Lindsay Ashley and Rhoxie Booth of Rubbermaid Commercial Products recently spent a day at AutoQuotes for their 3E Forum, a workshop to “engage, educate and exchange” with manufacturers to address their questions and needs. Lindsay and Rhoxie met with our Content, Media, Product Management and Customer Support teams to review manufacturer best practices and AQ functionalities to help give them the best possible publishing experience.
Part of Newell Brands, Rubbermaid Commercial Products manufactures products for foodservice, sanitary maintenance, waste handling, material transport and safety. Lindsay is a senior trade marketing manager for the company. She has spent her entire 14-year career in marketing, with the last eight years in food manufacturing and wholesale, food retail and FES.
“I’ve been fortunate to have seen the food industry from many different sides,” says Lindsay. “Even with my experience there’s always something new and challenging. Newell is a big company, but it’s nimble and there’s always something fresh and interesting going on.”
We asked Rhoxie – a new marketing assistant and a millennial – about joining the FES industry. We know all channels are concerned about drawing top, young talent into FES.
“I was recruited by Newell while I was still in grad school,” says Rhoxie. “They have an extensive, structured campus recruiting program. You accept a position in your field and then you’re matched with one of their six hub locations. There’s a Newell ‘boot camp’ with your peers in which you learn all about the Newell family, the goals and direction. There’s career mapping, timelines and encouragement to try out other jobs and functions to gain different experiences. As young people, the investment Newell is putting into us speaks volumes. I know it’s made my recruiting class very loyal.”
What did Lindsay and Rhoxie think of their 3E Forum?
“It was a great data and content ‘check-up,’” says Lindsay. “We looked at things from the perspective of the AQ subscriber. We saw the importance of providing hi-res images, CAD drawings and adding more materials to our DocLinks and keeping them up to date.”
We asked Lindsay and Rhoxie about trends they’re seeing in the industry.
“Definitely smaller restaurant footprints,” says Lindsay. “The back-of-house is tighter. End-users want products that store easily in a smaller space, are ergonomic and multi-purpose. For example, we offer a ‘Broomgee™.’ It’s a combination broom to sweep up solids and a squeegee for liquid spills. It’s part of a series of tools that are designed to save time, effort and space.”
Lindsay and Rhoxie have also seen an increase in sales for delivery and take-out/catering related products. They attribute this to the trend of people eating what they want, when and where they want it – with such services as Uber Eats.
We want to thank Lindsay and Rhoxie for visiting with us. 3E Forums run now through October, based upon availability. We host the Forums at our offices in Jacksonville, Florida. To learn more, contact your Content Account Manager and we’ll work together to create your 3E experience.