Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/44136
COVER STORY been with Southern for over half a century (31 and 22 years, respectively), and together, they work to ensure that suppliers are given detailed analytics and that their brands are marketed and promoted appropriately. "We are first and foremost conscious of products being properly positioned, marketed and sold statewide," states Burrows. "Determining a product's marketing mix comes down not only to consumer data, but also to the needs of our key stakeholders—our suppliers, our customers and our own business." All of this is supported by proprietary technology like the TOPAZ system, a tool that provides information to the sales force while they're in the accounts. "Part of our success nation- wide is this analytic information we provide," says Cotton. "That's why we are the size we are, and I think that's one of the wonderful things Southern offers its suppliers. We have always strived to have areas of exceptional value for our suppliers beyond the blocking and tackling of shipping and delivering products; so we offer incredible data and market intelligence to help guide brand strategies in the marketplace." Cotton and Burrows agree that part of what has made Southern so success- ful is its ability to trust its employees' instincts and ideas. "Unlike some autocratic, top-down companies where all the questions and the answers come from the corporate center, the style here is having faith in your people," says Burrows. "There are people all around the country who have good ideas. Bless the Chaplins and the corporate executives for saying, 'OK. That's a good idea. Let's give it a shot.'" Connecting the Consumer, Customer & Supplier "We're lucky," states Dave Minolli, VP/Director of Chains in the North. "We have a lot of great suppliers, and we are fortunate to be entrusted with their business. But it can be a challenge because we need to be able to meet the needs of all of them. We need to be very specialized in the marketplace." So how does Southern manage to meet the unique needs of not only their supplier partners, but also their retail and broad market customers? The answer, as always at Southern, is with ample passion and innovation, but there's also an increasing emphasis on informa- tion technology that's truly propelling Southern ahead into the future. The first step is through supplier collaboration. "In the past, suppliers would come in with a strategy, and all the distributor had to do was imple- ment it," admits Frank Santangelo, VP/Director of Chains for Southern California. "But now, we're spending a proprietary system, SalesNav, picks up where Nielsen stops. SalesNav gives us the ability to analyze what's going on in the general market. It all comes back to information—information is power! The impact of fact-based selling allows us to partner with buyers and come up with solutions rather than just making subjective or blanket recommendations." Wayne Cotton is Southern's Executive Wine Manager. lot of time building the plan together, because we're the ones in front of the customer every day. We understand the customer, the supplier understands the brand strategy— so now we're bringing those two worlds together." The second step is all about the facts: "We are really focusing on taking the fact-based category position to the next level," explains Santangelo, referring to the collection and distribution of data that analyzes trends, demographics and purchasing statistics. "Category man- agement, Nielson, shelf-management, consumer-level data are all integral parts," says Minolli. "Nielsen will tell us what's happen- ing in the retail stores up until the register," continues Minolli, "but our Armed with this data, Southern is able to connect the supplier and the account like never before, but the final step is to bring the consumer into the mix. "We have sufficient data that we can generate and analyze consumer market trends, and if a supplier wants to go in a certain direction with a product, we can use this information to get them to the market they're target- ing. We employ laser-sharp approaches rather than the scattershot ones of the past," admits Minolli, who has been with Southern for 12 years, and like many other people we've met along the way, is a second-generation "SWSer." With consumer data and account analytics to offer suppliers, Southern is leading the industry not just in terms of reporting on trends, but also helping to drive them. "Innovation is the leading fac- tor for many of our suppliers' own busi- ness practices, and we have to reflect that as well," explains Santangelo, who is palpably passionate about Southern's varied initiatives—particularly in the realm of education. Even in this economy, we continue to grow, and that reflects on our way of doing business. It's the greatest company anybody could ever work for." Investing in People Partnerships and people go hand in hand at Southern, where even higher-ups like Jack Brennan take note of individual success. "Let me tell you about Neb Lukic," Brennan begins. "He is a Serbian native who decided to live in Los Angeles in 1997. He had $400 in his pocket when he came here and landed a job at a body shop after his third interview. When he found out october 201 1 / the tasting panel / 55 PHOTO: REBECCA WILKOWSKI