Has Wal-Mart’s “Get on the Shelf” Contest Changed Selling Forever?

Feb. 2, 2012 - PRLog -- It was just a matter of time before the cultural phenomenon of realty TV made its way to the business community. Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, recently announced a new contest dedicated to find new and innovative products to put on its shelves. "Get on the Shelf", an online product search, is the first major campaign developed by Wal-Mart’s new social media wing, @Wal-MartLabs.

“Since mega retailers like Wal-Mart source their products globally, it is difficult for them to see all the new and innovative products available,” says Sterling Crim Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Partner at Adams Extract & Spice. “This program levels the playing field!”

This is exactly what Wal-Mart’s new program aims to do. “Wal-Mart has the best products at everyday low prices, but we know there are some great undiscovered products that have not yet reached our shelves,” Venky Harinarayan, senior vice president of Wal-Mart Global e-commerce, said in a press release. “For a long time, the ability to get a product into a retail store was at the sole discretion of the store buyer. Today, we are removing these barriers by giving anyone a chance to launch their product at Wal-Mart and reach millions of shoppers nationwide.”

“This direction is inevitable,” says Crim. “With the high cost of travel and the sheer volume of global products, companies will have to turn to using new media and communication platforms as sales tools.” Adams opened its DICE (Design, Innovation, Communication and Education) Center last September in downtown San Antonio to support this new direction in selling and marketing.

Adams contest entry, Culinary Tonight, is a line of premeasured seasoning kits that are designed to make healthy restaurant classic meals. Each meal comes with the seasonings and finishing sauces for both an entree and a side dish retailing for SRP $1.69

Round one voting for the “Get on the Shelf” contest will begin March 7, 2012 and runs through April 3, 2012. If successful in this round, final voting will run from April 11, 2012 through April 24, 2012 at http://www.getontheshelf.com

To view Culinary Tonight's "Get on the Shelf" YouTube submission goto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH53H_3dM3k



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Adams Extract & Spice is an industry leader in food flavor solutions that provides a wide range of consumer products from pantry basic spices and extracts to culinary spices, blends, and herbs from around the world. Best known for its worlds famous Adams Best Vanilla, Adams manufactures their own brands and private label spice, blends, and extract items sold in retail locations around the nation. One of the oldest spice and extract companies in America, Adams Extract & Spice will be celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013.