albertsons

How the Chicago Fire fits into the Sox and Bears stadium equation, getting a handle of your numerous on-line accounts and the FTC sues to block the major grocery store merger.

Next in Media spoke with Evan Hovorka, VP Product and Innovation Albertsons Media Collective, about his experience in the earliest days of retail media inside of Target, and how he's taken those lessons to Albertsons, which has become a serious ads player in just a few short years. Hovorka also discussed how the retail media category needs to graduate beyond advertising 101, and AI might help bring things to a new level.

Guest: Evan Hovorka

Host: Mike Shields

In Partnership with: Comcast Advertising

Produced by: Fresh Take

Exxon is making a huge acquisition of Pioneer.  Chevron is buying Hess.  Kroger bought Albertsons.  Cedar Fair and Six Flags are merging.  These will all grow the revenues of the acquirer, and revenue growth is a good thing.  So are acquisitions a good strategy?

This podcast explains why the bulk of acquisitions are done for the wrong reason.  They are competitors trying to become the “last man standing” in a declining market.  And always – yes always – these do not end well.  It allows the buyer to sustain for a bit longer, but they don’t thrive and eventually they die.

On the other hand Microsoft has made a huge investment to buy Activision Blizzard.  This is being done for the right reason – to grow revenues.  For years Microsoft has lost money in gaming as the weakest competitor vs Sony and Nintendo.  But now Microsoft will launch into the top spot, and be positioned to grow much faster and finally make a return for investors.  Because this is an acquisition focused on growth, it is a very good thing.

Thinking Points:

• Do you make acquisitions for potential “synergies” or to invest for growth?
• Do you understand how markets are shifting, and will this acquisition create a new direction shifting with the market launching new products and services?
• If you own a business, and your market is shifting, are you ready to invest to keep up with the shift – or should you sell to someone who can invest?

Paul Voge is the co-founder and CEO of Aura Bora, a national beverage company from San Francisco. 

Since the company’s founding in 2019, Paul has expanded the brand’s whimsical sparkling waters into more than 8,000 stores including Sprouts, Whole Foods, Target, Publix, and Wegmans. 

Aura Bora’s best-selling retail varieties include  Lavender Cucumber, Ginger Meyer Lemon, and Cactus Rose. 

Plus, every month Paul and his team formulate and release online-exclusive flavors for sparkling water aficionados like Guava Eucalyptus, Mango Chili, and the infamous Green Bean Casserole. 

Aura Bora prides itself on being sugar-free, calorie-free, non-GMO, Whole30 certified, and made with real herbal extracts. 

Read more in Fortune, Business Insider, Dieline, and AdWeek. Paul’s entrepreneurial journey started with t-shirts, socks, concrete curbs, and even Christmas trees. 

As a Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee and Shark Tank success story, he has turned Aura Bora into one of the fastest growing beverage businesses in the world. 

When not selling sparkling water, you can find Paul somewhere deep in the woods, away from his phone.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:12] What are Aura Bora’s products?
• [01:37] Where the idea of Aura Bora came from
• [02:50] Making sure that the market wants your product
• [05:09] Getting feedback from “serious drinkers”
• [06:41] Launching a food/bev product in Boulder, CO
• [08:10] When the worst case scenario isn’t too bad
• [09:43] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [10:40] Sponsor: Sendlane sendlane.com/honest
• [12:07] Go-to-market strategy at the start of COVID
• [13:30] How Paul got into Whole Foods shelves
• [15:09] Was it the play to go wholesale first?
• [15:53] The pandemic forced Aura Bora to pivot to D2C
• [16:24] How Aura Bora got featured in Shark Tank
• [17:19] Preparing for the “Shark Tank Bump”
• [19:08] Circumventing the risks of fragile packaging
• [20:28] Aura Bora’s new subscription line
• [21:31] Where to buy to support Aura Bora directly

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Connect with Paul linkedin.com/in/paulvoge
• Heavenly sparkling water made from herbs, fruits, and flowers aurabora.com
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

This episode features an interview with Chris Rupp, EVP & Chief Customer & Digital Officer at Albertsons Companies. For over 20 years, Chris has successfully led and scaled strategic business units for companies like Sears, Amazon, and now Albertsons. 

On today’s episode, Chris discusses what it was like to run the first Amazon Prime day, the “build vs. buy” conundrum of picking technology, and partnering with places like DoorDash and Pinterest to meet customers wherever they might be thinking of dinner.

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“You have to stay in touch with your customers’ needs. All the time. You can’t get complacent. And you certainly should be watching out for how new entries are serving customers in new ways, because they have a whole lot less to lose than big established companies.” -Chris Rupp

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Show Notes

• (1:20) Tony’s takeaways on the conversation
• (2:56) Chris’s background across different companies and cultures
• (7:11) Creating the first Prime Day at Amazon
• (9:03) Albertsons and a focus on the overall customer journey
• (14:28) Grocery problems: hiring, picking technology, and an uncertain supply chain
• (24:07) Creating partnerships with DoorDash and Pinterest to combat last mile
• (28:20) Why digital transformations fail and the moment where all is lost
• (31:25) Lightning round

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Sponsor

This podcast is presented by Dell Technologies and Intel. Together they help you realize digital transformation across retail by driving IT innovation to better engage with today’s connected consumer. Learn more at DellTechnologies.com/retail and Intel.com/retail.

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Links

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on LinkedIn

Connect with Tony on Twitter

Tony Saldanha - Transformant

In this episode we talk with Kris Westergard. Kris is the bar manager for The Talon Bar inside the massive Marketplace Albertson's. Kris is also a home bar expert so let's see what we can learn.

Consumer demands are redefining what we expect from grocery delivery services. Ghost grocery, ultra-fast delivery and grocery tech are trying to answer those demands. On this episode of Tech Bites, host Jennifer Leuzzi talks with Elaine Russel, who manages the grocery-tech focused Albertsons fund at Greycroft, and Oleg Shevlyagin, the founder of the ultra-fast grocery delivery company FifteenTwenty. Episode 234 is made possible by the generosity of Roberta’s Pizza.

Photo Courtesy of FifteenTwenty.

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Episode 7: This week Josh welcomes the great Lee Olson back to the show!  Tune in to hear all about their crazy days in college. Highlights include the Puffy Coat Story, the Boone’s Farm Wine Night, and how Lee managed to get nearly half the alphabet for grades listed on his transcripts. #Ellensburg #CWU #Podcast

0:00 - Intro
0:55 - Welcome Back Lee
2:00 - Green River College
4:30 - Professors
10:00 - The Sub Community Center
12:24 - Math Class
22:23 - Bellingham < Ellensburg
28:15 - CWU Dorm Life
31:36 - Boone’s Night
39:47 - Football Games
43:09 - Lee Rock
46:20 - Albertsons Story
49:35 - Josh the Mute
51:44 - Puffy Coat / Big Red
54:20 - No Shits Given
55:57 - Outro

YouTube Link
https://youtu.be/ZkdF0DN-jHI

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