Path to Purchase IQ - Sept 2019

SEPTEMBER 2019

Path Purchase

consumergoods.com

TO

E N D - TO - E N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R D R I V I N G C O N S U M E R D E M A N D

INSIDE PEOPLE TO WATCH: SEVEN RISING STARS

SPECIAL REPORTS:

JOINT BUSINESS PLANNING, TRADE PROMOTION MANAGEMENT, AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY VEHICLES

INDUSTRY GUIDE: SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

CIO of the YEAR Sandeep Dadlani accelerates transformation at Mars

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A Streamlined Solution for All Your In-Store Needs.

A singular focus on a complex business. Managing your programs with speed, simplicity and one point of contact from concept through delivery.

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Contents E N D -TO - E N D ST R AT E G I E S F O R D R I V I N G C O NS U M E R D E M A N D

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Autonomous Delivery Vehicles Drones, robots and driverless cars are primed to change how consumers receive product at their doorstep.

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The State of JBP

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Next-gen joint business planning should deliver benefits for manufacturers, retailers and, ultimately, shoppers.

SPECIAL REPORTS

CIO of the Year Chief digital officer Sandeep Dadlani is helping Mars move faster to better solve the evolving needs of consumers and customers.

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People to Watch Seven rising stars are making a name for themselves by doing work for their brands that is worthy of attention.

September 2019

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Trade Promotion Management

Transformation is slow, but progressive companies are improving traditional efforts by adopting new tools.

VO LU M E 32 | ISS U E 8

September 2019 NEWS

DEPARTMENTS 6

Editor’s Note:

Bill Schober

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P2PI Member Spotlight: VizSense

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Solutions Guide:

2019 Guide to Shopper

Marketing Agencies

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Activation Gallery: New Product Introductions

12

90

P2P Toolkit

94 Shopping

with Steve: The Value Channel

96 Solution

Provider News

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97 Personnel

Appointments/ Editorial Index

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Retailer Intelligence:

Target welcomes Huggies’

8 Del Monte and IT Accenture’s standardized, automated platform facilitates Del Monte’s seamless transition to cloud-based IT.

9 Whiskey Advice Using AI

Spirits manufacturer BrownForman is using a chatbot to help consumers along the path to purchase.

12 DOT 25-Year

Retrospective, Part 1

Leading up to November’s Path to Purchase Expo, we celebrate the “Best of the Best” from the first 25 years of the Path to Purchase Institute’s Design of the Times awards program.

Special Delivery premium diapers, which feature bold packaging creative.

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83 OMA Award Winners We shine the spotlight on the 2019 Display of the Year, Budget Award and Creative Award winners from the annual industry program.

Path to Purchase IQ (USPS 4568, ISSN 2688-4984 ) is published 11 times a year, by EnsembleIQ, 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631. Subscription rates: $125 for U.S. addresses; $190 for Canadian addresses; $275 for all other addresses. Single copies (pre- paid only): $20 in the U.S. Periodical postage paid at Chicago, IL 60631, and additional mailing addresses. Copyright 2019 by EnsembleIQ. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Reprints, permissions and licensing, please contact Wright’s Media at ensembleiq@wrightsmedia.com or (877) 652-5295.

POSTMASTER: send address changes to Path to Purchase IQ, PO Box 3200, Northbrook IL 60065-3200.

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T H E R E S U LT O F K N O W I N G P R O M OT I O N S CLO U D

M E D I A C LO U D

AU D I E N C E C LO U D

A N A LY T I C S C LO UD

© 2019 Quotient Technology Inc. Quotient and the Quotient logo are registered trademarks of Quotient Technology Inc. Source: Quotient internal reporting (Q3 2018)

Editor’s Note

Editor-in-Chief Peter Breen, pbreen@ensembleiq.com

Face It: ‘Rocky’ was a Mistake

Executive Editor Tim Binder, tbinder@ensembleiq.com Managing Editor Charlie Menchaca, cmenchaca@ensembleiq.com Associate Director/Content Patrycja Malinowska, pmalinowska@ensembleiq.com

B ILL SCHOB E R, E DITOR E ME RITUS

You’d think I’d learn. Every fall we have an Expo, and every Expo involves client dinners, so off I’d go, committed to a great night out until … like clockwork … my phone would ring. On the other end might be our bedraggled events coordinator, or a stressed out marketing person, or most often, longtime Path to Purchase Institute boss Peter Hoyt himself.

The request was always the same: Come to the Design of the Times gallery – right now! – and look at the “Best of Times” display that the judges just picked. And with that, our annual round of second-guessing would begin: “Is it too weird? Did they enter the wrong category? Is it too big/small, fancy/cheap and/or bells & whistle-y? ... Will we look like idiots?”

I doubt Price Waterhouse goes through half the anxiety at the Academy Awards that we do at the DOTs … well, except when they give out the wrong envelope. After just about every one of these “best in show” announcements, I’ve been met with shaking heads and dagger stares from P-O-P guys who think our judges got it wrong.

Given this contest’s 25-year history, some of them might’ve been right. Would any movie buff today still rate the Oscarwinning “Rocky” higher than that year’s losers: “Taxi Driver,” “Network” and “All the President’s Men”?

My all-time favorite second-guessed winner was a back-to-school blue-jeans display for The Children’s Place, a Secaucus, New Jersey-based kids clothing chain.

Staffers worried that, after years of winners with more electronics than Apollo 11, this seemed awfully simple. But once you read its backstory, you realized that the display was what mathematicians call an “elegant solution” that addressed a problem with beautiful simplicity and effectiveness. Yes, it served the conventional “4 C’s” purposes of capturing attention and conveying, but the

Associate Editor/Content Cyndi Loza, cloza@ensembleiq.com

real issue was that, before visual support was added, shopper moms dove into the folded piles of merchandise and passed them around. The retailer discovered that inordinate staff time was dedicated to refolding this one product line all day long.

The display saved the account.

Despite the panicky moments, we overruled a judges’ determination, and certainly not to favor (despite what some people think) an advertiser. Yes, we were a hyper-competitive, sales-oriented operation.

But we did everything by the book because we were empowered, by the boss, to serve the industry, even when that meant irritating the boss himself by showcasing an archrival (there – I said it) with articles like this issue’s OMA winners on page 83.

But no sooner had I stepped back to “emeritus” status than the editors completely lost their minds. They’ve embarked upon their own “Best of the Best” DOT retrospective, opening a contentious can of worms that will culminate at this fall’s Path to Purchase Expo (Nov. 13-14) to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In conjunction with executives from MarketingLab/SellCheck, they will re-evaluate the top winners through the years and try to identify in-store campaigns that, in hindsight, represented truly breakthrough thinking. Holy moly.

The first part of their “DOT Retrospective” begins on page 12 of this issue and will continue in the next few issues. Then, as part of the “Shopper Strategies” P2PX session track, editor-in-chief Peter Breen and MarketingLab’s Rich Butwinick will walk attendees through their picks. Also at that time, info on the next DOT competition (which is slated for 2020) will be announced.

This I gotta see. Join me as I question, second-guess and generally heckle Pete and Rich from the audience at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

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Associate Editor/Content Jacqueline Barba, jbarba@ensembleiq.com Editor Emeritus Bill Schober, bschober@ensembleiq.com Director – Production Ed Ward, eward@ensembleiq.com Creative Director Colette Magliaro, cmagliaro@ensembleiq.com Art Director Michael Escobedo, mescobedo@ensembleiq.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Ochwat, Erika Flynn, Ed Finkel, Michael Applebaum, Chris Gelbach, Dawn Klingensmith, Neal Lorenzi, April Miller

SALES & P2PI MEMBER DEVELOPMENT Executive Director David Shanker, 201.855.7617, dshanker@ensembleiq.com Vice President of Sales Karen Fenske, kfenske@ensembleiq.com Associate Brand Director Simone Knaap, 973.607.1374, sknaap@ensembleiq.com Associate Brand Director Bill Little, 828.237.3350, blittle@ensembleiq.com Associate Brand Director Rich Zelvin, 773.992.4425, rzelvin@ensembleiq.com Senior Director/Member Development Patrick Hare, phare@ensembleiq.com Director/Member/New Business Development Todd Turner, tturner@ensembleiq.com VP/Member Services Jennifer Zannelli, jzannelli@ensembleiq.com Manager, New Member Development Katrina Lopez, klopez@ensembleiq.com

ENSEMBLEIQ LEADERSHIP TEAM

Executive Chairman Alan Glass Chief Executive Officer David Shanker Chief Financial Officer Dan McCarthy Chief Digital Officer Joel Hughes Chief Commercial Officer Jennifer Litterick Chief Innovation Officer Tanner Van Dusen Chief Human Resources Officer Ann Jadown Executive Vice President, Events & Conferences Ed Several

EDITORIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICES 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 200 Chicago, IL 60631-3731 Phone: 773.992.4450 | Fax: 773.992.4455

Enterprise Excellence

Del Monte Migrates IT to the Cloud Accenture’s standardized, automated platform is expected to facilitate a seamless transition

BY DA N O C H WAT

In a move that took less than four months, Del Monte Foods streamlined its IT operations and migrated them to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, immediately improving cybersecurity and internal communication, according to the manufacturer. The platform puts the department in a position to explore AI, IoT and other cloud-based tools that previously weren’t available to them.

Del Monte worked with Accenture, New York, and its Accenture Cloud Platform, which relies on automated software and migration tools to execute the transition and support an end-to-end managed cloud framework for the Walnut Creek, California-based manufacturer. In all, Del Monte migrated more than 200 servers to the cloud.

The process was so seamless that nobody noticed the move, says Chad Anderson, vice president and chief information officer of Del Monte. Anderson says switching to a standardized, automated platform improved cybersecurity operations and reduced costs around having to send staff out to physically replace hard drives and infrastructure.

As an IT initiative, the benefits are primarily seen on the back end, Anderson says. “Our network teams and our server teams are communicating better because they have more standardized ways of working and more automation tools,” he says.

Accenture’s lead on the project was

Chad Anderson, Del Monte Foods VP and CIO

Kishore Durg, Accenture Cloud for Technology Services Senior Managing Director

Kishore Durg, senior managing director, Accenture Cloud for Technology Services.

The benefit of a cloud platform is that “it allows for a scalable, upgradable, monitored and managed cloud infrastructure environment,” Durg says. The platform provides Del Monte Foods with new tools that respond to consumer and market demands at scale and speed.

“It means that the business can operate in a flexible and dynamic way as the company can now scale operations up and down as needed and as guided by metrics and performance benchmarking,” Durg says.

For example, if Anderson needs a new server tomorrow, he can pick one out on his mobile device and have it up and running in 10 minutes. “It’s incredibly powerful for me to basically stand up or decommission systems because it’s that flexible and that’s where you only pay for

September 2019

what you use,” Anderson says.

By moving away from physical servers and solely paying for infrastructure and the cloud computing power it needs, when it needs it, the company no longer has to make significant capital investments like before, Durg says.

After the platform settles in, the next steps include exploring and evaluating new tools in the Amazon and AWS ecosystem such as cloud-based analytics tools, and AI and IoT technologies.

Anderson says they’re able to do testing and disaster recovery in different ways

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“The business can operate in a flexible and dynamic way as the company can now scale operations up and down as needed and as guided by metrics and performance benchmarking.”

now, too, so Del Monte will explore where they can take advantage of that.

Offering advice around the transition, Anderson warns of skeletons in the closet.

“Some of the [old] systems had been around for 15 years and nobody has the history on some of these systems anymore,” he says.

“They’ve been sitting there static for a long time and they kind of work, and nobody really knows why they work, and some of those things can really bite you.”

Del Monte had a migration approach that began with moving the forgotten systems first, and then going system by system – “almost treating it like each one was its own mini go-live,” Anderson says.

Other tips were to halt all other projects and handle the transition at once. Durg adds that time is of the essence for packaged foods companies. “You can’t ask fresh food to wait while you take your time transforming the supporting technology,” he says. IQ

Consumer Engagement

Sharing Whiskey Advice Via AI Brown-Forman uses chatbot to help consumers along the path to purchase

BY C H R I S G E L B AC H

Brown-Forman Corp. launched its first artificial intelligence-infused chatbot to help consumers discover which whiskeys and cocktails they might like. The chatbot, called the Whiskey Whisperer, is part of a larger brand initiative called Straight From the Distillery.

“We wanted a solution for those folks in helping simplify the whiskey category,” says Lynette Green, Brown-Forman digital marketing manager. “When you go into the store, and back to the wall of whiskey, there are more than 500 brands on the market today. For a lot of people, this is really intimidating.”

Brown-Forman research found that for these shoppers, the purchase journey averages only about 72 hours and often focuses on pre-shop planning and research, especially on social media.

Working with Northbrook, Illinoisbased Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, Brown-Forman worked to devise a portfolio program that could simplify and explain whiskey while highlighting brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Early Times, Coopers’ Craft, Canadian Mist and Slane Irish Whiskey.

“Portfolio programming is somewhat hard at Brown-Forman in the sense that we have a lot of very strong brands that each have their own unique brand stories,” Green says. “We’re very used to telling those stories on an individual basis.”

The chatbot gave Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman and Blue Chip a consumer-centric solution to this issue. The Whiskey Whisperer educates consumers about whiskey types, brands and cocktails and uses AI technology to learn, adjust and improve its answers for future consumers. It was created in collaboration with technology partner Reve Marketing, Mountain View, California.

The test program started in midSeptember 2018 and ran through October 2018 across Florida, Illinois, Kentucky and Arizona. Another follow-up program ran in Florida through January this year. Shoppers

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were informed of the chatbot via mobile ads as well as ads on Facebook and Instagram. Users could access the program via Messenger or the Straight From the Distillery Facebook page.

On the chatbot, users first opt to either learn about whiskey or get recommendations. Depending on what they choose, they are then given additional choices, such as the option to ask for recommendations based on whiskey type or flavor profile.

