By J. Berrye Worsham
In reporting Cotton Incorporated's activities for 2003, this review will emphasize the broad spectrum of activities through which the company strives to make a difference to the industry in terms of profitability and end-user demand, both domestically and overseas.
Here follows some of the highlights from the company's divisions for 2003:
One of the tenets of Cotton Incorporated's Strategic Marketing Plan is to build the demand for cotton worldwide. In 2003, the Strategic Planning division engaged in research to support the efforts of the International Forum for Cotton Production (IFCP).
The two-year-old organization provides a means for countries to share research and information about cotton promotion strategies. The Strategic Planning division conducted research into fiber content labeling laws and practices in more than 150 countries. Results from the study identified 40 countries with labeling laws for apparel, and 47 countries with laws for home textiles.
As a result of the research conducted by the division, the ICAC adopted a recommendation in their conference policy statement, encouraging its 42 member countries to establish fiber content labeling laws.
In 2003, the Global Product Marketing division established or strengthened working relationships with more than 120 key companies as it expanded its coverage of national and retail brands, sourcing operations and mills in existing as well as newer markets, including South America, China and India.
The division renewed activity with major brands, including Coldwater Creek, Cabela's, EXPRESS, Abercrombie & Fitch, Phillips Van Heusen Sportswear, Chico's, Ann Taylor, Jones Apparel Group and Haggar.
It also expanded interaction with key global sourcing operations and brands, including Wal-Mart, Perry Ellis, Nike, Levi, Uniglo, Liz Claiborne, Mavi Jeans, Polo, IKEA, GAP and H&M.
In addition, GPM established activity with textile operations representing more than 60 percent of China's U.S. cotton imports, including the single largest cotton textile operation in the world.
The Advertising Department was involved in many projects during 2003; two of the most important are highlighted here.
The Cotton Gold Alliance, which was formed in 2002 under Cotton Incorporated and Cotton Council International, to influence and increase the sales of high-quality, 100 percent cotton merchandise in India, moved forward in 2003.
The advertising campaign, "The New Face of Cotton," was launched in early 2003 and, simultaneously, the Seal of Cotton® was introduced at the retail level. Advertising began appearing in the most prominent newspapers, Sunday supplements and magazines, and on billboards. More than 2.3 million hangtags explaining the Seal of Cotton® trustmark were distributed and began appearing on cotton products all across India.
To date, 23 leading Indian textile companies, representing 38 of the country's most prestigious apparel brands, have signed on. In addition, consumer research shows that, when asked whether they had purchased a 100 percent cotton product in the last three months, 54 percent of respondents said yes - an increase of 9 percent from 2001.
Based on the success of fabricofourlives.com, Cotton Incorporated's consumer Web site, and the fact that on-line shopping continues to grow substantially, the company unveiled at the end of 2003 another consumer Web site, thejoyofshopping.com. Devoted exclusively to cotton products from a diversified selection of retailers, this effort further extends the company's commitment to improve the demand for cotton.
The Web site is slated to go live early this year, and will feature women's wear, men's wear, children's wear, home furnishings and other products.
The Fashion Marketing Department plays an integral role in creating demand for cotton by reaching and communicating to the textile industry the latest and most market-right color, fabric and trend information in the apparel and home markets.
In 2003, the department conducted presentations in 50 cities in 19 countries, researched 27 cities worldwide for its presentations and received more than 900,000 hits on THE COTTONWORKS™ Global Fabric on-line directory.
In addition, the Fashion Marketing department had more interaction with the media. One of its trend specialists discussed children's back-to-school fashions on Fox and Friends, the No. 1 cable morning show in the New York tri-state area, while another participated in radio media tours on plus-size fashions and the history of the T-shirt.
Also, the Fashion Marketing and Marketing Communications departments joined together to create a presence at New York's Mercedes Benz 7th on Sixth Fashion Week in the fall, with a sponsorship of this international event.
By becoming a member of Fashion Week, Cotton Incorporated was entitled to a private display area in the main reception hall. The booth was staffed with department experts who could answer questions and distribute literature. Various members of the press interviewed staff members and many new media contacts were established.
Marketing Communications always asks, "What else can we do to promote cotton?" In 2003, that "What else?" was utilizing radio media tours. Because the U.S. is a suburban society, the majority of people drive to and from work. This has led to the success of what is generally known in radio as "drive time." People want to be entertained and radio stations are always looking for interesting interviews.
The Marketing Communications Dept. enlisted the expertise of one of Fashion Marketing's trend specialists. She never left her desk, but spoke directly to 31 radio stations via telephone. Stations carried her interviews across the country, in cities sush as Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Portland, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Seattle and Phoenix.
Subsequent RMTs reached a total national listening audience of seven million on 67 stations. Marketing Communications will continue to utilize RMTs in 2004.
In 2003, Retail Marketing gained exposure for the Seal of Cotton® at more than 10,000 retail locations, increased mall exposure for the Seal of Cotton® at more than 2500 retailers, and worked with top 100 U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart, Sears, JCPenney and Kmart.
