AboutEric Hofer Expertise Over 27 years experience, with 17 in international FMCG in back office operations and in field sales and data collection, including design, development and deployment of Handhelds, Marketing Equipment (Service, Tracking and Return on Investment), reporting and Vending management. Have participated on the launch of operations in new markets, and re-engineered the back office in several countries.
Experience Designed and led the development and deployment internal ERP system for Pepsi used in On-Premise/Vending in 13 markets.
Designed 2 handheld systems, the latest is now deployed in 4 markets internationally.
Re-engineered the back office functions (settlements, despatch, invoicing, credit control, etc) for over 20 snack, confectionary and beverage operators.
Developing software: Progress, VB, Access, C, Sybase, SA
Organizations Innovative-Selling Solutions
Publications BudapestSun
Education/Credentials State University of New York - BA Economics
NYU - Courant - Graduate work - Computing
Past/Present clients PepsiAmericas
PepsiCola International
PepsiCola Company
British Steel
British Telecom
Britvic (Pepsi's bottler in the UK)
AT&T
BellSouth
Mars Overseas Bottling
Pepsi France
Matutano (Frito-Lay Spain)
Frito-Lay
Pepsi Foods International
Chase Manhattan Bank
Kidder Peabody
National Power
SmithKline Beecham
Mars Overseas Bottling (Pepsi Azerbaijan)
A&P Bottling (Pepsi Serbia & Montenegro)
Iberia Bottlers (Pepsi Georgia)
Question QUESTION: I tried to send a "follow up" to your reply, amy be u got
it by now, but the web pages for sending this (allexperts.
com) did weird: when I clicked "send follow up", it seemed
to "go" but it never said so, I got another NEW window,
asking me "do u want to ask Eric Hofer" a question!?"
so i am now typing this! sorry for any deduntants, but
I dont think its my fault! You can email me direct if u
want to: binarybob@verizon.net
thanx
ANSWER: Hi,
I still have this question as outstanding, but I'm not sure what the question is...
Please try me again if this is still outstanding for you.
Eric
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Eric, thanx for reply; this was about how one finds out where a alcohol bottler is, when all the lable said was "made by harrison co, mira loma ,ca" I couldnt find
harrison, turns out it is now called Le Vecke, in same bldg, in same city, viz Mira Loma ca! I had a minor issue that is since resolved, with Le Vecke, case closed. What I found interesting, and maybe you can answer this part: These folks make many varieties (gin, berbon, etc.) and actually go by over 600 "vendor names" on the bottle labels! Not one, eg, says Le Vecke, but they use dozens to 100s of "names" (like the dog food stuff in news lately) that all comes from one "place" virtually. Why does one bottler (co.) need to put 500-600 "made by" on the label (harrison, sams brew, jacks booze, etc.) when it is all from the same place? whats the point?
thanx bob mackey binarybob@verizon.net
Answer Now there's a question I can give some insight into...
BTW, I've relabelled the thread "Multiple brand names for the same product" as that's what this question is about.
The reasons for doing such....
1) "Product Innovation" - it's not really that... But each time you relabel something there's bound to be people curious who will buy that "new" product just to try it out... Manufacturers get an uptick (blip though it may be) in sales. Great way for getting rid of excess unsaleable inventory - and even the reputable company's do this...
2) Private Labelling - somebody wants to be known for making a product - but doesn't really; or plans to do its own marketing spend in a special channel.
3) Product Relaunch - the manufacturer thinks that through a name change, there'll be a chance to gain another market segment; or the product is aimed at multiple segments.
Branding though originally being about quality (eg. you bought from a known maker because you felt you could trust the producer to deliver) has evolved into both a reinforcing message about one's self (I'm "hip" for example because I smoke this brand) and/or communication to others (I'm part of this clique).
If you've ever wondered 'what the heck does that commercial have to do with such and such a product' - you're right to wonder... They've stopped advertising the product, there now advertising that "these sorts of people drink this drink, don't you want to be one of those sorts?" or in the case of dog food, "don't you want your dog to behave this way... all cuddly and cooperative?" - as if a dog food is going to help you realize a fantasy about bounding out, in the 6am dew of a meadow - when in truth, you live in an apartment complex in the inner city and hate the fact that you're wandering about the street at 6am in your bathrobe, in the snow, with a plastic baggy at the ready....
Oh, and of course, there's one other reason... Trying to be one step ahead of the creditors.
Please tell me, btw, how did you eventually track this stuff down.