“Knowing what you like is easy,” Green says. “But knowing whiskey is hard. Just looking at a bottle, you’re not going to come away with, ‘I like spicy, so I’m going to have an Old Forester Rye.’” Users can also access cocktail recommendations by choosing from categories that include classics, winter warmers, punches and whiskey +1 (additional ingredient) options. Upon choosing a cocktail, the user is presented with a recipe using a BrownForman product.

The program was supported in stores with semi-permanent Straight From the Distillery displays made of wood and metal. It was a success as gauged by the metrics of incremental sales and customer engagement. Brown-Forman saw doubledigit sales lift of its whiskey portfolio at key retailers. The chatbot had more than 15,000 engagements over the two initial phases of the program, with the average customer spending nearly 13 minutes on it learning more about whiskey.

“This has surpassed the benchmarks Reve had shared with us in terms of expected engagement, numbers of conversations started and length of conversation,” says Erich Parker, Blue Chip vice president of business leadership.

Building on the program’s success, the chatbot remains live on Facebook. A new nationwide, media-supported rollout of the program featuring more in-store communication about the chatbot is planned for September and October. IQ

Member Spotlight

VizSense A Q&A with Jon Iadonisi, VizSense Founder and CEO

than an influencer agency to our clients.

We co-labor with our customers to be a resource for insights and strategy, new capabilities and brainstorms – all focused on them winning. To do this we ensure our team stays current on trends in data analytics, digital marketing and shopper marketing. P2PI offers us a way to stay current on emerging trends and engage with the brightest minds and thought leaders in the shopper marketing industry. We are truly impressed with the networking, workshops and events that the P2PI membership has afforded us thus far and are looking forward to building new relationships within this community.

Your website – vizsense.com – says “VizSense is part science and part social.” Can you explain what that means?

IADONISI: We believe that today’s marketers must understand consumer data (science) and how to properly distribute it via social channels (where, when and how). This is easier said than done due to the number of ineffective tools, dashboards and marketplaces saturating the industry. Everything we do at VizSense is rooted in scientific and social principles as evidenced by our detailed research, campaign execution and lessons learned. Our proprietary technologies and methodologies enable us to dominate these two dimensions by delivering highly effective and scalable influencer campaigns that really benefit the shopper marketing teams of our clients.

What are the latest disruptors most affecting your industry now?

IADONISI: I believe analytics and reporting are currently the biggest disrupters in the industry. The days of brands spending money on elaborate

Immediately, during and following our first national push using VizSense, the social conversations about Waterloo completely took off and have not let up since.

– BRANDON CASON, FOUNDER, WATERLOO SPARKLING WATER

How does your company use its P2PI membership?

IADONISI: VizSense strives to be more

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marketing campaigns with little to no return on ad spend are numbered.

Decision makers are being held more accountable for immediate results.

There is a need for agencies that can execute impactful campaigns, driving results and providing analytics that are used to drive scalable strategies. We analyze data throughout all phases of our campaigns and garner actionable insights benefitting our partners’ future campaigns and strategy. To do so, it takes collaboration across multiple teams (brand, shopper, digital), open mindedness, and a willingness to think outside the box and take chances on new strategies.

What are your predictions for the future of marketing, and how will you help your clients navigate it?

IADONISI: Marketing will become more specialized, more niche and more targeted. We believe this complements our focus on nano and micro influencers as well as our technology to specifically target the right consumer. Furthermore, niche marketing companies like ours are more efficient, agile and can pivot seamlessly because we run everything turnkey.

Most of our clients appreciate the fact that 100% of our robust campaigns are executed with our own trained analysts and technology. This allows all the benefit to be carried over to the client instead of having to dilute workflow and funding across several different agencies like PR, media buying and creative. As influencer marketing continues to mature, our streamlined structure and technology will enable us to rapidly scale and continuously evolve ahead of the consumer. IQ

NOT A PATH TO PURCHASE INSTITUTE MEMBER? Join the 400+ companies who rely on the Path to Purchase Institute every day for strategies and best practices on succeeding in today’s chaotic consumer goods environment. For more information, contact Katrina Lopez at klopez@ensembleiq.com.

Proudly part of Stronghaven, Inc. and the Hood Container family of companies.

DOT 25-Year Retrospective For the past 25 years, the Path to Purchase Institute has recognized the very best in marketing and merchandising at retail through its Design of the Times awards program.

In recognition of this milestone anniversary, the Institute this year is conducting a special three-part retrospective to celebrate the “Best of the Best” from the program’s first 25 years. In conjunction with executives from MarketingLab/SellCheck, we evaluated the top winners through the years to identify the in-store campaigns that represented truly breakthrough thinking and innovation, applying the “4 C’s” of effectiveness that MarketingLab devised in 2010. The groups also looked beyond the top winners to recognize other noteworthy campaigns. Please enjoy this presentation of the industry’s finest work of the last 25 years. We’ll recognize more programs in the October and November issues, and then unveil the “Best of the Best” in November at the Path to Purchase Expo.

Sally Hansen + Crayola InstaDriCollection

Retail Category: Drug Client: Coty Inc. Entrant: Menasha Size of run: 6,100 Won: Platinum 2018 Comment: The objective here was to launch a partnership collection between Crayola and Coty’s Sally Hansen brand to increase sales for the latter’s Insta-Dri nail polish line.

THE 4 C’S OF EFFECTIVE IN-STORE & DIGITAL ACTIVATION Command attention (let the shopper know your presence)

Connect with the shopper (be recognizable)

Mountain Dew Cooler Door Bottle

Retail Category: Convenience Client: PepsiCo Entrant: Great Northern Corp.

Size of run: 1,000 Won: Platinum 2011 Comment: This design was a distinctive way to utilize a large untapped piece of convenience store real estate without obscuring product inside of the cooler.

Convey information (tell a story)

Close the sale (eliminate purchase doubt)

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DOT RETROSPECTIVE, PART 1

Disney Infinity Display Program

Retail Category: Mass Merchant Client: The Walt Disney Co. Entrant: Design Phase Inc. Size of run: 6,825 Won: Best of the Times 2014 Comment: This display needed to be interactive, allowing the consumer to place a figurine onto the base pad and receive a description of that character in a virtual scene.Â

Wii U Interactive Retail Display Program

Retail Category: Mass Merchant Client: Nintendo of America Entrant: Frank Mayer and Associates Inc. and AGI In-Store Size of run: 6,182 Won: Best of the Times 2013 Comment: Once consumers were drawn to the display at retail through the LED lighting, brand recognition and video content, they were encouraged to pick up the Wii U Game Pad and engage with the display.

Locally Grown Produce In-Line Gondola Display

Retail Category: Supermarket/Grocery Client: Wakefern Food Corp.

Entrant: Pratt Industries Size of run: 333 Won: Best of the Times 2012 Comment: The objective here was to provide consumer awareness on the quality of locally grown produce with a multi-positioned, thematic barn campaign.

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DOT RETROSPECTIVE, PART 1

Dr. Scholl’s Custom Fit Orthotics Kiosk

Retail Category: Supermarket Client: Schering-Plough Entrant: Mechtronics Corp.

Size of run: 150 Won: Best of the Times 2007 Comment: This display was developed to support the launch of a custom orthotic product and determine for the shoppers which product best suits their particular foot condition.

Wonka Rolling Endcap

Retail Category: Specialty Client: Nestle Confections & Snacks Entrant: RockTenn Merchandising Displays (now known as WestRock) Size of run: 50 Won: Best of the Times 2010 Comment: This display captures the magic, whimsy and unpredictability of Wonka by leveraging brand equities of color and shapes.

Rock Band 2 Interactive Kiosk

Retail Category: Consumer Electronics Client: MTV Games Entrant: Design Phase Size of run: 1,500 Won: Best of the Times 2009 Comment: The objective here was to expand the cultural force of the rock and roll genre through the Rock Band music videogame, creating a destination interactive kiosk that establishes dedicated retail space and hands-on demo interaction.

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DOT RETROSPECTIVE, PART 1

Rockwell Interactive Endcap

Retail Category: Home Center/Hardware Client: Positec Entrant: Meyers Size of run: 1,800 Won: Best of the Times 2011 Comment: The display’s rugged look, its physical presence, powerful graphics and interactive nature all worked together to form a connection with shoppers.

The Smart Cycle A/C Powered Endcap

Retail Category: Specialty Client: Fisher-Price Inc. Entrant: Darko Inc. Size of run: 575 Won: Best of the Times 2008 Comment: Children pedaled and played with this arcade-style toy in the store while parents appreciated the clear, informative details accompanying the display.

Xbox 360 Kiosk Program

Retail Category: Consumer Electronics/Entertainment Client: Microsoft Entrant: Design Phase Size of run: 17,000 Won: Best of the Times 2006 Comment: The goal here was to offer interactivity, product trial, and product information to influence POS purchase decisions with a focus on leveraging efficiencies gained from Xbox kiosks.

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CIO OF THE YEAR 2019

FEEDING THE NEED FOR SPEED Chief digital officer Sandeep Dadlani is helping Mars move faster to better solve the evolving needs of consumers and customers

BY M I C H A E L A P P L E B A U M

ONE MIGHT SAY that Sandeep Dadlani wants to help turn Mars from a Cadillac into a Corvette. Mars is a familyowned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and their pets. With more than $35 billion in annual sales, the global company produces some of the world’s best-known brands, including M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, Whiskas and Uncle Ben’s. And most importantly, it fosters a culture of humility that embraces change, according to Dadlani. But in this age of relentless digital upheaval, the one thing Mars still covets is speed.

“When I really listened to everyone, including our consumers and customers, the one thing everyone wanted Mars to be was faster – and not just 10% faster but perhaps 100 times faster,” Dadlani recalls of his early days at the company.

“The question became: How do you inject speed into a large, global organization?”

Dadlani joined Mars in September 2017, replacing the outgoing chief information officer and assuming an expanded role of chief digital officer. The title change was not just a matter of semantics. At a time when Mars is undergoing perhaps the most significant evolution in its more than century-old history – the company has been aggressively expanding into

new businesses and is extremely optimistic about expected revenue from services in the next 10 years – the newly created position was meant to signal leadership’s commitment to wholesale digital transformation.

“As we transform from a CPG company to a broader consumer goods and services company, the conversation has been laserfocused around driving speed and a digital movement within Mars,” says Dadlani, who leads a global digital organization across all

Titles are immaterial.

We’re not solving for information, or even digital. We’re solving for growth, consumer relevance and speed. of Mars’ business units. “Ultimately, titles are immaterial. We’re not solving for information, or even digital. We’re solving for growth, consumer relevance and speed.”

To carry out a new “digital first” vision for Mars, Dadlani first had to ingrain the idea that digital is “anything that drives speed” throughout the organization. “We couldn’t

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define digital as e-commerce, because the supply chain guys would say, ‘I want to be digital, too.’ Or as operations, because the salespeople would say, ‘What about me?’” he says. “So we clearly defined digital as something that helps us go 100 times faster – not to second-guess what we’re trying to do, but wanting to go faster. In that way, the relationship around speed became clear.”

By combining data analytics, AI and automation with design thinking principles and techniques (such as breaking down business challenges and their solutions into sprints), Dadlani helped develop an approach that would let Mars adapt its business practices and consumer strategies at a much faster rate. The model is based on three pillars: identifying the right problem using “user-centricity”; solving the problem with data analytics; and scaling up the solution using automation. This is the Mars digital engine.

“The most important capability in becoming a digital learner is being able to ask the right question,” says Dadlani.

“It’s the ability to form a more specific, granular, user-centric question that allows every Mars Associate to leverage data science and take our collective performance to the next level.”

Dadlani recalls how one Mars team

CIO OFTHE YEAR 2019

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Photos by Steve Hockstein

CIO OFTHE YEAR 2019 used a nine-month program broken down into 12-week sprints to successfully remove a demand forecast error in the supply chain. “Initially, we thought the problem was around customer service levels – how much did a retailer customer order versus how much was fulfilled,” he explains. “We collected all the end-user data from demand planners, supply planners and domestic planners to frame the problem carefully.

After we completed a design workshop, we learned it was a human problem of visibility and collaboration with data sources and forecasting tools.”

Mars employed AI and machine learning tools to bring the forecast error down dramatically, though Dadlani says that’s not really the point. “It’s about the human evolution that the team went through to see the value that, when [all end users] have the same view of inventory and demand signals across thousands of SKUs and multiple factories and warehouses and the same view of the next 12 weeks of planning, then the forecast error comes down anyway. With AI, it comes down even more.”

That’s just one example of how Mars has unlocked the power of data and analytics over the past 18 months.

About the Award This award is given to the chief information officer who has made the greatest demonstrable business impact on his or her organization through the implementation and use of technology.

Each year, we solicit formal nominations from members of the Path to Purchase Institute community. Institute editors select no more than five finalists from among the qualified submissions to be considered in the official voting round, for which the editors enlist the experience and expertise of our Executive Advisory Council.

Previous winners of this 7-year-old award were Jane Moran of Unilever, Manjit Singh of Clorox Co., Sai Koorapati of Callaway Golf, Mark Dajani of Mondelez International, David Stahl of Hillshire Brands, and Ralph Loura of Clorox.

“Other areas include how we drive strategic revenues, pricing, effectiveness of displays, e-commerce analytics, social listening and routes to markets in terms of how we invest our sales teams,” he says.

DIGITAL MOMENTS THAT MATTER Technology is playing a vital role in the transformation of Mars’ core businesses, as well as the company’s expansion into new categories such as pet services and targeted human health and nutrition. In each of these areas, Dadlani sees a huge opportunity to generate growth by increasing consumer engagement in what he calls the “digital moments that matter.”

“We recently did an analysis and found that the five to seven minutes that a mom is waiting to pick up her child outside a school is a free browsing period online – a digital moment where she may need energy, recharge or a pickup,” says Dadlani. “Pet owners may find that they need additional help when they first acquire a pet and they’re willing to be guided. This need may lessen as they go forward but then re-emerges toward the end of the pet’s life.”

