Movers & Shakers: Brian Numainville

A look at the people behind the numbers in area business:

Title: Principal

Age: 45

Brian Numainville, a veteran research and public relations executive and cause marketing specialist, is helping grocers listen to customers as a principal of Retail Feedback Group.

Joining Retail Feedback Group builds on Numainville's industry experience — he worked at Nash Finch Co. for 18 years — and returns him to the kind of family-owned business where he worked earlier in his career.

"Retail Feedback Group is a 40-year-old family-owned business, and that means a lot to me," said Numainville, the first nonfamily member to be named a principal of the company. "It's also an opportunity for me to take all of the research, public relations and nonprofit work I've done to use while working with our clients and growing the business."

Numainville most recently was senior director of research and public relations at Nash Finch and chairman of its NFC Foundation. In that role, he launched cause marketing campaigns, including Feeding Imagination, which has generated donations of more than 130,000 books for children.

Cause marketing — a strategic marketing partnership between a business and a social cause or nonprofit — offers consumers a meaningful way to connect with a company and affords nonprofits the means to acquire resources and offer services, Numainville said.

Retail Feedback Group offers research and consulting services. Its flagship program is Constant Customer Feedback, which uses register receipts to invite consumers to complete surveys. Minnesota clients include Nash Finch and Coborn's, he said.

Q: Why should a company consider launching a cause marketing campaign?

A: Causes are important to people. They're important to consumers and they're also something that's important to associates and people who work for companies today. They want opportunities to serve the community.

Q: What does research say about cause marketing?

Q: How does the customer feedback platform benefit retailers?

A: It provides an opportunity to create more customer loyalty … and valuable information to make changes that will help them better appeal to shoppers.