In addition, the department partnered with J.Jill in The Nature of Cotton campaign. The promotion took place during the month of July, and customers were invited to purchase two cotton items and receive an exclusive customized music CD compilation, The Nature of Rhythm, featuring multiple female artists.
To create an effective co-branded relationship, Cotton Incorporated and J.Jill combined retail knowledge and market research to target their consumer, and communicated the message through specific advertising and marketing activities. This was achieved through in-store special events, radio advertising, national magazine advertising, heightened in-store visuals, a sweepstakes, catalog, direct mail, Web site content and e-mail.
Consumers purchased more than $6.5 million in cotton merchandise during The Nature of Cotton campaign.
The Agricultural Research department provides research and technical services to cotton growers and mills. In 2003, the division's staff traveled more than 550 days and visited more than 100 project sites. In addition, 375 cooperative research projects totaling $6.5 million were funded in 2003, about half through Cotton Incorporated's Core Budget and the others through the State Support program.
In 2003, the department, in cooperation with Fiber Quality Research, launched the Cotton Breeding and Genetics Initiative to address the demand from domestic and foreign mills for a higher quality fiber from U.S.-grown cotton.
Through this program, Agricultural Research is collaborating with and supporting breeding projects at universities and USDA labs across the Cotton Belt. These public cotton breeders are making unique genetic combinations with great potential for combining higher fiber quality with productivity.
At the 2003 Cotton Breeders Tour, held in Lubbock, TX, 75 breeders attended a training workshop on the utilization of AFIS instruments for evaluating important fiber traits in their breeding program.
Improving fiber, fabric and yarn testing methods was a key objective for Fiber Quality Research in 2003. One component of the department's research was the development of reference standards for cotton fiber properties such as maturity, fineness and short fiber content, particularly in regard to the quality measurement of micronaire.
This cooperative effort, with the USDA and Texas Tech University, created an extensive set of cotton fineness and maturity standards that, for the first time, provide fundamental benchmarks for these properties.
With more than 100 carefully characterized reference standards now available, Fiber Quality Research has initiated the second phase of this work, which is to create reliable, high-speed measurements of fineness and maturity. The availability of such quality information will increase processing efficiency as well as improve the competitive position of U.S. upland cotton in global markets.
In 2003, Textile Research and Implementation, which consists of Fiber Processing Research, Fabric Development, Nonwovens Research, Textile Chemistry Research and Dyeing and Finishing, held 868 meetings with domestic and international mills and manufacturers, providing technical information as well as research implementation and mill trials. The department also handled 1,044 technical communications and fulfilled 35,000 requests for fabric samples, designs and technical information.
The Fiber Processing group, developed an innovative yarn for Dan River that is a unique adaptation of an established method for producing random slubs using existing production equipment without special hardware requirements.
The seven-ounce per square yard fabric was adopted by Dan River into its current line because the innovative yarn gives the fabric an approved homespun and natural looks, augmenting Dan River's novelty range of fabrics both in piece-dyed and yarn-dyed goods.
In addition, Textile Chemistry Research developed a durable finish for bottom weights that reduces abrasion and protects denim color while offering superior toughness, comfort and dependability.
Adopted by Wrangler, this new finish was called durashield™, and became the cornerstone of its RIGGS WORKWEAR™ by Wrangler line. Today, the line is sold in more than 1,500 stores throughout the United States.
In 1982, Fiber Management Research launched the Engineered Fiber Selection® (EFS®) System of software programs and services that, through the use of USDA High Volume Instrument Data (HVI), provides significantly improved cotton inventory and analysis capabilities, as well as electronic communication between producers, ginners, mills and merchants/co-ops.
Due to the potential for significant savings using HVI-tested, high-quality cotton, domestic and international mills are increasingly using the EFS System. In 2003, a real-time beta test was conducted on new and improved EFS® MillNet32™ Cotton Management System with Avondale Mills, one of the top four cotton-consuming U.S. textile mills.
The new software has benefited Avondale by reducing inventory, eliminating almost all in-house HVI testing in favor of HVI data, and improved the performance of its warehouses, mills and end products.
Also in 2003, a large Korean mill, Kuk-il, leased the EFS® MillNet™ Cotton Management System. The company expanded the use of the system to improve the quality of its yarn while consuming additional quantities of U.S. cotton. Through investing in modern machines, testing equipment and its employees, Kuk-il Spinning has become the most profitable mills per capita in Korea.
In 2003, Corporate Administration expanded the global promotion of cotton through actively facilitating the protection and licensing of the Seal of Cotton®. To date, the department, along with Global Product Marketing and Retail Marketing, has produced more than 700 licenses for the Seal of Cotton®, including 24 new licenses issued in 2003 for use of the trademark in India alone.
For the first time in the history of the company, Cotton Incorporated granted permission to a U.S.-based company, Federated Department Stores, for the use of the Seal of Cotton® on products distributed worldwide. Thus, the cotton logo that is seen throughout the U.S. on Charter Club merchandise in Macy's and its affiliates, will now be available in countries such as Australia, Japan, Peru and Chile.
J. Berrye Worsham is president and CEO of Cotton Inc., Cary, NC.
