A Vendor That Gets It

I cannot find a link to the original story, but in the last issue of Inside Business there was an article about the founders of IdeaStream Products. I believe these three guys came from Manco (now Henkel Consumer Adhesives), a company made famous for its ability to form long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships with Wal-Mart and other major retailers. (Manco founder Jack Kahl released a book last fall. I have not read it yet.)

IdeaStream is interesting because they are building their company around the process of selling to major retailers as opposed to their products. In fact, they didn't invent a thing. They started the company first and then went looking for products to sell. IdeaStream interviewed designers, inventors and manufacturers eager to reach the major retailers and then selected three product lines that fit the bill. This sounds completely backwards, but it works because of the way retailers operate today.

IdeaStream began with a desire to meet the needs of big box retailers and established this as their creed. IdeaStream's value is not purely caught up in the product. It's in understanding how big box retailers run their businesses. Retailers' core strengths are operating productive stores, marketing them well, and efficiently moving products from point A to point B. Good vendors understand and know how to manage the rest: product development, consumer research, category analysis, ROI, etc.

Yes, the channel has changed, but more importantly, the roles of each channel member have been completely altered. The diagrams in all my old business textbooks are completely obsolete. IdeaStream gets it and is building a business based on this newer way of doing business.