Yakima Products Inc. announced a new go-to-market strategy for 2015 centered on enhancing the quality of interactions and deepening retailer partnerships. The strategy includes a major brand and product showcase event, a revised approach to trade show activation and increased regional presentations and local initiatives.
This new sales and marketing direction is the result of a recent organizational transformation that has realigned the sales, marketing and product groups within Yakima’s delivery infrastructure. It also aligns with a number of long-term initiatives that are converging over the next 12 months, including new merchandising and packaging, enhanced technology platforms, refined sales and training tools, plus a significant number of new product introductions for Spring and Fall 2016.
“This is an exciting time for the Yakima family of brands,” said Ryan Martin, CEO of Yakima. “We believe this fresh approach will foster deeper partnerships with our retailers and allow us to showcase all that Yakima has to offer through in-depth, highly personalized experiences. The relationships between Yakima and our sales reps, our vendors and our customers are at the heart of our company, and this new plan will enable us to strengthen those relationships even further. The end result of this approach will be an improved platform that enables us to reach our consumers in a more fulfilling manner.”
Added Jason McGibbon, Yakima Senior Director of Sales, “We are challenging the status quo by re-examining and re-imagining every aspect of our go-to-market processes with the sole aim of being the best possible partner to our retailers.”
Central to the strategy is a June 2015 kickoff event that Yakima will be hosting in Portland, Oregon, near Yakima’s US headquarters. The showcase event, dubbed “Raising the Bar,” will allow Yakima’s sales representatives and key retail accounts to experience Spring 2016 product and the Yakima brand in a highly focused and personalized way, right in the company’s own backyard.
“We are excited to bring some of our key partners to Portland and immerse them in the Yakima experience. We are confident this will be an outstanding way to engage, connect and present them with the biggest product launch in recent years, supported by some compelling new solutions that will drive strong sell through,” said Joel Grabenstein, Yakima Category Director.
In addition to the showcase event, Yakima will be bolstering their regional presentation across the US at events including Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Summits, regional rep association shows and local consumer events. Yakima will also be setting out on a cross-country tour to actively engage the retail floor staff with hands on brand immersion, product presentations and training sessions.
“We want to meet with our dealers and reps in their local market. We are heading to the regional shows and hosting local training events in order to provide the best avenue for meaningful dialogue and hands-on product training. We will also provide superior support with a completely reworked set of sales and training tools,” said McGibbon. “Overall, we’re “Raising the Bar” at Yakima in terms of our go-to-market strategy, our storytelling and what our valued retailers can expect from us. Bottom line, we are committed to being the most relevant brand in the category.”
