Vendor Newsmaker Q&A: Tim Parkes

Tim Parkes is the founder and CEO of Remington Industries. Charged with directing the executive team and establishing business goals for the company, Parkes has invented and taken several unique products to market. He has led Remington Industries since it was founded in 1982 in Montreal, Quebec. Having studied at Concordia University in Montreal with a focus in marketing, Parkes has expertise in operations, sales, marketing and global sourcing with manufacturing orientation. He spoke with Aftermarket Business World.

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Remington Industries initially started as a matting company 30 years ago. When did you shift focus to other product lines in organization and tire inflation?

Our company roots are in floor mats for vehicles. We have spent a considerable amount of time doing consumer research, product engineering and design. For the past 20 years, we have been manufacturing product for original equipment manufacturers. We are the exclusive supplier for Toyota Canada. Back in 2007, we started to consider the idea of introducing our brand into other product categories where it made sense. As a result, we launched organization and tire inflation products in 2009 and 2010.

Why did you choose to license products through Michelin, Rubbermaid and Stanley?

When we looked at some of the brands in the marketplace, what we attempted to do was position Remington with brands that tie together. Rubbermaid is a natural fit with its organizational automotive products. Tire inflation and Michelin tires made a lot of sense to combine. What we find today is a variety of different store brands that are out there. Some of the brand strategies that people put in place work for some categories, but over time they have evolved into other product categories that may promote the same strategy. That is what we felt with Michelin and Rubbermaid. We gave retailers an opportunity to tell a brand story that had been established years ago.

Who are Remington's channel partners and do you plan to expand in different directions through more traditional channels?

Our channel partners are all the major mass merchandisers, specialty chains and clubs, throughout the US and abroad. New product categories, particularly inflation and organization, lend themselves to be promoted in nontraditional segments, certainly food and grocery retailers, as well as is the office supply houses.

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2012 marked the return of Remington Industries to the AAPEX Show for the first time in more than a decade. Why did you return and how did the show turn out for you?

We had exhibited at AAPEX into the late 90s. Each year we evaluated what wewanted to spend. In the matting business, every retailer knew who we were, but with new product categories of organization and tire inflation, we wanted to let more people know that we were in these new categories. Attending AAPEX this year had more to do with marketing exposure than a return on investment, which is always tough to measure. Coming back to AAPEX this year was a great thing for us. The Rubbermaid brand is well placed in the market, and the Michelin inflation line was launched at the show. We've received a lot of great reviews about these two brands. We saw some folks at AAPEX that we didn’t expect to see — some old and new customers. But not all of our contacts and customers are buying these new organization and tire inflation categories, so we were introduced to new buyers. It is always interesting and fun to introduce a new product category that we think has some legs to it.

Remington has invested a lot of time and effort in consumer research. What have you learned that you can share with other companies who appeal directly to consumers? Is the time and expense worth the effort?

There are two phases to research. The first is validation. Are we accomplishing what we think we should in product development? In marketing strategies? Are we hitting all consumer touch points? The second part is innovation. When we come back from a consumer focus study or test group, we also generate new innovations. It doesn’t happen as often as you think, but it is a validation that your engineering and manufacturing folks are good at what they do. And you can glean some new ideas on how to innovate further based on that type of consumer engagement.

In terms of research, we do a lot of surveys. We have market research currently underway that involves different quadrants of the US, different weather patterns and other variables. It will be very intensive. We like to do a major initiative once every 9-12 months. We undertake consumer studies whenever we develop new products. We are actually sending our crew to different parts of the country. They will be driving around with moms, dadsand kids that commut, and students that drive to universities. They will spend many days and hours driving around with these people. They will observe what they are saying, and how they are driving. The results will be for internal use.

Fact selling is a big part of our marketing strategy. We attempt to take subjectivity out of a buyer’s decision and show them that products are bought off the shelf. I think that is what you’ll see with so many retailers — products are presented to be sold at the retail level. But great products are impulse purchase. So they are bought, not sold, as an impulse item. Those are the types of things we look for more and more, which is reflected in POS data.

The end consumer is the most important person to remember. We all have a tendency of getting in the way of sending that direct brand strategy story to the consumer. That is why we spend so much time at the consumer level, to really determine how to best communicate with them.

When you have a consumer that is actually seeking out product, you are able to categorize it as an impulse purchase.,Bbut at the same time it is a lifestyle component, as opposed to products that are lined up on retail shelves that don’t have a brand strategy wrapped around them. They are hanging there waiting for a consumer to look through the good, better, best options. We want consumers to see products that scream off the shelves; products that make emotional connections.

I understand that half of your sales come from overseas. In what geographic locations are you seeing the strongest success? Likewise, where are you being challenged?

Today, in 2013, we forecast that China will be our largest percentage growth opportunity. Brazil and South America are second. Mexico is probably third. Europe is flat and down a bit. Canada and the US are flat.

You have sourced your products globally for many years now. What have you learned about this regarding the benefits and dangers of this strategy?

The greatest benefit is to lower cost in product manufacturing. The greatest danger is in not knowing how to build the product. Since we come from the manufacturing arena, we've maintained that it is vital to know how to manufacture ourselves. We have all the infrastructure here to build the product ourselves. I think that is the pitfall — when you don’t feel comfortable venturing to another country. That is problematic.