Hall of Fame Profile: Barbara Daugherty

What areas were you involved with prior to your work in merchandising?"I began my professional career as a speech and hearing therapist. I changed direction dramatically when I moved into sales with General Foods. From there, I joined Frito-Lay as a route salesman in Michigan, rounding out my sales profession as a district manager and regional sales manager in Michigan, trade development manager in Chicago, and zone manager in Louisville, Ky., before moving to the marketing department in Dallas."How did you get started in P-O-P?"I've been with Frito-Lay for 18 years. The first eight years were in field sales. When I moved to headquarters 10 years ago, my job included sourcing new vendors and designing Frito-Lays P-O-P. With my field experience, my responsibility was to ensure that what we designed could be sold in as value-added at store-level."When did you first become aware that product merchandising, and the creation of P-O-P, could be a career?"When I moved to Frito-Lay headquarters to be in charge of P-O-P and saw the opportunity for growth."What do you like best about your job?"I tell everyone that I have the best job in the company! Not only do I work for a world class organization, but I get to interact with various departments within the company: Purchasing, Marketing, Sales, Product Supply, R&D, Finance, Legal, Logistics, ITS. In addition, I get to work closely with the field salesforce and with retailers. I get the best of all worlds! That's how I do my part in putting 'fun foods within the arm's reach'!"Have you and your team created a display or a merchandising system that you are particularly proud of, or that performed beyond expectations?"The first one that comes to mind is the NCAA promotion from several years ago, incorporating a pop-a-shot machine and a lobby/walkover header that was two-sided, three-dimensional, and reversible to hold a display for 6-8 weeks. Its flexibility enabled the retailer to have it in different locations depending on size, and the salesforce to change the look and keep it fresh."The Right Fit project was also very successful. It involves a program that matches the right product with the right consumer in the right store with a unique set of displays to merchandise the products according to an occasion. Frito-Lay is now rolling out Right Fit 3!"What have you found to be the most important elements of a successful display program?"Each step is critical, from strategy to creative to manufacturing to execution. A simplistic design with detailed communication to the salesforce, combined with efficient manufacturing and distribution, leads to flawless execution."What are the greatest challenges involved in creating outstanding P-O-P?"Because the number of new products and the competition for space and consumer attention have continued to escalate in recent years, the greatest challenge in creating outstanding P-O-P in-store is breaking through the clutter and catching the attention of our time-starved consumers. The consumer needs to immediately see the value of the product."What has been your biggest challenge at Frito-Lay?The challenge in a DSD company, or any company for that matter, is to impact the consumer with easy-to-execute P-O-P. Frito-Lay found that because P-O-S for our standard displays was routinely being structurally redesigned and shipped in mass quantities to distribution centers, we were getting less than optimum execution. I worked with our promotions agency and our production and distribution company to create a standard structure, consisting of a two-sided, 3-D modular design. In addition, we initiated an innovative direct-to-store ordering and distribution system, improving execution and minimizing waste. Consequently, our route sales reps can order P-O-S in less than two minutes. The end result is a creative solution for an everyday problem.Do you expect to see more or less emphasis on P-O-P materials in your particular product category in the future? Why?"Because of the impulse nature of the snack category, increased consumption is a major factor in growing the category. That means getting the product in the face of the consumer to increase purchases. Creative ways of merchandising snacks on the perimeter is becoming more essential in increasing sales."

Hall of Fame Profile: Barbara Daugherty

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