Mars has been expanding into pet services to complement its core CPG business, which includes leading pet food brands Royal Canin, Iams and Pedigree. The company is

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now the largest employer of veterinarians across the globe, according to Dadlani, having acquired animal hospital chains including Banfield Pet Hospitals, BluePearl, Linnaeus, AniCura, VCA and Pet Partners. “We continue to expand our vet hospital services to make a better world for pets, which is our stated vision for the pet care business,” he notes.

Technology provides an accelerator to help pet owners understand and meet the health and nutrition needs of their pets. Mars Petcare is developing new genealogy services through its Wisdom Health division and addressing the growing demand for monitoring pet activity through its acquisition of Whistle, best explained as the “Fitbit for pets.”

“When we create a permissible data ecosystem of the tens of millions of pets we serve all over the world every day, then we acquire newer capabilities to understand these pets and perhaps [for example] predict diseases that may be prevented, suggest nutritional interventions, or find a pet that’s lost,” says Dadlani. “Technology, data and unique new experiences enable us to partner with everybody in that ecosystem: veterinarians, breeders, dog walkers, shelters, groomers – and the

CIO OFTHE YEAR 2019

From left to right: Constance Smith, Global Director, User Centricity (Innovation & Design), Mars; Fabio Alves Da Silva, Americas Industry Engineer Director, Royal Canin; Jason Ripper, Senior Manager, Mars Corporate Affairs; Sandeep Dadlani, Chief Digital Officer, Mars; Alicia Tyree, Senior Manager, Strategic Beacons, Mars; and Reid Rousseau, Senior Manager, User Centricity Program Lead, Mars.

most valuable player, the pet parent – to help guide them through their journey.”

Elsewhere, Mars is charting new territory in personalized nutrition through its Mars Edge segment. The company recently announced a majority stake in Berlin, Germany-based Foodspring, a direct-to-consumer sports nutrition startup and one of the fastest-growing targeted nutrition businesses in Europe.

“We’re moving from a one-size-fits-all food company to what is specifically right for ‘Me,’ [creating] a global targeted nutrition business that is all about data, AI and personalization,” says Dadlani.

GETTING CLOSER Success for CPGs today depends on the ability to leverage technology (Dadlani prefers the more-specific term “broader digital capabilities”) to get closer to consumers. For Mars, that includes using data analytics and automation to create new immersive experiences, such as the ones at the M&M’s World stores involving the interactive Mood analyzer

and personalized M&M’s to create custom treats for birthdays and other special events.

“It’s clear to us that permissibility and ‘premiumization’ are very important trends in the confectionery and gum categories,” says Dadlani. “If you look at the top line, some of these categories are challenged for growth” due to health-conscious shifts in consumption patterns. “But if you dive deeper into each category and get closer to the consumer, listen socially for trends and in different markets for occasions and moments where consumers love to, on a permissible basis, consume, celebrate, recharge, … then it becomes a category that we can look at with great possibilities and pride.”

The same principles apply to Mars’ business partners. “It’s clear that data and digital tools allow us to get closer to the consumer

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and pet owner. Less obvious is that the same set of data and analytics allows us to serve our channels and our large retail customers with better insights to drive category growth – whether it’s better packaging, pricing, placement, promotions and displays,” says Dadlani.

“This is an area we’ve focused on heavily in our first two years and has allowed our retail customers to join into our vision of creating a better world for pets.”

CIO OFTHE YEAR 2019

CIO of the Year Finalists A shout-out to some of this year’s other noteworthy nominees

Kevin Gokey

CIO Church & Dwight Gokey is a 20-year Church & Dwight veteran who’s served as CIO since December 2014. He has defined and delivered IT strategy across the company globally, including initiatives in data analytics and business intelligence, cloud-first infrastructure, and a secure, scalable environment with highly optimized development and support services. Gokey drives digital transformation through the implementation of new technology.

Gokey nutures strong relationships with all business unit leaders to make IT a true partner and business enabler, ensuring that tech solutions are aligned with the company’s objectives. He also proactively advises senior management on the emerging technologies and digital trends that are most relevant to their goals and needs. For his team, he fosters a culture of innovation, transparency and accountability and maintains a clear plan for succession and continuity in critical management positions. Gokey consistently monitors industry trends to find relevant new tools and service management frameworks.

Paul Karras

CIO Hu-Friedy Manufacturing Since joining Hu-Friedy in 2017, Karras has been implementing a strategic approach to IT that aligns corporate initiatives with technological capabilities. He is leading the dental

equipment manufacturer on a holistic digital transformation that is reinventing operating models, production and value chains to secure a foundation for growth and competitive advantage.

Karras’ track record of driving enterprisewide strategic initiatives has enabled HuFriedy to leverage technology to improve efficiency and communication across its international footprint. His vision for an interconnected workforce was accomplished through a combination of internal systems and external tools (including Okta to facilitate access management and Salesforce to improve company-wide CRM capabilities). Elsewhere, an in-house cleansing of transactional data paved the way for a new Customer Excellence Action Team that aligns stakeholders across the organization to use insights gleaned from Salesforce to develop marketing campaigns and product messaging.

Arnold Leap

CIO 1-800-Flowers.com As CIO since 2013, Leap has played an integral role in the company’s digital transformation by staying ahead of innovation and identifying cuttingedge ways to increase operating efficiencies through technology.

One of Leap’s more impactful initiatives was the integration of the company’s nearly one dozen brands — which include Harry & David, Cheryl’s Cookies, Simply Chocolate, and Personalization Universe, along with the flagship — into a single, intuitive hybrid platform called Celebrations that gave shoppers a one-stop gifting destination for all celebratory occasions.

Not surprisingly, the effort involved uncoupling the massive complexities in

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each brand’s existing platform, which functioned as an independent entity with its own legacy system before being acquired by 1-800-Flowers.com. The key to success was extrapolating the business logic from these systems and applying new layers of micro-services to modernize how the brands operate and coexist. The result was an agile, multi-brand platform and a formula for seamlessly absorbing new systems as needed.

Bud McQuade Vice President of Information Technology Duracell

McQuade joined Duracell in July 2015 to help the global battery leader transition from a Procter & Gamble brand to a company in the portfolio of investment house Berkshire Hathaway. He therefore was instrumental in developing and implementing the IT vision and strategy under which Duracell now operates.

Current areas of responsibility include business applications, IT infrastructure, end user support, enterprise architecture, business intelligence, information security, project management and vendor management.

Among McQuade’s more noteworthy accomplishments was an effort over the last year to standardize Duracell globally on a single demand signal repository platform to capture and harmonize all customer POS data. The project required the onboarding of more than 80 countries-worth of retailer POS data.

Duracell now can leverage the combined data for better demand planning and demand sensing, as well as to efficiently track the ROI of trade spending.

CIO OFTHE YEAR 2019

The same set of data and analytics allows us to serve our channels and our large retail customers with better insights to drive category growth.

On the candy side, Mars wants to further leverage insights from the millions of visitors who walk through the standalone M&M’s stores each year. Since the iconic Times Square location is the starting point for many New York City sightseeing buses, “Every tourist starts out at the M&M’s store,” laughs Dadlani, who has a non-stop feed of consumer trends flowing into his office in the form of a live video stream from the store.

“We have the opportunity to see what’s going on with consumers in an immersive environment,” says Dadlani. “It all boils down to that mother with the stroller waiting for her 10-year-old child to run around the store and collect the one item he wants that she can buy for him.”

LEARNING FROM WITHIN Dadlani’s confidence in his organization’s ability to embrace digital learning can be traced back to an internal mailing error early in his tenure. “We launched an advanced machine learning course for a small group of tech-oriented people, and the mailer accidentally went out from my ID to thousands of associates,” he recalls.

To his surprise, many of those unintended recipients showed up. “That changed our thinking about how ready everyone in the organization was to take on the challenges of new technology.”

Dadlani also credits the support of Mars’ segment and corporate business leaders, a fantastic team of digital technology leaders, and a strong educational infrastructure led by Mars University, which has grown in the past two years thanks to partnerships with technology/content providers such as

Udacity and Ideo. “We’re finding some of the best data analytics sprints coming from our manufacturing factories. They’re great sources of innovation,” Dadlani notes. “We’re [enhancing] daily work with user-centricity, analytics and automation. Even simple movements like My Analytics (an initiative to enable all users with self-service reporting and analytics tools like Tableau and Power BI) allow us to go everywhere in the world, converting thousands of associates to unlock the power of data and data boards.”

Hundreds of such initiatives, supported by internal social networks like Yammer, bring the user-centricity and digital movement to life within Mars, says Dadlani. “We’re still learning as we go, and yes, there are some misfires and mistakes. But overall, so far so good.”

But the most dramatic change continues to involve speed. “As marketers, we have a choice: We can go for the next six months devising a precise, scientific way of launching a new product; that may give you a superprecise answer, but by that time consumers may have moved on anyways. Or, we can finish a ‘good enough’ analysis in three days that answers the question that we’re trying to solve for today,” says Dadlani. “That creates speed, which in turn allows us to launch in a week. And in four weeks, we come back with lots of learnings, including mistakes. Then, in the following four weeks, we change a lot of things and drive faster growth.”

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He cites ongoing work around the launch of a new food product in an established market. “The problem we were trying to solve was not how to launch a product but how, with limited resources, we can quickly drive adoption and trial in our top-10 store clusters. When you frame the problem that way, and then look at the data we have around demographics, sales for similar products and some extrapolated data with other free sources, within a day we have a model that allows us to know broadly which clusters to focus on – at least for the first few weeks.”

Despite the successes Mars has achieved with digital, Dadlani isn’t resting. “We never will have completed a transformation because the world is changing so fast,” he acknowledges. “This is a speed journey and we’re just beginning to accelerate. My hope is that when we can get to 100 times faster, that becomes the new normal. What we need is speed, an always-learning attitude and consistency with our purpose, our principles and our humility. I have no doubt that this company and its wonderful leaders have the right ingredients.

“This award is definitely not for one person or one team,” Dadlani says. “It’s a fantastic testament to the 125,000 ‘Martians’ who everyday strive hard to go faster, to go digital, and to make us all proud.” IQ

PEOPLE to WATCH Seven individuals represent this year’s class of People to Watch. Nominated by their respective companies’ representatives in the Path to Purchase Institute’s League of Leaders, these rising stars are making a name for themselves by doing work for their brands that is worthy of attention.

BY E R I K A F LY N N

Sara Brown joined Ferrara Candy just over a year ago, at a time when the company was making a lot of changes within its marketing department. Her background was on the agency side, having worked in PR first and then gaining experience with the earliest advertising opportunities on Facebook. She then moved into digital capacities, most recently on the Ferrara business partnering with Jill Manchester, its global marketing leader.

“She sold me on the vision of the team she was building as well as the company, which was growing quickly with the Nestle acquisition and just recently the Kellogg’s acquisition,” Brown says. Part of the now full team of functional area experts that

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are helping to drive the growth of the company and work with its brand marketers to build their businesses, she serves as the director of media, licensing and partnership.

Brown sees a continued convergence of shopper marketing and digital, which changes the way she goes about her work every day.

It’s easy to distill media down to numbers, but a lot can be lost in that translation, she says. “Today’s landscape is very complex and many different tactics that were once separate are now performing the same functions or crossing over.”

Her training in storytelling as a journalism major at the University of Missouri has proven to be extremely helpful when

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PEOPLE TO WATCH

explaining what can often be a complex and fragmented media landscape. It’s a key way to not only help explain what the role of media is, she notes, but also when it comes to selling in recommendations, communicating the importance of utilizing new digital platforms and leveraging new types of targeting and opportunities in the shopper space.

The goal now is to drive Ferrara’s national shopper strategy and incorporate brand programs that can be customized for certain retailers while still maintaining the same consistent brand messaging and brand presence across all of its programs.

“Our approach is SARA BROWN more unified. We’re making sure we Company: Ferrara Candy Co. have consistency Title: Director, Media, Licensing & Partnership across our different Age: 31 channels and taking Education: University of Missouri (bachelor’s, that more high-level, journalism, strategic communication) national, holistic approach to shopper marketing,” Brown says.

Today, she oversees the paid media strategy and investments for 26 sugar and four cookie brands in the company’s portfolio, in addition to leading marketing partnership strategy and execution. She points to the company’s partnership for the release of “Deadpool 2” with its Trolli brand last summer, which included the creation of a custom product, an entirely rebranded website, and an activation in New York’s Times Square with images on one of the billboards to showcase consumers interacting with its products. “There were media elements to it, but it went through to commercializing a brand new product and rebranding our website – things that go above and beyond media,” she says.

What she’s most proud of, though, is the team’s ability to outsmart the competition and work quickly to take advantage of opportunities. Her team prides itself on being more nimble than many of its peers, which was best showcased when the company’s sales team came to them with the challenge of ensuring success for a key promotion on Black Forest.

“The offer was on one of our largest formats, and driving the partnership between the marketing and sales organizations volume in a short time period was key to ensuring the customer has shown very positive growth. would continue supporting the product after the promotional Yet this space has its challenges. The constant media disruption period,” she says. The team worked with its digital agency to driven by rapidly evolving digital platforms and all the pitfalls that estimate a media budget, write custom copy, craft a target can come with it are top of mind for Brown every day. “We have to audience profile based on retail locations and shopper behavior, keep up with our consumers and where they’re engaging, or our and deploy the campaign, all in a matter of three days. “After brands will be left in the dark ages,” she says. “But there are always launch, we saw velocities on the featured product increase in inherent risks with being an early adopter, so we have to learn how every targeted market, unlocking long-term success for Black to balance the risks while staying up with the trends and where Forest with a key customer,” Brown reports, adding that internally, consumers are interacting.”

