Q & A with Catherine Tabor, CEO, Sparkfly. By: David Hochman, founder of DJH Marketing Communications Inc. According to a recent post on Mashable.com, most consumers who subscribe to a mobile plan from a carrier own a smartphone. In fact, it was way back in March 2012 when the smartphone became the dominant mobile device…
Recovering from Hurricane Sandy
7-Eleven franchisee Tom El-Dalati lost his flagship store in last year’s superstorm. One year later the struggle to rebuild his business continues . By Dave Hochman, Contributing Editor. Nearly one year ago, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states leaving a stream of destruction and chaos for homes and businesses. Extreme winds, devastating…
2013 Summer Fancy Food Show Recap
The Fancy Food Show is held every summer in New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, or Javits Center (the ’12 show moved to Washington, D.C. due to renovations at the Javits Center) Thousands of food and beverage suppliers rent booth space and hand out samples of their products to the specialty food trade.…
Four Strategic Lessons
By: Dave Hochman, founder of DJH Marketing Communications Inc. In 2010, a new category in CPG emerged, one that quickly garnered the attention of the beverage, c-store and specialty food trades. The category was termed “relaxation” and it was originally positioned as a diametric opposite to the “energy” category. One-ounce plastic shot bottles with brand…
Crisis Management 101 for C-Stores
By: David Hochman, founder of DJH Marketing Communications Inc. As is (sometimes painfully) obvious, today’s C-Store customer enjoys the benefits an ever-expanding number of choices with regards to their C-Store visits. Most locations drawing from the same pool of employees and categories, and pricing competition just creates a “race to the bottom” environment. One of…
The 1980s Las Vegas Turnaround… and Lessons for C-Store Operators
Widen your customer base and change your surroundings. By David Hochman, owner of DJH Marketing Communications Inc. For the first 30 years or so, casinos in Las Vegas thrived, raking in obscene profits simply because options for legal gambling in the U.S. were few, far and in-between. Things started to get a bit more difficult for the casinos…