MVI Explores ''The Next Generation of Retail Leadership'': Annual Forum Illuminates Supplier Challenges and Opportunities

MVI, Management Ventures, Inc., recognizing the wide-ranging changes in the retail landscape today, will examine this critical topic in depth at MVI's signature research event, the 2007 Year-End Forum. Headlined "Growth 2.0 - The Next Generation of Retail Leadership," it is scheduled for December 11th to 13th at the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlanta, GA.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Business Wire EON) November 8, 2007 -- MVI, Management Ventures, Inc., recognizing the wide-ranging changes in the retail landscape today, will examine this critical topic in depth at MVI’s signature research event, the 2007 Year-End Forum. Headlined “Growth 2.0 - The Next Generation of Retail Leadership,” it is scheduled for December 11th to 13th at the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlanta, GA.

We have a retail landscape bent on optimizing price competition and differentiation--what will that mean to brands that are available everywhere?

“Capturing faster-than-market growth now requires new capabilities and go-to-market strategies for both retailers and suppliers,” Wayne Levings, MVI’s CEO, points out. “This evolution will transform the way suppliers work, retailers sell, and shoppers buy,” Levings adds.

MVI experts have clearly identified which customers and what formats will drive growth for the next 5 years—and how they will succeed: Shopper Understanding, Supplier Integration, Brand and Format Development, Next Generation Category Management, and Environmental Leadership.

During the Forum’s General Session on December 12th in Atlanta, MVI will preview its Retailer Capability Scorecard. This new model assesses a retailer’s ability to manage the 4 key themes for growth: Segmentation, Optimization, Demand Creation, and Integration.

Bryan Gildenberg, MVI’s Chief Knowledge Officer, explains, “This is about smaller, more focused segments being served by large retailers—and smaller retailers growing faster than the market and becoming more important.” He elaborates, “We have a retail landscape bent on optimizing price competition and differentiation—what will that mean to brands that are available everywhere?”

“Sustainability is another important piece of an increasing trend toward closer integration with your best customers. It boils down to this,“ Gildenberg adds, “everything suppliers do today must be done better, faster, and cheaper tomorrow.”

Responding to this new view of what it will take to succeed in retailing, the MVI 2007 Year-End Forum will look at how the changing landscape will affect the US Mass Merch, Warehouse Clubs, Drug, and Grocery channels in an information-loaded one-day General Session. Combining real-world application, quantitative analytics, and MVI insight, specialized breakout sessions will identify the steps suppliers must take to manage their business internally and externally.

For more information on MVI’s 2007 Year-End Forum, December 11th-13th in Atlanta, Georgia, visit http://www.MVI-Worldwide.com/info/yef or contact MVI at 617.588.4100 or customerservice@mventures.com.