What General Mills Can Do Now

Offer Disproportionately Higher Value To Customers
The most effective way for a company like General Mills to offset high commodity costs is to strengthen the brands within their portfolio and highlight a much stronger offering relative to competitors. In the current economic downturn, the most important thing to consumers is VALUE! From a Blue Ocean perspective, a business can move up or down the price-performance balance for its customers. They can slightly increase or maintain price, while offering enhanced benefits which resonate with customers. Or, they can lower price, move down this balance, and reduce performance of a product. If they do not reduce performance, it is a sale, and will be effective in increasing revenue on only a very short term basis. General Mills is a position to do both, however, given the “higher than the norm” quality of most of its brands – they should maintain price or move it up slightly. They can raise product performance and benefit – and critically offer a disproportionate amount of positive benefit relative to the amount of the price increase.

Using Their Scale
In the food manufacturing industry, General Mills’ scale allows them to operate at a lower cost, and to leverage marketing practices across many brands. This will allow them to offer product benefit at a higher relative level than competitors for the same price point. For General Mills’ customers, paying a premium for a General Mills product is worth it because they get so much more benefit than a competitor’s product even at a slightly lower price!

Favorable Macro Trends For General Mills
General Mills’ brands are sitting at the intersection of many macro trends which are favorable to them. These translate into value for consumers; especially relative to their other food consumption options. The first major trend that bodes well for General Mills is that people are eating out less because typical American consumers have less money to spend due to the economic slowdown. The second major trend in the U.S. is that Americans are moving to eating healthier. This trend is impactful, and has moved people from seeking fast food to cooking healthier items at home. General Mills has many brands which can leverage this shift.

How They Can Dominate Their Categories
General Mills’ portfolio of brands is strong, and would grow to unprecedented category dominance using some the Blue Ocean Strategies mentioned in the last two articles. These are ways to win in any economic environment. With commodity prices up, consumer spending down, and value being the spending criteria of customers, General Mills and all food manufacturers must change strategy to maintain margins and combat revenue shrinkage. The good thing about General Mills is their marketers don’t remain in a silo – and their marketing efforts are holistic. They must use this pervasiveness of marketing to seek out and stay on top of consumer benefit preferences. These benefits must be linked to features – and translated into relevant messages for given targeted groups in effective media. Equally as important, General Mills should use its muscle and reach to leverage and provide disproportionate benefit for its customers – and that alone is enough buffer them from this recession and any economic downturn.

Nordstrom Is In the Right Blue Sea: They Can Enhance Profitability – And Even Grow Revenue Slightly

Use a Value Strategy – Similar To Big Box Retailers
An example of executing and enacting a value strategy is to borrow a tactic from big box stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club – do a value-oriented store-within-a-store. To make this work effectively, they must keep the customer experience the same within this new entity. The key ingredients of this strategy are maintenance of high quality experience and fashionable new items – but at a moderate price point. It must be positioned above Target but below Neiman Marcus. To pull this off, Nordstrom would have to develop or enhance a set of private label lines that are higher than Target in “fashionability” and quality. To prevent cannibalization of sales from higher-end parts of the main store, the buyers must choose merchandise which is distinctive and does not directly compete with other merchandise within the main store.

Revenue Portfolio: “Real Stars”, “Potential Stars”, and “Cash Cows”
Nordstrom should also look to increase the number of its Nordstrom Rack Stores which offer discounted and discontinued merchandise. Its sales are increasing, and the Rack Stores’ lower-priced merchandise is allowing it to weather the recession well. The Rack Stores are “stars” within Nordstrom’s portfolio of revenue-generating entities – they are growing and kicking off substantial cash flow. Capital expenditures for “real stars” should increase, but for “potential stars” – good growth rates but less cash flow – hold off increases in funding until 2010. Nordstrom should focus capital allocation more to its “cash cows” – areas which are kicking off substantial cash flow but not necessarily growing rapidly.

Focus On Value – But Keep-Up Differentiation Qualities
Nordstrom’s profits are down and growth is receding – but so is everyone else in retail – they shouldn’t feel badly! Even in this adverse retail climate, Nordstrom can raise profitability and achieve some growth. Unlike many competitors, they are still profitable, and have kept their loyal core customers. With chains positioned below them, like Target adjusting its focus to value over “fashionability,” Nordstrom should follow this trend in the market – but maintain its value proposition and differentiating qualities. This article has revealed the Blue Ocean strategy for accomplishing this. Nordstrom’s current tagline should read: “Our Value: Great Fashions and Legendary Service without Breaking You.”

Blue Ocean Strategy and Retail: Nordstrom Gearing Up To Navigate an Expected Turbulent Holiday Season

Current Difficult Times for Nordstrom and Retailers
Nordstrom is a national retailer which sells fashionable clothes and other merchandise to an upscale client base. It has over 150 stores in the U.S. It is known for superior customer service in which salespersons and other employees go well beyond the call of duty to help customers with any relevant need. Its direct competitors include Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdale’s. Like nearly all major retailers, Nordstrom is feeling the effect of these turbulent times in the U.S. economy. According to Reuters Nov. 13th, 2008 online edition, “Consumers grappling with falling home values, job losses and a bleak economic picture have pulled back on purchases of all but essential items, and shoppers are expected to keep a tight grasp on their wallets well beyond December.” This same article states that, “Nordstrom reported a net profit of $71 million compared to $166 million a year ago for the 3rd quarter.” This 57% drop in profits occurred because critical masses of wealthy customers are searching for bargains. Now more than ever, customers are focused on Value.

Nordstrom’s: Subtract, Then Maintain and Add Features
Well – what can Nordstrom do to combat this flight and return to higher profitability? On the F3Q08 Earning Conference Call, Blake Nordstrom, President of Nordstrom, said, “Even affluent customers, typically more resistant to economic malaise, are shopping less and are making more deliberate purchases.” Macro factors are hurting Nordstrom’s core value proposition and business model. Nordstrom can directly combat the shift to buying based on value along with seeking lower price points on various purchases. They should implement the specialized Blue Ocean Strategy which was outlined in my previous two articles of “Blue Ocean Strategy in a Recession Series.” Examine what current Nordstrom shoppers perceive as less important in their shopping experience. Then, reduce or eliminate that factor. The object is to lower costs across a set of items with low utility features. To maintain or even raise perceived value to customers, Nordstrom must select elements of its high quality services practice which customers especially like or can’t do without and maintain the resource investment in them. They can even use the newly available resources from the “selective resource reduction” to add to valued features and benefits. This practice of subtraction, then addition, will encourage the perception of Nordstrom as a place with a value orientation, while maintaining the loyalty of its “regular” or core customers.