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PEOPLE TO WATCH Hilary Carter likes to say she’s come full circle – at least to

As a project manager, she works with a cross-functional team to this point in her young career. She started with a confectionery execute each initiative, and all of the team’s solutions are designed marketing internship at Nestle Canada in her native Toronto with shopper insights and design principles in mind. “We’re an while still in school at Queen’s University. She then joined the authority in coffee and are positioned to bring optimization and marketing team full time after graduation in 2012 in a role focused differentiation to the shopping experience, which ultimately on product development – exposing her to sales, research and delivers growth for the category,” she says. development, supply chain and finance.

Carter learned early on that this is a fast-paced industry and Two years later, she moved over to Starbucks Canada and organizational structures are often evolving. Having reported to became the first person in that market for the brand, responsible seven people over the past seven years, she says she’s learned for shopper marketing, giving her an opportunity to create the something new from each of them. “I have a lot of interest in shopper marketing roadmap for Canada. cross-functional stretch assignments, and my managers have In 2017, she relocated to Starbucks USA and joined the shopper been instrumental in helping me navigate the organization innovation & experience team. After the announcement in 2018 and find these opportunities.” During these assignments, she’s that Nestle would take over Starbucks’ products (outside of the had increased visibility to senior leaders, some of whom have company’s coffee shops), she learned that her department would continued to be mentors after the assignment. “Relationships be joining Nestle. “It’s been a positive experience to reintegrate with senior mentors have helped me with longer-term career into the company where I began my career,” she says. coaching and have become great sounding boards for ideas and As manager, shopper innovation & aspirations,” she says. experience, Carter collaborates with The stretch assignments span two to six retailers to reinvent the shopping months, so each time Carter has needed experience for coffee. “It takes a to quickly ramp up in order to make HILARY CARTER strong partnership with retailers an impact. “One of my temporary and a whole team of people assignments involved a lateral move Company: Nestle to pull off this work,” she says. from shopper marketing to our sales Title: Manager, Shopper Innovation & planning team. On completion, I had Experience, Nestle Coffee Partners a new perspective to bring to my Age: 28 shopper marketing role,” she notes.

Education: Queen’s University During another, she had the (bachelor of commerce) opportunity to take on more leadership with a retailer. After previously partnering with a team to test a new coffee aisle solution in select stores, the retailer was seeing great results for the category and was ready to expand the solution to more of its stores, she recalls. “With a cross-functional team, I led the expansion throughout the chain and, in a short period of time, we had implemented the new coffee aisle solution into more than 50 of its stores.”

Carter is poised to face the challenges she sees in the industry head on. She knows that a consistent brand experience is critical so messages can resonate when they’re able to breakthrough all the noise. “Starbucks coffee shops provide great coffee experiences and my team strives to bring elements of that brand experience to our retailers’ coffee categories,” she says.

For her part, Carter hopes to continue building general management expertise. Marketing and sales functions have been her focus to this point, but looking forward, she would like to broaden her exposure to new functions and continue looking for unique, entrepreneurial assignments or projects. “I’ve been fortunate to work with fantastic people and teams in the U.S. and Canada, and have learned a lot from the transition,” she says.

“Each country has unique dynamics and challenges.”

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PEOPLE TO WATCH Matt Johnson has always been a numbers guy. He went to high school at the American School of Paris because his dad was an executive at Carrefour at the time, but he came back to the U.S. for college and earned a degree in finance and international business. “My lifelong interest in numbers ties in well with general business understanding, being able to MATT JOHNSON understand a P&L and the Company: Duracell benefit of an initiative in Title: North America Supply Chain Planning Manager terms of its ROI,” he says, “all Age: 35 the good things that come Education: The George Washington University with a financial background. (bachelor’s, finance and international business) There’s something about having a passion with understanding and using numbers to make a case or a point.”

Johnson started his career in demand planning at Sears Holdings, then took a role in merchandising and buying to understand another side of the business. “That was a little bit more of the art side of the business versus the science side,” he says. Next came work in inventory before he took on two positions in strategy and operations, which is where he says he gained a deeper understanding of how the retailer could improve its working capital position while improving the final mile of delivery to its customers.

“I was getting a much more end-customer focus to what I was doing, which then led me to a broader strategy position.”

In his last year at Sears, he had the opportunity to develop a strategic initiative for all home appliances, which tied into great opportunities to meet with senior leadership and present on new initiatives, whether how to leverage targeted interactions with customers, new store openings or other changes.

“I have a team of 15, so we’ve increased our ability to leverage As the North America supply chain planning manager for analytics and our overall ability and scope to meet our commercial Duracell, Johnson’s responsibilities include all central planning for teams’ needs,” he says. “It’s the development of that team that I’m North America. “Our central demand planning team works closely most proud of in terms of recent wins at Duracell.” with commercial teams on their SKU sales forecast,” he says. “We That team was instrumental in the release of Optimum, the teach and train the demand planners on how to develop solid company’s largest innovation in decades, he says, offering AA and forecasts to help justify them.” From there, the team develops AAA alkaline batteries with better performance and longer life. production forecasts and works both internally and with thirdFrom where he sits, Johnson says one of his team’s biggest party packaging providers to deliver the product on time to meet challenges is the never-ending balance of protecting customer customer needs while balancing its working capital position. service and managing the inventory position and working capital.

Johnson’s father, Bruce, has served as a mentor in life and “There’s always that pressure,” he says. “It’s important to manage work. Dad taught him to always strive to progress, to never inventory closely because that helps bring to light different supply compromise his beliefs or morals in a decision and to understand chain inefficiencies that, if you are able to solve, will make you that nothing would be handed to him throughout his career. stronger in the long run – not only from improved working capital Jackson Jones, who brought Johnson to Duracell without a direct but also in different ways to ensure you’re servicing the customer CPG background, has also been influential on Johnson’s career. in the correct way,” he says, adding that speed to market – or to “I quickly gained the understanding of Duracell and the CPG the end consumer – is another. background,” he says. “Without him, I really wouldn’t be where I “We have to balance the financial implications along with am today.” Under his direction, Johnson put together a team that the need to remain competitive in an increasingly competitive now serves as the company’s planning organization. landscape,” he notes.

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PEOPLE TO WATCH consumer, creative development, data analysis and insights.

Two years later, she made the move to shopper marketing, working on national and regional accounts. “This was an exciting time to be in shopper marketing as we shifted our mindset to address the omnichannel consumer,” she says. “It was empowering to join this part of the organization at Gallo, where we’re able to test new technologies, take risks, and build and foster new processes.”

Stewart believes the industry will continue to see massive changes to the way people shop and consume brands. “In the not-so-distant past, we were focused solely on brick-and-mortar activation,” she notes. “Now we’re faced with blurred channels and consumers that dictate how and when they want to shop.”

She predicts that omnichannel strategy of the future will need to continue to shift the focus toward a deeper understanding of the consumer journey to reach the right shoppers in the most impactful way, no matter the channel.

A January 2018 restructuring of Gallo’s sales organization brought about a new role within the company to build connectivity between brand marketing and its primarily field-based shopper marketing team. Stewart was named shopper marketing manager, omnichannel, the position she holds today, and began focusing on the development of operational processes to bring scale and visibility to brand and portfolio omnichannel programs.

Her daily work now involves partnering HANNAH STEWART with some of the company’s key brand Company: E. & J. Gallo Winery teams in their planning and development, Title: Shopper Marketing Manager, Omnichannel ensuring that they have cohesive Age: 29 omnichannel programs and that sales Education: University of Arizona (bachelor’s, has the right tools to sell them in; working marketing) with digital marketing partners to build activation calendars aligning to brand and Hannah Stewart started with portfolio programs; managing the strategic E. & J. Gallo right out of college after planning of national portfolio program activation meeting someone from the winery at and communication of all programs out to the field; and being a an on-campus job fair. The Indiana native says her sights were champion of change that enables the field-based shopper team never set on sales nor the West Coast to live, but she began to be more efficient and focus on strategic, meaningful work with working out of a Gallo distributor in Southern California and calling on chain grocery accounts. She was a sales rep, then a sales their customer teams.

Stewart says she’s a stronger, smarter and more strategic training manager and, finally, district manager. marketer with the experience she’s gained in each role. “Through Gaining “feet on the street” experience has proven to be truly demonstrating the value of having integrated roles that helped invaluable, she can now say. “I learned the ins and outs of total break down silos, it impacted the development of our new beverage alcohol and our brands, the competitive realities of the marketing organization structure, which will have many more retail environment, and how to be a successful salesperson,” she roles like mine with expanded responsibility to drive activation at says, including learning the value of building strong, mutually the point of purchase, no matter the channel.” beneficial relationships and the importance of how to tell a story.

She says the future is hard to predict – but only because the job she Stewart’s true passion since college was marketing, so when the likely will want in five to 10 years may not exist today. One thing is for opportunity arose for her to join the company’s brand marketing certain: a very small percentage of alcoholic beverages are sold online. organization in 2015 and work on a portfolio of Gallo’s premium That means there’s a lot of upside, both for Gallo and its customers, brands, she jumped at the chance. She was exposed to the entire she says. “For now, we’re testing and learning across all types of end-to-end marketing process across various brands and through e-commerce and building capabilities for the growth that will come.” that was able to strengthen and hone her understanding of the

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PEOPLE TO WATCH A native of South Africa, Nick Cronje began his career

to continue gaining experience in leading teams in sales and/or at Unilever with roles in account management and category marketing functions here in the USA,” Cronje says. operations. Three years later, he joined Beiersdorf to run one of Revenue growth is an exciting function because team members South Africa’s biggest drug channel customers and manage its are able to get involved in so many different business processes. distributor in the neighboring country of Namibia.

“But if the necessary structures are not maintained, then you can Then in 2015, he made a move within Beiersdorf into customer easily drown in the short-term tactics and never really get to the insights and joined the North American affiliate in Bentonville, longer-term strategy development – where the biggest value Arkansas, working on the Walmart team. Transitioning over to the can be found,” he says. “It’s this constant tension that is only Target team in the same capacity, Cronje moved yet again, but increasing as the market moves faster and faster.” Additionally, this time to the New York City area. the rise and prominence of e-commerce is unsettling traditional Now serving as the company’s director of revenue growth market dynamics, he notes, particularly as it relates to pricing and management, Cronje reflects on his schooling in South Africa promotion, and navigating this new reality is an exciting challenge. (biological sciences) as a basis for what he does today. “Although Cronje believes e-commerce will become even more the technical knowledge of the degree itself may not be hugely predictive, more personalized and supporting more aspects of valuable in commerce,” he says, “the foundation of the sciences all of our lives. “As more and more shopping decisions are being relies on strong analytical thinking, objective reasoning and a made from the living room, it’s quickly changing the historical curious mindset – all of which, I believe, are critical to successfully levers used to drive a brand,” he says. “Our biggest challenge growing a business.” is how to win disproportionately in this space while improving He points to two individuals who have had a strong influence on profitability.” He predicts continued consolidation across the his career thus far. “The first is, without a doubt, my first manager physical store environment, with those retailers that are best at Unilever who I continued to work for in several roles at both able to blend their e-commerce platforms with their existing Unilever and Beiersdorf,” Cronje says. “He had vision and courage market strengths and loyal shopper base – becoming the and continuously pushed me outright winners. to get better and move forward.” Cronje’s leadership skills today NICK CRONJE are reflective of Company: Beiersdorf Inc. the example this Title: Director, Revenue Growth Management manager set for him, Age: 33 he says. “The second Education: University of KwaZulu-Natal, South would be my 2-yearAfrica (bachelor’s, biological sciences) old son Harry, who successfully manages to put everything else into perspective.”

Cronje says his team’s overarching ambition is to become the Commercial Center of Excellence at Beiersdorf, leading the investment strategy and growth agenda in North America. To achieve that, he notes, the revenue growth team prioritizes pack and price architecture, promotional excellence and trade fund management. “We work to deliver this as one team with an integrated network of cross-functional support.”

He is most proud of the fact that his career and company have enabled him and his family to move across the world, meet some amazing people and experience different countries and cultures. But this is where they now want to stay. “I would like

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PEOPLE TO WATCH Sarah Morphis was doing digital marketing before it was

in many digital pots and continue to learn about the space. Her a part of job titles. Working for a mortgage company and education taught her to think objectively and critically to ensure managing its website and CRM campaigns, she recalls how the a strong focus on driving the business needs, something that has firm’s owner was extremely focused on driving loyalty and, in stuck with her during her career. “One of my favorite courses in turn, referrals from his clients. “Maintaining those relationships college was debate because it taught me the power of using data and being a trusted source for financial information was a key and insights to influence team members,” she says. component to his business objectives,” she says. “With my Today, as senior manager, digital marketing and e-commerce, help, he leveraged two digital channels [web and email] to she manages – or supports in some capacity – any brand support his strategy.” activation that is delivered through an internet-connected From there she went to work at E. & J. Gallo Winery and held screen, including programmatic media, digital analytics and a variety of roles across the digital and e-commerce space measurement, content strategy development and execution, before joining the team at Del Monte. She says her move to websites, eCRM, social media, e-commerce content and Gallo was at a time when she wanted to move back to Northern marketing, search and addressable TV. California, and her work at the mortgage company provided Morphis says her current manager, Jennifer Reiner, has her with great experience to manage the wine club programs encouraged her to be more analytical and constantly look for at Gallo. “Those are, in essence, loyalty ways to improve what the team is doing programs,” she says. Her experience while also giving her the space and there gave her great insight into the support to make mistakes and learn CPG industry, which translated to from them. “I also learned a great SARAH MORPHIS her role at Del Monte. deal from a former colleague, Company: Del Monte Foods Morphis says her experience Gerard Thoukis, who taught me Title: Senior Manager, Digital Marketing & has allowed her to have her hands the importance of prioritizing E-Commerce business objectives and needs Age: 35 over the next ‘shiny new toy’ in Education: University of La Verne (bachelor’s, digital.” Her first mentor, though, business administration) was her dad. “He passed away when I was in my early 20s, but he was passionate about computers and the internet and got me hooked on technology at a very young age.”

