Daymon Worldwide, Hartman Group Form Strategic Alliance

STAMFORD, Conn. and BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Daymon Worldwide, a global leader in retail private brand building, experiential consumer marketing and innovative retail-driven services, and The Hartman Group, Inc., a leading consumer-centric research and consulting firm providing unique strategic insights to the retail industry, announced today they are forming a strategic alliance that will deliver game-changing, long-term insights to C-Suite executives in the food manufacturing and retailing sectors.

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The alliance brings together powerful skills from both firms.  The Hartman Group is home to dozens of PhDs in fields as varied as anthropology, sociology, psychology, visual analysis and linguistics, and has a 24-year history of "listening loudly" to consumers to develop unique insights for retailers.  Daymon Worldwide is a global expert in consumables retailing, experiential consumer marketing and innovative retail services. The company delivers on private brand strategy and execution for more than 100 leading retailers and nearly 6,000 suppliers on six continents, and creates three million product demonstrations and consumer events every year.

"This alliance will fill an important need in the marketplace," said Daymon Worldwide CEO Carla Cooper.  "Too often, consultants make recommendations that are beyond the reach of what retailers can achieve on their own. By going to retail clients together, Daymon Worldwide and The Hartman Group can create a unique dialogue with C-Suite executives, and make it easier to turn strategic insights and decisions into action, and quickly."

"It is exciting to think about how our two firms complement each other," said Laurie Demeritt, CEO of The Hartman Group. "We bring world-class intelligence, experience and insight based on more than two decades of consumer research, and Daymon brings global market access and the ability to help retailers and manufacturers execute – from strategy to shelf. That is a terrific combination."

The two firms have already collaborated on a well-received study called "Reframing Retail Through the Lens of Changing Food Culture," which documented America's shift from a cooking culture to an eating culture. This landmark analysis debuted at the FMI Midwinter Conference in 2013, and was subsequently shared with C-Suite executives at dozens of the world's leading retailers.  Researchers are in the field now for a follow-up study, focusing on the dinner eating occasion, and their final report is expected in the first quarter of 2014.

Future collaborations between Daymon Worldwide and The Hartman Group will likewise be aimed at C-Suite executives at the world's leading food manufacturers and retailers.  The goal of the collaboration is to extend an executive's view "over the horizon" on trends in food and retailing, allowing for smarter and more informed strategic decisions in the near-term.

About Daymon Worldwide:
Daymon Worldwide is the only full-service global Private Brand and Consumer Interactions expert.  We currently provide retail branding and sourcing expertise to more than 100 major retailers and nearly 6,000 manufacturers in 50 countries.  Daymon teams work directly and collaboratively with the world's leading suppliers and retailers to create and market ownable, differentiated brands in the marketplace that deliver exceptional value and improve people's lives.  We currently handle more than 1,700 brands and approximately 165,000 individual SKUs globally. The company's expertise includes Private Brand development, branding and strategy, insights and measurement, global sourcing and shopper and consumer experience marketing.  Founded in 1970, today Daymon has more than 35,000 associates worldwide, with offices located across six continents.  For more information, please visit www.daymon.com.

About The Hartman Group
The Hartman Group is the principal provider of global research on consumer culture, behaviors, and demand and a leading advisor to the world's best-known brands on market strategy. Through a unique suite of integrated custom, primary research capabilities, market analytics, and business strategy services, The Hartman Group uncovers opportunity spaces and avenues for growth for clients across the consumer-driven marketplace. The Hartman Group is internationally recognized for breakthrough perspectives on emerging and evolving consumer behaviors in health and wellness, sustainability, and food culture.

SOURCE Daymon Worldwide