Guest post by Richard Horwell is the owner of Brand Relations

Wholesalers and retailers 

The main route to market for new brands is through wholesalers; selling direct to stores is almost impossible. But do not rush to contact the most obvious large wholesaler without checking if the wholesaler supplies your target retailers – you would be surprised how frequently this mistake is made.
 
Once you’ve sourced the wholesalers your targeted retailers buy from, you must now convince the wholesaler to give you a listing and, inevitably, pay their listing / marketing fees. So be very aware that stocking at wholesalers isn’t cheap. You will be asked to spend a minimum £2,000 listing fee per wholesaler, before your product is even advertised in their catalogues and that doesn’t include the additional marketing which involves YOU providing the banners, e-flyers and any other materials for them. 

Oh-Lief specialises in a range of certified, natural & organic baby, body and sun care products, made from 100% natural and organic, raw ingredients, sourced locally. This is one of thousands of brands from suppliers in our thriving community, which we are proud to support.  

A quick look around a grocery shop and you’ll find more high-protein products on the shelves than you can shake, well, a protein shaker at! Protein flapjacks, protein cereal, protein ice cream and protein chocolate bars abound and they don’t come cheap; a protein-enriched Snickers bar sells for around £2 compared to the standard, 70 pence bar.

Earthy is a nail polish brand born from a frustration towards unsustainable cosmetic products that do more harm than good, and it specialises in producing free, natural nail polish. Earthy is one of thousands of brands from suppliers in our thriving community, which we are proud to support. We talked to Jackie Khangura from this exciting brand, who told us all about Earthy Nail Polish.   

The Banana Hands Clean Oceans Project has a range of personal care products for all the family, made from certified organic coconut ingredients, and supplied by families on the Solomon Islands. With a strong focus on the environment, some of their profits are used to clean up the oceans. For every Banana Hands product purchased, the organisation removes and recycles ten pieces of ocean plastic, to help keep oceans clean and safe for wildlife. 

Banana Hands is one of thousands of brands in our thriving community, which we are proud to support. We talked to Annie Holden from this exciting brand, who told us all about Banana Hands Clean Oceans Project.   

Real Ting Tea specialises in a range of natural, hand-crafted fresh teas. This is one of thousands of exciting brands on Product Guru, part of our thriving community of independent suppliers that we are proud to support. We talked to Junie from Real Ting Tea, who told us all about the company.   

The Secret Garden specialises in a range of natural gins. This is one of thousands of brands from suppliers in our thriving community, which we are proud to support. We talked to Karen Dobie-Lawson from this exciting brand, who told us all about The Secret Herb Garden. 

The most dangerous phrase in the English language is “We’ve always done it this way”, renowned computer scientist Grace Hopper famously said. Over the last year as planes were grounded, key retail trade shows cancelled, and face to face meetings replaced by boxes on a screen, these words have proved harshly pertinent to the retail industry, with many FMCG suppliers left scratching their heads as to the best way to get in front of buyers.

If you’ve had to close your shop doors under more restrictions, no doubt that now oft-repeated phrase “non-essential retail” really stings, because the business you’ve built up from scratch using your savings and put blood, sweat and tears into, isn’t “non-essential” to you and those around you. Of course, we all recognise the importance of protecting public health, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a really challenging time the retail sector and restrictions on retail across the various parts of the UK and more widely across Europe, undoubtedly have the potential to inflict further damage to the sector at the busiest time of the year for the industry.

Increasing brand awareness is the key goal of every emerging business. But if you're a small or mid-sized business with limited time, how do you best decide where to focus your efforts in order to build that all important customer trust, loyalty and familiarity? There are numerous ways to build brand awareness via online and offline marketing methods but we’ve outlined four techniques which are particularly powerful in 2021.