Growing and improving capabilities in the digital space is a goal for Morphis and, in some cases, has resulted in what she is most proud of in her work thus far. She has led many projects that required the organization to think and invest differently, and oftentimes those changes have paid off, she says. “I’m proud that I’ve managed to drive this impact for these organizations to allow us to reach our consumers in the most effective and efficient way possible.”

Primarily driven by the immediate gratification of the digital space and the fact that she can launch a campaign and see nearly instant results, Morphis says she’d like to move and grow within e-commerce, and ultimately lead all efforts within the next five to 10 years.

She’s ready for the challenges this industry faces. Namely: data.

“Consumers will continue to get smarter about their data and companies will have to ensure they feel protected using these platforms,” she says. “It’s going to get harder for us, as marketers, to get access to this data to power our campaigns.” She also predicts there will continue to be fewer, larger platforms having access to the most robust data, making it more expensive for brands to leverage. “I think it’s crucial that brands are investing in building and maintaining their own first-party data.”

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PEOPLE TO WATCH Anne Martin has always loved creating art. Her goal in college was to find a career in which she could incorporate the marketing skills she was learning with her creative side. That led to agency work, starting at Upshot (now Advantage) in 2007 and working on one of its biggest clients at the time – MillerCoors.

She was hooked from the start. “I realized I had a passion for marketing and being creative to communicate a brand need, and it was there that I first got to work closely with the creative teams, bringing that brand to life,” she says. Soon after, she found her way into shopper marketing, working on Procter & Gamble and Kraft (before and after the split with Nabisco). “It was then that I found my passion in shopper and all it could do.”

Martin left Upshot in 2014 to join Geometry Global and was tasked with working on the Mondelez International account. After nearly two years, she had the opportunity to go work directly for Mondelez. While she enjoyed the diversity in work and the creative space the agency side provided, she couldn’t pass it up. “I knew the client side is what I ultimately wanted to do.”

As customer director, shopper marketing, Martin is fully focused on the Albertsons Cos. business, one of Mondelez’s top customers.

“I work hand-in-hand with the team in Boise (Idaho), but also with the 13 divisions across the U.S., to bring our brands to life in a way that resonates with the Albertsons shoppers,” she says.

She works with the Mondelez sales and insights teams to leverage data to ideate on how they can customize brand priorities and reach that core shopper. “After I have a shell of our platforms, ANNE MARTIN I collaborate with the team at Company: Mondelez International Albertsons to layer in their The Ritz recipe-driven program Title: Customer Director, Shopper Marketing objectives, identify the right saw double-digit growth in one Age: 35 tactic plan and then execute with of the divisions. Out of that, the Education: Marquette University (bachelor’s, excellence,” Martin says. teams in May rolled out the first advertising/PR; minor in marketing) She began working with her program for Albertsons across all current boss, Steve McGowan, at 13 divisions. It’s a great example of the former Upshot on local programs. working together to do something that She says he has been instrumental in meets both sides’ objectives. “You can’t do her career path thus far. “He is a boss that anything from a shopper marketing perspective empowers you. He knows how to delegate, support you and without having the customer,” she says. “Both sides need to be challenge you, and he’s the type of boss who lets you run the aligned if you want to be successful.” business but is a constant sounding board and advocate.” She Martin is ready for continued change going forward. The points to numerous others who have taken part in shaping who industry, shopper behaviors and technology will continue to she is today, including her three older sisters – all of whom had evolve. “Making sure we’re agile but also taking a step back and ties to what she is doing today – as well as industry veteran Karen doing the due diligence of looking at the ROI should be our Sales, whom she says has had a great impact on her life, both focus,” she says, “while also looking at what it did for the business personally and professionally. long term.”

Martin says she is most proud of the tremendous relationship She believes teams should be incorporating e-commerce and working partnership she has helped build with the teams at into the strategy and insight phases of planning for every Albertsons. “The shopper is looking for a different experience,” project today. E-commerce will evolve, just like the recent uptick she says, pointing to a test Mondelez staged in two Albertsons in curbside pickup. “They’re changing a lot of how they are divisions with Pinterest, as well as with Quotient and its Ahalogy structuring it, so we as a team have also been making sure it’s influencer platform. folded into what digital used to be,” Martin says. IQ

September 2019

| 29 | consumergoods.com

AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY

BY DRONE ... ROBOT ...

DRIVERLESS CAR Autonomous delivery vehicles are primed to change how consumers receive products at their doorstep

BY DA N O C H WAT

I

n April, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared Google’s Project Wing to begin operating in the United States, awarding the autonomous drone delivery service with an “Air Carrier Certification.” It’s a major step for the use of drones but also for the legitimization of autonomous delivery as a whole – as the retail industry continues to explore meaningful tests around drones, last-mile robots and autonomous cars.

A 2016 study by McKinsey & Co. on the future of delivery predicts a world where nearly 80% of global deliveries will be automated. The report sees governments continuing to approve

September 2019

and adopt regulations around autonomous vehicles in the next 10 years, and public sentiment is increasing. (At the time of the report, 60% of consumers surveyed were already in favor.)

“Autonomous delivery is one of the core emerging technologies in retail today,” according to Bryce Paden, co-founder of i2i Labs, an agency that researches and commercializes tech for consumer goods clients. “The entire retail ecosystem revolves around the supply chain, and delivery tech is changing the way that chain functions.”

Sterling Hawkins, co-founder of CART, the Center for Advancing

| 30 | consumergoods.com

AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY

“The entire retail ecosystem revolves around the supply chain, and delivery tech is changing the way that chain functions.”

Bryce Paden, i2i Labs Retail & Technology, a platform that connects brands and retailers with emerging technology solutions, says that automated delivery could be transformational for the industry, reducing delivery costs by 80% to 90% compared to a human doing it, depending on the vehicle and the platform.

Various tests are underway in the United States, but despite the optimism, retailers seem to be in a learning period and far from rolling out autonomous delivery vehicles at scale. Nick Jones, Geometry’s chief growth officer, goes as far as to say that the industry’s “at the experimental stage, with most of the activity very much in the ‘publicity stunt’ phase.”

Ethan Goodman, senior vice president of innovation at The Mars Agency, echoes that it’s the early days, saying they’re gaining a foundational understanding of autonomous delivery for clients, but the conversation will ramp up soon because CPGs need to adjust packaging, pack sizes and assortment for different delivery vehicles.

“I think what it really boils down to is whether or not these new delivery mechanisms can make online grocery or online product delivery better, faster, cheaper, more reliable,” he says.

“If it’s drones, great. Self-driving cars, great. Bots, great. But if it happens to be the same guy delivering their groceries today, and the retailers and these third parties figure out how to do that really cheap, then that’s what’s going to matter.”

the FedEx SameDay Bot, as it’s named, is currently a prototype that is being tested and refined. It is designed to deliver goods that FedEx traditionally doesn’t deliver, such as pizzas, auto parts and prescriptions. It will be in test this summer in Memphis and parts of Texas.

Hawkins of CART says a last-mile bot is limited by distance and how much it can carry. Delivering in tough weather could be an issue, too, but Philips says the battery-powered bot “is built to negotiate curbs, unpaved surfaces, tight turns, even small flights of steps to the front porch, operate in inclement weather conditions, and features gyroscopic technology to keep cargo level at all times.”

Amazon is testing a last-mile bot called Scout, and Postmates has a roving bot called Serve. Starship, a leading bot company, partnered with Sodexo and has been delivering food on college campuses such as Northern Arizona University and George Mason University.

Goodman of The Mars Agency likes the idea of the last-mile rover to work as an assistant to a human delivery driver. For example, as a driver looks to park his truck, the driver can put the bot on the sidewalk to begin deliveries. Or, while he delivers packages to one house, the bot can roam and deliver to others.

Paden says i2i Labs sees last-mile robots, or “ground drones” as he refers to them, as having the most potential in the short term.

“Many municipalities are already adapting regulation for ground drones. While the technology is not widespread yet, it is real, today.”

Paden has viewed Starship in test at the University of Arkansas.

LAST-MILE BOTS To categorize the delivery options, the simplest way is to look at them in three parts: drones delivering packages by air, last-mile robots that roam sidewalks and deliver to homes or apartments during that “last mile,” and autonomous cars for the road (including standard self-driving cars by the likes of Toyota, BMW, Ford, Chevrolet and others, as well as unique bot-like vans and prototypes from companies such as Nuro and Robomart).

A few of the lead retailer examples include Walmart testing autonomous car delivery with Ford, Waymo and Udelv; Kroger testing autonomous car delivery with Nuro; Ahold’s Stop & Shop working with Robomart on an autonomous convenience store on wheels; and FedEx testing a sidewalk, last-mile robot for same-day deliveries with AutoZone, Lowe’s, Pizza Hut, Target, Walgreens and Walmart. (See sidebar on page 71 for a larger list of notable autonomous tests.)

According to Brian Philips, president and CEO of FedEx Office,

September 2019

| 31 | consumergoods.com

continued on page 69

A BOLD PATH

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REGISTER NOW! WWW.PATH2PURCHASEEXPO.COM

THE 2019 GUIDE TO

SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES A publication of

Featuring company profiles from: Arc USA Chicago • Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide • Colangelo • Collaborative Marketing Group • Edge Marketing FCB/RED • Geometry Global • HMT Associates Inc. • IN Connected Marketing • MarketingLab Inc. • Mosaic Shopper Phoenix Creative Co. • Propac Agency • Saatchi & Saatchi X • SFW Marketing • The Mars Agency • TPN

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

Irresistible Commerce.

• • • • •

Abbott Alcon Bridgestone Coca-Cola CVS Pharmacy

• Dunkin • Intel • MilkPEP • MillerCoors

IS OFFICIALLY

24 | 7 | 365 Scan to turn on this ad and explore The Marcket.

Keeping up with the ever-shifting marketplace has never been more challenging.

So we created The Marcket. The simple, distilled, digital publication from Arc that makes sense of the latest shopper trends so you can make your brand irresistible.

You can also visit us at arcww.com/marcket.

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

bluechipww.com

You need agility. You need results.

You need a partner. You need Blue Chip.

We make what works See our award-winning work at bluechipww.com

AT-A-GLANCE Who we are Fully integrated, fiercely independent creative marketing agency based in Chicago with proven expertise in brand and shopper marketing.

We offer the talent and scale of a holding company with the urgency and ownership of a private agency.

Things we know

What we do

Our leaders

• Shopper marketing & e-commerce

Stanton Kawer, Chairman + CEO

• Retailer & e-premise intelligence

Joy Mead, EVP/GM, Client Leadership

• Joint business planning • Customer-specific programs • E-commerce strategy

Jason Geis, VP, Group Creative Director

• Scale, promotions & partnerships

Sarah VanHeirseele, SVP, Strategic Integration

Our partners

Get in touch

• Bausch + Lomb

Dan Eisenberg, SVP

• Blue Bunny

deisenberg@bluechipww.com

• Brown-Forman

847-418-8082

• Adult beverage

• Butterball

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• Fisher Nuts

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• Makita

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• Pirate’s Booty

• Home care & personal care

• RXBAR

• Home appliances & hard goods

• Procter & Gamble

2019 Shopper marketing awards E-commerce Effie with Procter & Gamble New Product Introduction Effie with Bausch + Lomb

FIND

GO FOR THE WIN THIS HOLIDAY

BUY

LOVE The new retail landscape requires a partner that can help consumers find, buy, and truly love your brand. Giving shoppers the experience of connected commerce – where they have a meaningful relationship with your brand at any buy moment – takes an equally connected agency. Let’s connect, so shoppers can love.

Stock up for summer with your favorite brands from P&G.

info@inconnectedmarketing.com

inconnectedmarketing.com

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE Our Capabilities Colangelo’s core capability is understanding and leveraging brand and consumer behavior in order to convert human beings to consumers, and consumers to shoppers. We successfully drive affinity and business growth across all classes of trade and channels.

Our Philosophy Brand Attachment is the end goal of everything we do. When consumers feel this type of connection to a brand, their loyalty extends beyond the shelf. Suddenly, they aren’t just shoppers of products, they are advocates.

Occasion-Based Shopper Marketing We all know that occasions are a key purchase driver for shoppers.

But in order for a brand to own one of these occasions, it is critical that their communication pieces set the desired mood the shopper is looking to create. We are experts at attaching brands through the moods and the moments of occasions.

What Makes Us Different As an indispensable business partner, we also quickly identify and resolve issues that may be undermining a brand, while simultaneously determining opportunities for evolution and expansion. Our mission is to increase our clients’ market share and growth within their category, all at the expense of their competitors.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

We are a passionate team of Brand Behaviorists.

Using proven science, we uncover human behaviors that allow us to attach consumers to brands on an emotional level, creating a lifelong bond.

EXPERTISE

Through the discovery of an unconscious ritual behavior we link your brand to your target’s deepest emotional desires. The use of applied semiotics and cognitive cues then triggers that desire into purchase, loyalty, and advocacy.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

• • • • • •

Brand Attachment Occasion-Based Shopper Marketing Trade/Customer Strategy & Branding Brand and Retail Activation Brand Marketing & Execution Digital, Social & eCommerce

INDUSTRIES SERVED

• CPG – Food, Beverage, Personal, Laundry, Pet • Travel & Hospitality • Toys & Games • Luxury • Electronics

• • • • • •

Sports Philanthropy Spirits Beer Tobacco/Vapes Cannabis

CLIENTS

• • • • • •

Ocean Spray Diageo Vireo Health Filippo Berio Swisher Pladis

• • • • •

Godiva Sabra Church & Dwight Davidoff FrieslandCampina

CONTACT

Alyson Tardif Owner, Managing Partner 203.662.7074 atardif@colangelo-sm.com

COLANGELO-SM.COM

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE FAQ’s About CMG Q: Who is The Collaborative Marketing Group?

make sense for our clients, and their key retailers.

A: CMG is a Shopper & Partnership Marketing agency, with a successful track record of providing sound, strategic, cost-effective program solutions.

Q: How do you approach working with new clients?

Q: What is the formula that has led to your success?

