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While a fickle economy forced many retailers into challenging periods of deep discounting, some top retail brands have stayed above the fray. In a recent survey of Americans about brands across several retail segments, Walgreens emerged as the first ever drugstore brand of the year; Target stores was top-ranked for second straight year; and Woot.com replaced Groupon as the best daily deal web site.

With strong brand names, Diamond Foods often plays above its weight. When it came time to invest in its trade promotion strategy, Diamond Foods opted to take a calculated route marked rather than the more common "spend and learn" approach of larger competitors.