About the Authors

The authors have a deep involvement in the industry with complementary backgrounds. They collaborated to lead a great deal of the primary industry research and together have worked with the leaders of every industry segment. They are uniquely positioned to use their familiarity with the industry and the research to apply their personal experience to create a comprehensive review of marketing at retail with a guide for driving retail success.

Rick DeHerder was the founder of Array, a leading designer and manufacturer of fixtures and displays, with operations in North America and China and a network of strategic partners around the world. Prior to founding Array in 1999, Rick spent 24 years in both brand marketing as Executive Vice President at Mattel, and in the retail industry at Sears, working in the stores, regional offices, and headquarters. This broad-based experience gives him unique insight into the challenges of retail marketing at all levels.

Dick Blatt is the president of Planar World Consulting. He served as the CEO of POPAI—The Global Association for Marketing at Retail, for 17 years. In this role, he was called upon to author articles and deliver presentations around the world on the subject of marketing at retail, its future, and its trends. He was also selected to provide The Center for Association Leadership with two case studies of excellence for going global and reinventing the association.

During his tenure, one of the association’s primary strategic goals was to integrate the marketing at retail medium in the strategic marketing mix. The association also expanded to include 20 country chapters, with an organizational presence on every populated continent.