A: We utilize our knowledge of retailers, and our relationships with our clients’ direct and broker sales organizations, to break through the clutter, and create impactful events that drive incremental and profitable sales. We focus our teams on understanding our clients’ objectives, and then creating the right programs that

A: The most important step in our approach is to immerse ourselves in our clients’ organizations, to better understand their people, objectives, strategies and internal systems, so that we can plan, develop, and execute successful programs.

Q: What does CMG bring to the table?

A: CMG has demonstrated time and time again that shoppers respond to our programs. We provide a robust balance of offers and tactics that

exceed both retailer expectations, and our clients’ desire to reach their most important consumers.

We have an experienced team of professionals who are dedicated to their clients’ businesses, and passionate about delivering positive results. We staff each client based on their needs, with the right Account and Creative team members who have the necessary backgrounds to provide top support and deliver successful programs.

Q: Has CMG ever been recognized within the industry for its excellence?

A: Yes, we have regularly been included and featured in industry publications such as the Chief Marketer 200 and Shopper Marketing’s (now Path To Purchase IQ) Who’s Who In Shopper Marketing.

CMG By The Numbers 4 – home offices of CMG through the years (if you count our first 5 days at a Kinko’s when we first opened)

2017 – the year one of our clients named us their Sales & Marketing Supplier Of The Year

31 – current CMG employees

1,567,823 – programs we have executed since our inception (OK, this would actually take us a very long time to figure out; but it’s been a lot of programs – trust us!)

2000 – the year CMG opened its doors for business 2003 – the year CMG began working with our longest tenured client

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

CLIENTS

CMG was established in November 2000 to provide CPG companies with a cost effective alternative for their retail marketing programs. Our objective is to develop programs that address not only our clients’ needs, but also their key customers’ objectives and merchandising philosophies.

We offer the following services to support our Shopper and Partnership Marketing initiatives…

• Program planning and execution • Partner solicitation, negotiation, and contract development • Creative and concept development • Digital and Social Marketing management • eCommerce marketing • Budget management • Post promotion reporting and analysis

• • • • •

INDUSTRIES SERVED • • • • •

Food Beverage Household Products Pet Supplies Travel

MillerCoors Del Monte Foods, Inc. McCormick & Company, Inc. Chicken Of The Sea International Nonni’s Foods

CONTACT Garrett Plepel, President gplepel@collaborativemktg.com 630.871.6590

EXPERTISE

Retail Marketing, concentrating in Shopper and Partnership Marketing, with a focus on execution.

COLLABORATIVEMKTG.COM

Let ’s Get Started.

At CMG, we are your team. We help you focus on the right plans for your brands.

And, we handle the details you need to reach your goals. CMG has a successful track record of matching up sound consumer insights, with our knowledge of the retail landscape, to provide your brands with effective and profitable Shopper and Partnership Marketing programs.

If you are looking for a strategic, execution focused, and cost-effective solution for your programming, come visit us at

www.collaborativemktg.com.

www.collaborativemktg.com | 630.871.6590

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

Is your brand ready to strut?

EDGE connects brands with shoppers through smart strategy, deep retailer insights, and clutter-cutting creativity.

If your brand is ready to show off some sales, let’s connect at WelcomeToEDGE.com

heart hustle respect courage creativity

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

FCBRED.com

WE ARE A SHOPPER AND CONNECTED COMMERCE AGENCY We believe in seamless solutions that holistically address the complexity of commerce and shopping behavior in the ever-changing retail landscape.

ABOUT US Top ranked in brand engagement and shopper marketing, FCB/RED treats every touchpoint as an opportunity to build a brand and change shopper behavior.

With in-depth retailer knowledge and expertise, we approach the ever-growing complexity of modern commerce through a proprietary strategic model we call FCB/RED Shopping Systems.

We created this model of interconnected commerce and communications to make the buy better for brands, consumers and shoppers.

WIN WITH US With nine straight years of Effie-winning success, we are mastering modern retail commerce and driving results.

THE PRIDE BOTTLE IS OUT We designed a limited-release Pride bottle in partnership with GLAAD, supported by a full campaign that set retailers up for success during Pride month.

THE CHICKEN CO. TAKES FLIGHT We launched an in-store chicken restaurant for Kroger ® in partnership with Coca-Cola® to offer shoppers fresh, convenient meal solutions with a fun personality.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD We celebrated the culture of neighborhoods around the country with a program that reached people pre-shop, in-store and in-bar.

AT-A-GLANCE WHO WE ARE

The award-winning shopper and connected commerce agency that exists to improve the lives of shoppers, and deliver results for our clients. We operate globally, with experts in 10+ North American locations and reach in 150+ offices in 80 countries.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Tina Manikas, President Teddy Brown, Executive Creative Director John Kenny, Chief Strategy Officer

SERVICES

• Shopper & Consumer Insights, Planning, Measurement and Analytics • Connected Commerce: physical, social, conversational and e-commerce • Retailer Expertise, including Amazon practice • Digital, Social, Mobile Engagement and CRM • Brand Experience and Environmental Design • Brand Activation and FCBX Experiential Events • Content Creation, Full-scale Production, Media and Distribution

MAJOR CLIENTS • ABInBev • Brown-Forman • Clorox • Coca-Cola • Comcast

CONTACT

• Kimberly-Clark • GE Appliances • Samsung • Target • TJX Companies

Brittany Saito, Director, FCB/RED Brittany.Saito@fcb.com 312.425.5172

ARCHITECTING THE FUTURE OF BUYING Current shopper behaviors are driven by experience and a sense of immediacy.

FCB/RED is at the forefront of change, providing insights and integrated commerce-driving solutions for

Michelle O.

today’s evolving retail landscape.

Director, Business Analyst

Chris H.

VP–Director, Strategic Planning

FCBRED.com

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE How We Work LIVING COMMERCE ™ Our proprietary way of understanding people through the lens of who, what, where, when, why and how they buy.

We drive growth and create Lifetime Value by turning this insight into seamless brand experiences.

What We Do Creativity at Conversion: We see ‘brand experiences’ as opportunities to sell, and ‘stores’ as the arena for experience. Our work comes to life across any surface and screen - through physical and digital retail, enabled by technology; creating living brands.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

Geometry is WPP’s end-to-end Commerce agency, operating in 56 markets around the world and conceived to activate brands at the speed of life.

EXPERTISE

We exist to unlock the creative potential of commerce to grow people, brands and companies. We do this through a proprietary model called Living Commerce™.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Beth Ann Kaminkow, Global CEO Scott McCallum, NA CEO Tyler Murray, President NA Curt Munk, NA Chief Strategy Officer

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

• • • • • •

Shopper Marketing Digital Commerce Experiential Marketing Data & Analytics Retail & Local Media B2B & Customer Engagement

INDUSTRIES SERVED

• • • • •

Alcoholic Beverages Automotive B2B Consumer Electronics CPG

• • • • •

Financial Services Food & Beverage Pharmaceuticals Retail Software

CLIENTS

• • • • •

Beam Suntory Coca-Cola General Mills Kimberly Clark Foster Farms

• • • • •

Beam Suntory American Express Waste Management Mazda Hills

CONTACT

Nick Jones, Chief Growth Officer nick.jones@geometry.com 312.229.8492

GEOMETRY.COM/US

Here’s to work that works.

Number one awarded agency for insights and effectiveness at the 2019 Shopper Effie Awards. A four-year streak we couldn’t have done without our brave and valued clients.

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

hmtassociates.com

Take a look at our well-played strategies across the board…

Through our proprietary FOURmula℠, we humanize data to create eye-opening insights, spot-on strategies and big ideas that inspire consumers to buy, guests to embrace, and fans and followers to share.

shopper marketing

“depth of knowledge,

experiential

consumer engagement

“personal connections to your brand”

breadth of activation”

“going beyond the traditional touchpoints”

We deliver unmatched activation.

Whether you need a pop-up shop,

Decades of working with retailers of all

street team, mobile tour or retail-

engagements that make meaningful

sizes across all channels gives us an

tainment, our experiential know-how

connections is in our DNA. We ideate

edge in knowing what really works

enables us to seamlessly deliver

ground up, big ideas and maximize your

anywhere along the consumer journey.

unforgettable guest experiences.

brand message by bridging traditional

Understanding how to create consumer

media with experiential programs.

AT-A-GLANCE SERVICES • Shopper Marketing

MAJOR CLIENTS • Mondelēz International • • • •

• Consumer Engagement • Experiential/Retailtainment

KEY EXECUTIVES

Patti Conti President/CEO Rick Einhaus Executive Vice President

CONTACT

The Kraft Heinz Company PepsiCo, Inc. Back to Nature Foods Company Heineken, USA

Erin Keller Business Development

Lisa Norat SVP, Business Leadership

Joe Conti Business Development

Sharon Brown Concept Director

connect@hmtassociates.com 216.369.0109

We We create create winning winning connections connections for for your your brand brand

consumers

shoppers

brands

retailers

Dedicated Dedicatedto todelivering deliveringunparalleled unparalleledengagement engagementat atevery everytouchpoint, touchpoint,connecting connecting consumers’ consumers’hands, hands,hearts heartsand andminds mindswith withyour yourbrands brandsisisat atthe thecore coreof ofeverything everythingwe wedo. do.

the theshopper shopperfocused focusedbrand brandengagement engagementagency agency Connect Connectwith withus: us: 216.369.0109 216.369.0109

connect@hmtassociates.com connect@hmtassociates.com ©©2019 2019HMT HMTAssociates, Associates,Inc. Inc.

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

INConnectedMarketing.com

FIND

WE

Our shopper’s changing world requires an evolving definition of the moment of discovery. Our data – $12MM in insight tools and a custom DMP – allows us to know when, where and how to deliver the most effective connections.

TRANSFORM THE WAY SHOPPERS FIND, BUY & LOVE BRANDS

BUY We believe in Connected Commerce, and leverage our hyperconnectivity to retailers to create activations that let every moment be a buy moment.

LOVE

We know that connections can happen any time, even after purchase. That’s why we create meaningful experiences that foster deeply rooted brand affinity and keep shoppers yearning for more.

BUSINESS ARTS & ANALYTICS To us, there’s something truly beautiful about finding data that leads to effective marketing; and work rooted in that data, along with retail-specific, customer-driven and connected solutions can be a masterpiece. That’s why we’ve married art and data science to create the most sophisticated predictive and post analytics tools in the industry.

AT-A-GLANCE EXPERTISE

Connected Commerce | Shopper Marketing | National Consumer Activation | Brand Strategy & Insights | Consumer Segmentation & Purchase Journey Research | Creative | Partnerships | Measurement & Advanced Analytics | eCommerce | Menu Marketing

MAJOR CLIENTS • Abbott Nutrition • Bacardi • Barilla • Blistex • Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits • Edgewell • The J.M. Smucker Company

• Keurig Dr Pepper • L'Oreal • Reckitt Benckiser • Sargento • LALA US • Sun-Maid • Tyson • Upfield

INDUSTRIES SERVED

KEY EXECUTIVES

• Food & Beverage • Health & Wellness • Personal Care & Beauty • Spirits/Beer/Wine • Home Goods • Baby Care • Pet Care

Brian Kristofek, President Valerie Bernstein, EVP New Business Dino de Leon, EVP Executive Creative Director Holly Quinn, EVP Operations

CONTACT Valerie Bernstein, EVP New Business Valerie.bernstein@inconnectedmarketing.com 646.924.8601

FIND

BUY

LOVE The new retail landscape requires a partner that can help consumers find, buy, and truly love your brand. Giving shoppers the experience of connected commerce – where they have a meaningful relationship with your brand at any buy moment – takes an equally connected agency. Let’s connect, so shoppers can love.

info@inconnectedmarketing.com

inconnectedmarketing.com

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE Real-Time Conversion Marketing Today, business favors the smart and the swift. Those who can change with shoppers and track today’s complex journey, from the digital world to traditional brick and mortar and back. Those who know the algorithms for digital sales and can inspire conversion at multiple points come out on top. That’s us.

MarketingLab activates commerce in this complex environment every day. That’s because we are a real-time conversion marketing agency with end-to-end solutions, a marketing agency built for what’s happening now. We know the digital shelf. We know the physical shelf. We know how to take risks and challenge the status quo, all with a few goals in mind: to sell more, build more, and do more, together.

End To End Tools

Digital Shopper Experience: Better digital marketing. DSX® gathers, scores, and helps you leverage both retailer and open digital ecosystems.

E-Commerce Page Assessment: An in-depth, objective report on the state of your digital shelf in comparison to shopper viewpoints, retailer algorithms, competitor and category standards, keyword analysis, and much more.

ShopperVerse® Planning: Build modern communication touchpoints for your shopper’s omni-channel experience in the ShopperVerse®.

Voice of Consumer Research: Retrieve specific consumer points-of-view within a matter of days for relevant, timely, and actionable insights.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

CLIENTS

Insights, Ideas, and Aha Moments

• • • • • •

• • • • • • •

Strategic Planners. Account Directors. Creatives.

Every one of our experts is hands-on. MarketingLab experiments, tests, and investigates until we discover a new insight, a new idea, a new energy to make shoppers care, act, and share. It is this collective expertise that we bring to every client experience.

KEY EXECUTIVES Rich Butwinick, President Mark Lenss, Sr. Vice President

Digital, Social, and Mobile Marketing E-Commerce Content & Analysis Shopper Research Retail Marketing Brand Activation Consumer Promotions

INDUSTRIES SERVED • • • • • •

Consumer Packaged Goods DIY/Home Improvement Healthcare/OTC Consumer Durables Beverage Alcohol Financial Services

Pilgrim’s Pride Bellisio Foods Dry Soda Co. Phillips Distilling Co. Scotts Miracle-Gro Twin Cities Orthopedics CenturyLink

CONTACT Mark Lenss Mark@marketinglab.com 612 329.4804

MARKETINGLAB.COM

SHE’S AT CHECKOUT. HE’S PICKING UP IN STORE.

