Bishop LLC
General session titled "How Retailers and Suppliers Can Collaborate To Battle Rising Commodity Costs"

"We rely on our fresh expertise to differentiate us in the market. ... We are food focused. ... Private label is a key ingredient in our strategy."
– Marc Poulin, president and CEO, Sobeys Inc.
General session titled "Growth through Collaboration at Sobeys"