John Frostad is the President & CEO of Snack Alliance Inc., a privately owned U.S. company based in Hermiston, Oregon and Bristol, Virginia. Snack Alliance Inc. is involved in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of branded and private label snack food products throughout North America and internationally.

From its inception in 1997, Snack Alliance has focused on becoming the leading provider of private label snack foods in North America. Snack Alliance is now the market leader in the private label snack market in the U.S. with customers that include Wal-Mart, Albertson's and Kroger. This has been accomplished by both acquisitions and organic customer growth.

John became an owner of these companies via a management buy-out in 1995. He and his partners revived a regional Western Canadian food company and restructured it into a focused private label snack food company in the United States. Prior to that time, John spent several years in senior management roles in Canada and internationally with a host of multi-national consumer products companies. These companies included Agri-Link (formerly Curtice Burns Foods), Unilever Canada Limited (Lever Brothers, Lipton and Unox), and General Mills.

John is past Western Regional Chair of the Food and Consumer Products manufacturers of Canada and is past President of the Canadian Snack Food Association. John has served on several boards including B.C. Children's Hospital, The Neurological Center, The Food & Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada, and Mission Hill Wines (The Mark Anthony Group of Companies). John has been a member of the Young President's Organization for fifteen years. In 1995, John was the recipient of the "Top 40 Business People in Canada under the age of 40" award and in 1998 successfully competed in the Subaru Canadian Iron Man competition.

John received his Bachelor of Business Administration and Masters of Business Administration from York University in Toronto. John is married with two children and resides in West Vancouver.

Dr. Gerhart, Certified Financial Planner, has a solid stature as a successful businesswoman. In 2008, she became a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, graduating from the Institute of Divorce Financial Analysts. She has proven her business acumen as a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies and two branches of the United States armed forces, and as the owner of a financial service company, Gerhart Group, for almost 20 years, serving as a registered principal. She maintains and exceeds the minimum continuing education standards required to maintain her CFP credentials as well as her life insurance license and securities registrations. She is a graduate of Financial Planning, a Certified Financial Planner, and holds insurance and real estate brokerage licenses. Dr. Gerhart is a member of the National Association of Female Professionals.

She is committed to seeing that people, especially women, are inspired, empowered, and transformed around their money/financial issues. She served as a college Dean of Student Learning, holds a doctorate in education, graduated Cum Laude from DePaul University, and is a member of honor societies Kappa Delta Pi and Delta Pi Epsilon. Dr. Gerhart was a founding faculty member of one of seven Leagues of Innovations Community Colleges in the United States. Her remarkable contributions to college education span twenty-five years.

Through her vast experience and qualifications and magnetic energy, Judith is facilitating the creation of profound and inspiring futures for all the women she works with.

Recently I wrote about Crowdsourcing and how the internet is changing how marketers market, today I am going to cover once again how the Internet is changing the communications programs of marketers. I was reading a viewpoint in a local Marketing Magazine where the writer pointed out that "In an age of 24/7 media, blogs and chat rooms, the old public relations adage applies more than ever before: if you don't tell your story, someone else will tell it for you."

The case study which we marketers always identify as the textbook example of how companies act was the Johnson and Johnson handling of the tainted Tylenol crisis. Although it was 25 years ago, it was an amazing story of putting the customer first. At the time of the crisis, Tylenol had a 30% share of market. With the loss of eight lives and a total recall of some 30 million bottles of the analgesic, within a very short period of time market share was down to 8%. Interesting to note that within one year Tylenol's market share had rebounded to gain a leading market position.

According to Interbrands annual global brand value survey, Johnson & Johnson is one of the world's most valuable brands, ranking in the top 100. Johnson & Johnson demonstrated a very simple principle - always put the public's interest first, which seems like the obvious course of action today, but was revolutionary for the time. Instinctively, all businesses understand the mantra "the customer comes first." In practice, however, when a crisis strikes, businesses often behave differently. Some choose to hide and avoid or wait out a storm. But in the age of 24/7 media, blogs and chat rooms the old Public Relations adage applies more than ever before: "If you don't tell your story first, someone else will tell it for you."

Once again, I am reminded of the power of the Internet and it would been interesting to role play how Johnson & Johnson would have used the Internet as a communications tool.

To great marketing ideas and in friendship,

Tricia
The Marketing Chefs

WEDNESDAY ~ September 3, 2008

It's Wednesday, so it's time for the Wednesday Minute

-- the weekly audio tip for marketers.

This week's food for thought is here:

WEDNESDAY ~ September 10, 2008

It's Wednesday, so it's time for the Wednesday Minute

-- the weekly audio tip for marketers.

This week's food for thought is here:

WEDNESDAY ~ September 17, 2008

It's Wednesday, so it's time for the Wednesday Minute

-- the weekly audio tip for marketers.

This week's food for thought is here:

WEDNESDAY ~ September 24, 2008

It's Wednesday, so it's time for the Wednesday Minute

-- the weekly audio tip for marketers.

This week's food for thought is here: