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IHA’s blog features informative posts written to keep the housewares industry educated and informed about key strategic issues and IHA member services.

LIVE from the IBC Global Forum: Jonathan Knowles, Rethinking the 4 P’s — From Selling Products to Selling Solutions (Part II)

by Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator (Jonathan Knowles continued) Participants Share Common Issues and Discover Relevancies in Workshop Exercises After tabulating the morning’s exercise worksheets during the lunch break, Knowles presented a simple analysis at the afternoon session. He commented on different dynamics at companies of varied sizes: smaller companies…

LIVE from the IBC Global Forum: Jonathan Knowles, Rethinking the 4 P’s — From Selling Products to Selling Solutions

by Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator Tuesday, June 17, 2014 IHA’s Global Forum kicked off with Jonathan Knowles’ engaging presentation that updated the traditional 4 P’s of marketing—product, price, place and promotion—for a fresh approach to marketing in today’s global business-to-business environment. Those earlier strategies lead marketing and sales teams to…

International Housewares Business Leaders Meet Today in Rosemont

by Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator IHA opens its Global Forum, the essential annual meeting for sales professionals and companies looking to grow their international business, on Tuesday, June 17 at the Intercontinental O’Hare hotel. Participants will hear market overviews by retailers from Kuwait, China, Russia, Brazil, Czech Republic and Australia and will learn…

The Art and Heart of Branding – Adrienne Weiss

Adrienne Weiss and her team are legendary in branding in the U.S. and around the world. If you have eaten a burger or a donut, bought jeans or pumped your own gas, you have probably been up close and personal with brands they have helped create or energize. Weiss’s branding prowess started when she worked for Applause and helped build the “Smurfs” into a monster global brand in…

Inspiring the Industry – Adrienne Weiss

Adrienne Weiss is an inspiration to everyone she meets and especially those with whom she works. Her portfolio reads like a who’s who of the world’s top companies, and she’s worked with a huge diversity of industries such as food and beverage, retail, consumer products, convenience stores, real estate developments, sports stadiums and entertainment concepts. Her goal in…

A Milestone Win: Lakeland

Michelle Hespe catches up with Matthew Canwell, Director of Buying for Lakeland in the United Kingdom – one of six 2014 Global Honorees at the gia Global Innovation Awards in Chicago. It all began back in 1964, in a humble garage in the United Kingdom. In that garage, a family started selling plastic freezer bags, and the demand for the bags gradually grew. By the 70’s, the…

Cooking Up a Dream: Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte

Michelle Hespe catches up with Bianca Bonte, the managing director and founder of Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte, and discovers a charmingly rustic, modern cookware store in the Netherlands that pays homage to its surroundings. At the 2014 Global Innovation Awards (gia) held in Chicago in March, Kookwinkel Bianca Bonte, a store lovingly run by Bianca Bonte in the city of Oostburg…

Staying on Trend – Scott Kohno

Scott Kohno, CEO of The Retail Element, has made a living out of analyzing the latest retail trends, deciding which ones can or should be applied to business and how. Michelle Hespe catches up with him to get some insight into the latest trends and how social media and technology are playing an increasingly larger part in staying “on-trend.” THE RETAIL PYRAMID The Retail…

Housewares Show Product Donation Program Assists Local Charities

The International Home + Housewares Show doesn’t have just an economic impact on Chicago, Show exhibitors also leave a lasting impression with five local charities who receive their product donations. For more than 10 years, the Show has allowed exhibitors to donate booth product to pre-approved charities. For the 2014 Show, 225 exhibitors donated their product to five local…