...9-704-491 REV: SEPTEMBER 2, 2005 CYNTHIA A. MONTGOMERY Newell Rubbermaid: Strategy in Transition Joe Galli, 43, was recruited to be the CEO of Newell Rubbermaid in January 2001, two years after the two companies were combined. His mission was to forge a turnaround after a string of disappointing earnings. As he moved ahead, Galli took a personal, hands-on approach. Always in motion, whether walking the aisles of retail stores, meeting with customers, or training his new cadre of managers, Galli’s energy seemed boundless. He strove to embody the attitudes and behavior he felt were vital to achieving his far-reaching agenda for the company. It was an agenda Wall Street seemed to like. In December, 2000, the month before Galli took over, Newell’s stock price dipped to $19.50; it closed at $35.99 in August of the following year.1 While still below the company’s historic high of $54.44 four years earlier, the momentum was forward.2 By the spring of 2003 Merrill Lynch, Prudential Financial, Fahnestock & Co., Inc. and Banc of America Securities maintained ‘buy’ ratings on the stock while Raymond James & Associates reiterated a ‘strong buy’. What did the future hold for the 100 year-old company? Newell’s Former Strategy Newel defines its basic business as that of manufacturing and distributing volume merchandise lines to the volume merchandisers. — Newell Company Strategy, 1967 In 1966, Daniel Ferguson became CEO of Newell Company, a privately held curtain rod manufacturer...
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...L.L.Bean is a privately owned company founded by Leon Leonwood Bean, which specialize in outdoor clothing and equipment based in Freeport, Maine, United States. The company is famous for marketing its products by mail order at the beginning of its business. More importantly, L.L.Bean held the essence of superior product quality, friendly personal service and legacy of true passion for outdoor, rugged individualism to make the company standout in the industry as a leading brand. At the beginning of this corporation, L.L created the very first boots called “Maine hunting boots”. He had brochure about his product and the mailing list of the license holders to sell his products. By experimenting the products by himself over and over, he believed that the customers would love them as well. He also provided the superior customer service of diagnosing problem, returning money and explaining reasons to the buyer when he heard there were defects about his products. After 50 years of practicing catalog methods of production, the quality of products and customer service was gradually going problematic. The transitions that L.L.Bean made was increase more advertisement to promote and offer freer catalogs to consumers to get the company back on track. After all this effort, the retail store in Freeport had expanded and the operation facilities were improved, too. However, no matter how L.L.Bean evolve with the market and industry change, it always kept the goal of maintaining that...
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...Zhuhao (Andy) Zhang BUS 340 Marketing Case: L.L.Bean Nov.11th 2014 Question 1: What forms of direct marketing does L.L.Bean employ? Which additional forms of direct marketing should L.L.Bean consider using? L.L.Bean currently employs multiple forms of direct marketing, including catalog marketing and online retailing. Catalog marketing is one of L.L.Bean’s core direct marketing methods. In the United States, catalogs have been a popular way for stores to reach customers for over two hundred years. However, due to the Internet boom in the recent decades, many stores have shifted their advertising budgets from catalogs to online advertisement. L.L.Bean still maintains its well-known catalogs, but has reduced them in size. Instead of making full-line catalogs, L.L.Bean provides more specialized catalogs for different marketing segments to highlights various themes, including road trips, hunting and holidays. L.L.Bean currently manages over 50 specific seasonal catalogs, which are mailed to over 160 countries in the world. In addition to catalogs, L.L.Bean also utilizes online retailing for direct marketing activities to keep up with the growing trend of Internet use. L.L.Bean focuses on multi-channel digital marketing to compete with other brands. The company not only has established a web-based store, but also has developed its mobile shopping app. Online retailing enables customers to get immediate access to L.L.Bean product information and place orders at any...
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