How Can Your Company Produce Stronger Sales Results? Here, We Provide insights on the Top Commercial Innovations Market Leading CPG Companies Are Investing in.
What better way to obtain higher sales than to learn from those who have been successful at it during the two-year pandemic? Through our extensive network, we were able to receive an inside look at the top commercial innovations companies are using to maintain or gain market share. Carpe Diem managing partner, Chris Browning, connected with 159 candidates across 63 businesses of mostly multinational, public CPG-related companies with $5B or greater in revenue. Browning was able to speak intimately with 40 of those candidates over the last several months.
The insights from those conversations are detailed in the subsections below. Although the feedback was substantially broad, most aggregated around companies utilizing product extensions and investment in planning processes, analytics, and pricing technology to improve the “flywheel” of market pricing.
An Increase in Cross-Functional Problem-Solving and Shared KPIs With Functions to Support Sales
Two important takeaways from our research revealed that success greatly increased when there was a collaboration between functional teams and the use of tools to enhance productivity. For example, developing a national brand pricing strategy supported by tools that provided “machine learning” data proved to be helpful in one company. This company also implemented Microsoft planner, a project management tool, along with a focus on store-level pricing, to improve operations. Similarly, using Microsoft Teams proved to be an efficient way to collaborate, which aided in problem-solving within departments. Creating a collaborative culture in remote teams also proved to be successful due to focusing effort on 1 to 1 engagement.
In addition, trade management systems were mentioned as being advantageous at driving execution and changing trade architecture focused on profitable results, promoting retailers to work more efficiently. One company even noted that “trade promotion management optimizations created healthy tension and yielded $75M in benefits” for one of their brands. Wiring this together with revenue analytics made for efficient, profitable business outcomes. Another company also cited trade promotion management using a 360-degree CRM feedback tool that provided customer insights and analytics that helped drive sales and profits.
Others mentioned managing best practices in funding and combining that with in-store product availability confirmation – with a financial focus on verifying the replenishment of products – was deemed as paramount. One company chose to implement an application to show products that were out-of-stock to assist in managing in-stock performance.
Planning tools that are user-friendly and provide relevant analytics were also mentioned as being key – end-to-end exception reporting embraced by all functional teams, enterprise software, going to a network matrix with fewer direct reports, and fortifying enhanced communication with all key functions across the board. Another company said they were using a new assessment tool to identify functional capabilities in the organization for effective go-to-market execution. This company notes that the program is global and will inform personal development, etc. They expect to launch this program later this year. Furthermore, with the goal of expanding their consumption data, one of the companies stated they are using a “third-party consultant to integrate their reports.”
Overall, the companies referenced can attribute the majority of their success to collaborating across different functional teams within their organization while also using the right tools to get the job done and acquire valuable data.
Listening to the Consumer – Changing Products to Keep Up With Trends
On another note, many also noted that listening to the demands of their consumers resulted in higher sales and profits. Through accessing and analyzing data on consumer trends, companies were able to make product innovations to grow their business. Achieving this required companies to create products that were original to their brand. With companies expressing “many consumers wanting better-for-you ingredients,” companies with edible products “utilized organic or simple ingredients instead of processed sugars and carbohydrates.” Also, many noted that flavor extensions, the expansion of functional capability, and adding more variety to products proved to be successful. For example, the initial trial of a drink product that combined soda and coffee tested by consumers garnered 73% intention to repeat.
Making changes to the usability of products or labeling also yielded beneficial results. One company took a product from being used in one way to being used in many other ways just by adding a few ingredients and changing the size of the product, which resulted in “high capital investment.” In stores where buying in bulk is popular, some companies changed the number of packages to be more efficient for families, changing a popular 6-pack product to a “4-pack [because it] would work out better.” In one company, one of the brand’s sales stagnated and market research revealed the packaging was “sad and tired.” They found that revamping the label with brighter colors, new imagery, and creating a brand plan that resonates at the consumer level grew sales. This included revitalizing advertising too – a major area for producing an awareness of the product. Lastly, companies researched opportunities to ensure they understood consumer pain points around time constraints, leading to the creation of products that were more convenient for the consumer.
Clearly, understanding consumer needs and wants is an integral piece to a company’s overall success. Through critically analyzing consumer data, these companies were able to create innovations that their consumers could get behind with ease.
Marketplace Selling Data – Extensive and Readily Available
These market insights from Carpe Diem Global Partners are gathered from the firm’s extensive client work leading Board, CEO, CXO, and CHRO executive search engagements for public and private multinational companies. For deeper, custom insights, contact Chris Browning at cbrowning@carpediempartners.com.