57% of people admit to shopping online while at work*—neither meeting rooms or elevators can stand in their way. Whether they’re perusing the physical mall or tapping “Buy Now!” between floors, shoppers leave a trail of data everywhere they browse, click, and buy. And at MarketingLab, it’s our job to capture it. With a technology-based method like no other, we discover complex shopper behaviors at every point along the journey. We convert data into insights, strategies, and stellar creative so you can win with shoppers in real time. Even if it’s on office time.

Ready? Let’s talk. *Source: Data is from a June 2018 survey of 2,020 US adults commissioned by finder.com

Contact Mark Lenss mark@marketinglab.com 612.329.4804

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE We Are an Experience-Design Agency Mosaic creates, optimizes and measures shopper experiences through all points of interruption, immersion and connection, leveraging our proprietary Deconstruction™ process to help clients uncover new opportunities and then influence consumer behavior to realize them.

Commerce

Experiential

Content

We Make the World a Better Experience Our relationships with brands have changed radically, and continue to every day as products are commoditized, messages homogenized, and innovation is accelerated to the point where there is no ‘new’ anymore.

Even with the best-funded efforts, it’s increasingly difficult to build differentiation with today’s consumer.

In this new world, true human connection outperforms paid-communication.

Experiences are the new creators of brand equity.

Experiences build brand affinity.

Experiences make people’s relationships with brands, better.

Media-Agnostic Solutions Powered by an array of creators and subject-matter experts, Mosaic’s multi-disciplinary approach propels our in-depth understanding of behavior into solutions to real human problems. The effectiveness of this model is proven every day through successes for our diverse mix of clients from Tech to Travel, to Coffee and Cocktails.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Mosaic is a global leader in Experiential, Shopper, Retail and Content Marketing. Mosaic’s US offices are located in Norwalk, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, with Canadian offices in Toronto, Mississauga and Montreal.

• Shopper & Digital Shopper Marketing • Ecommerce • Brand & Package Design

EXPERTISE Mosaic helps brands create and illuminate value with strategically-driven work grounded in human insight. Our design-thinking perspective, paired with an experiential approach to the shopper journey, focuses on driving sales while still building equity at retail.

• Innovation & Strategy Workshops • Custom Research • Measurement & Analytics

INDUSTRIES SERVED • Beer & Spirits • Food & Beverage • Health & Beauty

• Retail • Consumer Appliances • Consumer Electronics

KEY EXECUTIVES Bill Rodi, Vice President/GM Justine Greenwald, Executive Creative Director Diana Allwein, Group Management Director Kristen Buss, Vice President Strategy & Insights

CONTACT Bill Rodi Vice President/GM 312.216.5231

CLIENTS • Starbucks • Nestlé • AB InBev

• Bacardí • Diageo • General Mills • Coca-Cola

MOSAIC.COM

time for a fresh

perspe

If you’re seeing the same solutions to increasingly complex problems, then maybe it’s time for a new view.

Mosaic is an agile, effective, problem-solving, experience-driven marketing agency.

Armed with an array of talents and a collaborative spirit, we’re able to create seamless brand experiences for people along their purchase journey. Using our shopper, experiential, content and digital marketing expertise, we create human connections that drive real actions.

Commerce

Experiential

See how we can help shift your perspective. mosaic.com / @mosaicna

Content

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE Quick Thinking.

Nimble Results.

We work hard for our clients. Although we’re much more than a “quick-turn” agency, we’ve been known to work wonders with the deadliest of deadlines. Whether it’s getting a simple shelf-talker to press or getting a 360-degree, channel-specific strategy ready for launch, we do whatever it takes.

Everything from Package to Purchase

Dedicated account staff, top-tier designers—all working together to get the job done. We value good people and great thinking. It’s not unusual to find a client or employee who’s been with us for 20 years or longer.

No matter the title, each of us honors the strategic perspective of an account executive, the vision of a writer, and the passion of an artist.

Branding, packaging, advertising, shopper marketing, digital, social... the experience your customers have with your product is about more than just having all the right components. It’s about having them all work together right.

We Live Retail

At Phoenix Creative, we have dedicated, in-house expertise for every point along your product’s and shoppers’ path to purchase.

That’s why we understand how your packaging can play a vital role in your advertising, how to tailor your in-store pieces to magnify the impact of your social efforts, and how to make your branding matter in even the most cluttered retail environments.

We work with brands, but we also know retailers. Brand marketing only gets a part of the way down the path-to-purchase. In order to reach the end and win basket share, we have built ourselves into a partner that knows how to position brands with an eye toward each specific retailer’s footprint, digital assets, loyalty programs, and marketing requirements. Brand messaging plus retailer know-how equals a winning combination.

Whether you need a single service or a complete program that gets your product from the warehouse to their house, we can help.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

CLIENTS

We’re an award-winning agency located in downtown St. Louis. We’ve been helping businesses of all types find their voice in the marketplace since 1989. In our book, big ideas aren’t limited to big budgets. Everybody’s message can shine.

• Shopper Marketing • Advertising – strategic planning, - promo campaigns concept, design - full-service marketing • Retail Design – channel • Content Creation – social, mass media, specific, regional, mobile retailer focused • Packaging – design, extrapolation, production

• Sanofi • Mondelēz International • Premier Foods • Anheuser-Busch InBev • Schaeffer • AB Mauri Manufacturing North America

EXPERTISE Our shopper marketing know-how comes from 30 years of extensive, battle-tested, retail experience. Strategic planning, concept development, and design/message execution are all of equal importance to our agency vision and our clients’ success.

INDUSTRIES SERVED • Consumer Packaged Goods • Retail • Alcohol • Food/Beverage

• Automotive • Commercial/ Industrial • Durable Goods • OTC

CONTACT Abbey Ash Partner, Director of Shopper Marketing 314.624.1804 abbey.ash@phoenixcreative.com

PHOENIXCREATIVE.COM

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE

From concept to execution, Propac Agency crafts ideas that bring brands to life, which means victory for our clients. So, what does victory look like? Tapping “Buy.” Finding a new favorite at a sampling event. Trying a brand that cuts through the clutter at-shelf.

As brand warriors, we champion our clients and go to battle for them every day. We are a full-service marketing agency blending shopper insights with retailer knowledge to connect brands to buyers.

And, because the marketplace is ever-changing, we forge new ways to engage those buyers at every touchpoint.

Though there are many victories throughout the shopper journey, we always inspire the buyer to ACT. It’s our badge of honor and pride.

ON THE FRONT LINES TOGETHER As 30-year veterans of the retail environment, we fight side-by-side and create strong partnerships with our clients. We’re nimble. We’re scrappy. We know the landscape.

From national to regional and local promotions, we can bring your goals to life. And with our on-demand partnerships, we are ready to jump right in to any project—big or small. We can help get you across the finish line with a full Activation team to execute ideas. We’re also equipped with an on-site warehouse and distribution center. We bring your ideas to market in a faster, more cost-effective way.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

CLIENTS

Propac Agency is a full-service marketing agency specializing in shopper marketing, brand activation and brand engagement. And of course, leading our clients to victory.

• • • • • •

• • • • •

EXPERTISE • Shopper Marketing • Brand Activation • Brand Engagement

Branding Digital, Social + Mobile E-Commerce Strategic Planning & Insights Brand & Retail Activation Retailtainment/Sampling & Mobile Tours

INDUSTRIES SERVED • • • • • •

Food & Beverage Quick Service Restaurants Sports & Entertainment Retail Spirit & Beverage Health Care

Frito-Lay North America PepsiCo Beverage Quaker Foods North America Baylor Scott & White Steve’s Ice Cream

CONTACT Chase Daigle Director, New Business chase.daigle@propac.agency 469.969.6630

PROPAC.AGENCY

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE Our Capabilities We know shoppers, no matter where they shop. From mass to club to grocery to eCommerce, our insights-driven approach gets their attention and your products in their baskets.

We know every client is unique, so we’re always ready to adapt. While some may only need a seasonal solution, others might want help creating a brand from scratch. Since the industry is always changing, we think it’s important to be flexible—even if that means staffing one of our experts right in your office.

Give us a call to find out what our partnership can do for your business.

Our Approach The way we work is uncommonly collaborative—both within the agency and with the client. Our whole team brings creative solutions throughout every part of the process, and with our in-house production management team, we get our clients to market faster and more efficiently and with operational excellence.

We start with intimate knowledge of retailer priorities, brand imperatives, and understanding the psychology of shopper behavior.

Then, based on insights, we develop ideas that connect with shoppers. Whether we’re designing an endcap, a programmatic media campaign, or redesigning an entire category, our work is designed to change behavior and drive sales.

Along the way, our in-house team of industry experts collaborates with strategy and creative to develop the best solutions and get them in-market so you can see results.

At-A-Glance WHO WE ARE

We’re business-builders, we’re collaborators, and we’ve partnered with brands to deliver results rooted in shopper insights for over 20 years.

We’re a mix of world-class creatives, production experts, digital specialists, and groundbreaking strategists who know how to drive growth in all retail channels.

EXPERTISE

We have a deep understanding of shopper behavior, retailer priorities, and brand imperatives.

Our unique approach of bringing strategy, creative, and execution together allows us to deliver superior solutions while getting to market faster and more efficiently.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

• Business-consulting approach to solving marketing challenges • Shopper marketing insights, analytics, and omni-channel strategy • Creative services across physical and digital retail • Media planning and buying • Project and production management from concept through execution • Rapid-growth incubator model for smaller brands

OFFICE LOCATIONS

• Northwest Arkansas • Cincinnati • Dallas

• Minneapolis • Hoboken • San Bruno

CLIENTS

• • • •

Procter & Gamble Spin Master Wendy’s Essilor

• • • •

Keurig 3M Duracell TracFone

CONTACT

Jessica Hendrix President & CEO Mick Suh EVP, Commerce and Business Development mick.suh@saatchix.com 513.394.5930

SAATCHIX.COM

Extraordinary partnerships.

Extraordinary partnerships.

BREAKTHROUGH RESULTS. BREAKTHROUGH RESULTS.

Discover what our flexible, high-energy approach to partnership can achieve for your business.

Discover what our flexible, high-energy approach to partnership can achieve for your business.

Give as a call at 479.575.0200, or drop us a line at info@saatchix.com. © 2019 Saatchi & Saatchi X

Give as a call at 479.575.0200, or drop us a line at info@saatchix.com. © 2019 Saatchi & Saatchi X

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

®

®

3 OUT OF 4 RETAIL MARKETING PROGRAMS NEVER EVEN MAKE IT TO THE STARTING LINE

12%

Why? Because most companies aren’t very good at selling in their programs to the buyer. They put more time and resources into the shopper activation plan than the sell-in plan to the retailer.

Enter SFW, the retail sell-in/sell-through experts who work alongside your sales and marketing team to develop a convincing strategy, plan and marketing elements that help both you and the retailer win.

We keep score too, and we’re not 111–9 in PLRs by accident.

AT A GLANCE

CHA! ATTAINS 12% MARKET SHARE DURING YEAR ONE RETAIL LAUNCH

+44%

WHO WE ARE SFW is a results-driven marketing agency fueled by research-based insights, strategy and boundless creativity to help brands win in retail.

SERVICES • • •

Market Research Brand Strategy Retail Strategy

• • •

Digital Marketing Creative Activation PR & Social Media

• • •

Technology B2B Apparel

• •

Dave Geren, EVP Accounts Vickie Canada, Creative Director

• • • •

Fruit of the Loom Kohler Corona Coastal

INDUSTRIES SERVED • • •

Home Improvement CPG Durables

KEY EXECUTIVES • • •

Ged King, CEO Peter Mitchell, President Matt King, CMO

PRIMO DRIVES +44% SALES INCREASE THROUGH INNOVATIVE RETAIL PROGRAM AT WALMART

+8x

RETAIL CLIENTS • • • •

CHANNELLOCK® GE Johns Manville Primo Water

CHAR-BROIL WINS LOWE’S PLR BECOMES GRILLS & ACCESSORIES CATEGORY CAPTAIN

GREENSBORO AND RALEIGH, N.C. / CONTACT MATT KING MATTK@SFWRESULTS.COM / 336.402.0416 / SFWRESULTS.COM

If you’re feeling like this heading into your next big meeting with the buyer, SFW is here to help. To win big in retail is to know everything your competition doesn’t know, and the only way to do that is with thorough research, shopper insights and a compelling story. We’ve won 93% of the product line reviews we’ve participated in, helping our clients get their brands into stores, on Amazon and sold through to consumers. Want to avoid that panicked, lost feeling?

Visit sfwresults.com and learn about our PLR Playbook™.

®

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES

COMPANY PROFILE

The A-to-V Commerce Company

Predictive Commerce Intelligence With more at stake than ever, marketers need to know they’re making the right decisions. So, we’ve built the Marilyn Predictive Commerce Intelligence Platform— an exclusive, proprietary collection of nine critical end-to-end technologies, built from the ground up. Marilyn optimizes forty years of commerce and marketing data to help marketers make the best-informed choices with a fraction of the time and budget. With unparalleled security, speed and efficiency, Marilyn is reframing how critical industry decisions are made and completely resetting expectations of confidence, accountability and results.

SM

We exist at the intersection of commerce and innovation. Today, there are more ways to shop, buy and discover products than ever before.

From Autonomous to Voice and everything in between, The Mars Agency is at the forefront of this rapidly changing age of commerce.

SM

SM

At-A-Glance EXPERTISE

We’ve spent 45+ years revolutionizing relationships on every side of commerce— finding growth opportunities through consumers, shoppers and customers— everywhere. We unleash the smartest humanity and latest technology to deliver better decisions, greater experiences and stronger results.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Ken Barnett, Global CEO Rob Rivenburgh, CEO North America Darren Keen, CEO International Markets

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

• • • • • •

Beauty/Personal Care Durable Goods Food & Beverage Health & Wellness Natural & Organic Technology & Consumer Electronics

OFFICE LOCATIONS

• • • • • •

Bentonville Chicago Cincinnati Dallas Detroit HQ London

• • • • •

Minneapolis New York Seattle Stamford Toronto

CLIENTS

• Bacardi Limited • Campbell Soup Company • Conagra Brands • Hallmark • Henkel

• Impossible Foods • Lowe’s Home Improvement • Nestle Waters • Samsung • Walmart Canada

CONTACT

Drive growth for your business: NewBusiness@TheMarsAgency.com Drive growth for yourself: Careers@TheMarsAgency.com

THEMARSAGENCY.COM

T H E R E’S A B E T T ER WAY T O M AKE S HO PPER MA R K E T ING D ECIS IO NS.

PREDICTIVE COMMERCE INTELLIGENCE

9 INTERCONNECTED TECHNOLOGIES designed to help marketers make better decisions, create greater experiences and deliver stronger results.

meetmarilyn.ai Bentonville, AR / Chicago, IL / Cincinnati, OH / Dallas, TX / Detroit, MI / London, UK / Minneapolis, MN / New York, NY / Seattle, WA / Stamford, CT / Toronto, ONT

THE 2019 GUIDE TO SHOPPER MARKETING AGENCIES www.tpnretail.com

Linking Vision + Action We turn our clients’ challenges into tailored solutions that build brands and baskets.

We are prolific; we know what it takes to engage customers in an extraordinary number of ways using our extensive resources, technology and talent.

Fusing Insights + Imagination We start with empathy to understand the needs of all stakeholders.

We then build a strategy based on insights that inspire exceptional creative execution.

The result? Compelling experiences and meaningful interactions throughout the shopper journey that make the buy happen again + again.

Master your approach to Digital Commerce with

We get our clients seen and heard in the cluttered, noisy world of retail.

Our in-house digital commerce consultancy, Velocity Commerce Group, leverages our proprietary tools and data that shine a spotlight on your product.

Whether it’s pure play, direct-to-consumer, omni-channel retail or Amazon strategy and optimization, we can boost your bottom line. velocitycommercegroup.com

At-A-Glance INDUSTRIES SERVED

OUR DISCIPLINES

TPN is the creative commerce agency.

We bring together insights and imagination to make the buy happen again + again.

• • • • •

• • • • • •

EXPERTISE

KEY EXECUTIVES

Leveraging our capabilities across digital and traditional spaces, we meet our clients’ customers at the various touchpoints of their journey through our diverse capabilities and proprietary tools.

• • • •

WHO WE ARE

Retailer Consumer Finance CPG Telecom Healthcare

Data Insights + Intelligence Commerce Strategy + Consulting Journey + Customer Experience Design Omnichannel Media + Activation Content Creation + Management Technology + Innovation

Joe Scartz – Chief Digital Commerce Officer Sarah Cunningham – Chief Growth Officer Christy O’Pella – Senior Managing Director Cheryl Policastro – Managing Director, Head of Strategy & Insights

Make the buy happen again + again

We create experiences that engage customers wherever they are. In an always-on world, we’re an always-there agency.

Shopper + Retail + Brand + Digital Commerce Contact TPN to learn more about how we can help you make the buy happen. sarah_cunningham@tpnretail.com

Don’t miss these other upcoming Industry Guides appearing only in Path to Purchase IQ magazine in 2019.

Insights, Analytics & Data October 2019

Retail Execution November 2019

E-Commerce December 2019

Contact Karen Fenske at the Path to Purchase Institute at kfenske@ensembleiq.com or (773) 992-4413 for more information.

AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY

AUTONOMOUS CARS As for self-driving cars and autonomous road vehicles, these machines can go longer distances and carry larger loads, but they have challenges of their own, notably risk. “The industry has realized that autonomous vehicle technology development was more difficult than planned and, combined with high-profile crashes by Uber and Tesla, that meant significant market launch plans were pushed later into the 2020 decade,” says Kevin Jost, editorial director of Autonomous Vehicle Technology, a print and digital publication that debuted March 2017.

Paden says “autonomous cars and trucks will have a definite place in our future, but they are further out simply due to the number of factors that go into the adoption of the technology – things like government regulation, infrastructure changes, public perception and more.”

Walmart’s tests currently include human drivers for safety reasons but also to get an understanding and learning of how the technology works. Udelv, a partner of Walmart’s, won a startup pitch event held by CART and is running a small test with the retailer in Surprise, Arizona. The cargo vans tote up to 32 different

September 2019

customer orders and top out at 60 miles per hour. Kroger has completed a larger test with the company Nuro in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is expanding to Houston. That vehicle includes safety drivers and drives only as fast as 25 mph.

Jennifer Brogan, director of external communications and community relations at Stop & Shop, says the test with Robomart is unique because it isn’t a delivery service but a service that brings the Stop & Shop store to the customers’ doorsteps.

“Customers get to shop, not just receive a delivery.”

The Robomart vehicle is expected to test in Boston but Brogan says details are still being worked out. The vehicle from San Francisco-based Robomart never carries a driver or passenger, is low speed and electric, and never goes on the highway, only operating in neighborhoods. There are no drivers in the vehicle but it is “remotely piloted from a facility to ensure safety for pedestrians and other drivers while the vehicle is on the road,” Brogan says.

Consumers use a corresponding Robomart mobile app to summon a vehicle to a location, use the app to unlock the vehicle, select their products inside and then close the doors. The vehicle

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AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY

then goes on its way. When shopping inside the vehicle, RFID and computer vision technology record what a shopper chooses and automatically charges the credit card linked to the mobile app.

Goodman says using self-driving cars to transport people as opposed to product seems further out because of the regulatory and safety hurdles to get over. Nevertheless, Daimler, Fiat-Chrysler, BMW, GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Renault-Nissan, Volvo, Hyundai and Tesla all have self-driving cars in the works.

DRONES Google’s breakthrough as the first to gain approval from the FAA sets it up nicely to lead the way in the drones category, but the logistics of drone delivery limit items in weight (5 pounds or less) and distance (around 13 miles or less), as well as how to land items safely. Paden is most enthused by the idea of drones delivering medication or medical supplies to remote areas, such as what a company called Zipline is doing, and UPS recently delivered blood samples via its drone service.

Domino’s first tested pizza delivery by drone back in 2016 in New Zealand, and Amazon expects to deliver packages via its Prime Air drone within the next few years. The vehicles cannot fly above 400 feet and expect to excel at delivering goods to rural areas or toughto-get places, enabling them to fill a distinct delivery role.

Jones believes, in the next five years, autonomous delivery will

September 2019

focus on two exiting distribution challenges at either end of the spectrum: delivery to remote locations and delivery to densely populated locations. “The succeeding five years after that will see these technologies gradually become more and more mainstream and for general delivery.”

In the short term, there are roadblocks to overcome, from government regulation, to gaining consumer trust, to cost and logistics of deploying the services, to further advances in technology. “We need nationwide 5G access to handle the onvehicle data transfer, and we need continued sensor refinement as there is industry disagreement on which sensors are needed and safest,” Paden says.

Hawkins says the various autonomous delivery vehicles will evolve alongside the changing face of brick-and-mortar stores that are becoming more experiential. “They start to shape each other,” he says. “It will be really cool to see.”

Paden says, ultimately, autonomous delivery vehicles will work in tandem throughout the supply chain. Robotic totes moving product in distribution centers, for example, autonomous trucks transporting goods, short-haul road-based autonomous vehicles delivering regionally, drones delivering to rural areas, and last-mile bots delivering to dorms or apartments.

“Our future is filled with deliveries coming via multiple form factors,” he says. IQ

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AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY

Notable In-Market Tests DRONES • Google’s Project Wing. Following clearance by the FAA, the autonomous aircraft expects to begin delivering packages in Blacksburg, Virginia, where it first tested drone delivery of Chipotle burritos to students at Virginia Tech.

• UPS and Matternet. The delivery service is working with the startup drone maker and has delivered medical supplies to a hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina.

• Amazon Prime Air. The drone delivery service is testing in the U.S., UK, Austria, France and Israel. It aims to deliver items within 30 minutes or less.

• Zipline. The company delivers medical supplies in Rwanda and Ghana, having completed nearly 15,000 deliveries.

• Domino’s and Flirtey. The pizza company first worked with the drone company to deliver a pizza in New Zealand. It has also done so in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.

• 7-Eleven and Flirtey. The c-store chain in 2016 delivered with Flirtey’s drones to 77 customers in Reno, Nevada, who lived within a mile of the store.

LAST-MILE BOTS • Amazon Scout. The small, electric blue bots began testing in Snohomish County, Washington.

• FedEx SameDay Bot. Planning tests this summer in Memphis with a list of participating retailers: Pizza Hut, AutoZone, Lowe’s, Target, Walgreens and Walmart.

• Postmates Serve. The hip yellow bot expects to begin testing next year in Los Angeles and is ideal for food delivery.

• Starship Technologies. Headquartered in London, the bot company tested deliveries to consumers working in an office park in Silicon Valley but also to students at Northern Arizona University and George Mason University with Sodexo. It is also testing food delivery with Domino’s, sending bots out to people living within a mile of a store in select German and Dutch cities.

September 2019

• Eliport. A startup out of Barcelona with bots carrying loads up to 88 pounds is looking to test with Tesco in the UK and Ulabox.com in Spain.

• Robby Technologies. The Palo Alto, California-based company deploys a sidewalk bot in the San Francisco area and tested with Pepsi early this year to deliver snacks and drinks to students of Pacific University.

AUTONOMOUS CARS • Kroger and Nuro. A Fry’s pilot ended in Scottsdale, Arizona, but another is running at Kroger stores in Houston. Following an online order, the vehicle is stocked at the store and then sent to deliver.

• Walmart and Udelv. The company’s autonomous cargo vans are being piloted in Surprise, Arizona, to deliver groceries.

• Walmart and Waymo. Once Google’s selfdriving car, Waymo is an autonomous car that picks up people and takes them to Walmart to get their BOPIS order. Walmart is testing with a small group of 400 people in Chandler, Arizona.

• Walmart and Ford. Piloting in Miami-Dade County and with Postmates (who already has a relationship with Ford) as a local delivery partner, the test is being used to learn how people interact with the self-driving cars.

• Ahold’s Stop & Shop and Robomart. Planned for testing in the Boston area, the vehicle brings the Stop & Shop store to a consumer to shop via the Robomart mobile app.

• DoorDash and General Motors. Via the Cruise Automation division at GM, the self-driving Chevy Bolt car will pilot food and grocery deliveries in the San Francisco area as part of a test with DoorDash. A safety driver is in the car.

• Domino’s and Ford. The pizza chain tested deliveries in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2017 using the Ford Fusion automated car. A safety driver is in the car.

• Pizza Hut and Toyota. Announced at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Toyota unveiled its e-palette autonomous concept car that comes in three sizes. The electric vehicle expects to test with Pizza Hut in 2020. More than a delivery vehicle, it could have a mobile kitchen.

Toyota also plans to partner with Uber and Amazon.

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September 2019

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JBP 2.0:

NEXT-GENERATION

JOINT BUSINESS PLANNING A group of industry insiders debate the current state of JBP but reach consensus on where it should be heading for the benefit of manufacturers, retailers and, ultimately, shoppers.

BY DAW N K L I N G E N S M I T H

THE BEST WAY to have a productive and meaningful discussion about joint business planning between consumer goods companies and retailers is to establish early on that everyone is talking about the same thing. That’s because joint business planning, or JBP, means different things to different people. “The term is really loose,” says Patrick Fitzmaurice, CEO and “head farmer” of Caterpillar Farm, an organizational change-activation consulting firm based in Atlanta. “It would be interesting to put a stake in the definition of what we mean when we talk about JBP.” Trying to nail down one specific definition based on interviews for this article was a flummoxing and ultimately futile exercise, but though there was no consensus on what JBP means and entails currently, there was a convergence of views on what it means and entails ideally. What came into focus is a vision of next-generation joint business planning, shaped by current and projected disruptions in retail. Modeling the JBP process of the future is beyond the scope of this article, but from those interviews, Path to Purchase IQ has distilled some of the essential elements.

approach cross-functional.

Trust is a sine qua non of JBP because of the transparency and exchange of information required of both parties. Each partner needs to understand the other’s business, its target shopper and its strategic goals. This understanding forms the basis of a mutually beneficial plan, and the open exchange of information – within the context of a confidentiality agreement – allows for its co-creation.

Trust isn’t the only foundational element that must be built. “I call it getting your house in order – developing supports internally before even having JBP discussions,” says Mike Holcomb, managing director of The Partnering Group (TPG), a Cincinnatibased consulting firm that works with manufacturers and retailers on collaborative planning. Without pillars in place, from the right technology to properly trained people, even the most smartly conceived plan will fail to reach its potential.

Because next-gen JBP requires resource reallocation and role changes internally, change management and cultural shift must take place. Toppling siloes, breaking habits and rethinking

The JBP Process

THE PREREQUISITES By definition, JBP is collaborative, but in practice, manufacturers and retailers often aren’t truly collaborating. Instead, they’ve just slapped a new label on business as usual. Traditionally, a manufacturer’s sales rep met annually with the retailer’s buyer to discuss operating plans, including basic logistics and pricing, and the relationship that grew out of that was transactional, tactical and, inevitably, adversarial.

This relationship based on jockeying isn’t conducive to JBP, which requires true collaboration for win-win results. Going forward, for JBP to work, the plan must be co-created, the timeline longer and the Source: The Partnering Group

September 2019

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JBP 2.0: NEXT-GENERATION JOINT BUSINESS PLANNING job descriptions are part of this process because JBP requires cross-functional connectivity, among other new paradigms in supplier-retailer relations. “Businesses run on systems that are slow to change – process systems, technology systems, people systems,” Fitzmaurice says. “A lot of legacy systems are holding manufacturers and retailers back from creating higher-order strategic initiatives.”

“The way retailers and manufacturers plan together needs to change to keep up with constant disruption in the world of commerce.”

THE PLAYERS

– Patrick Fitzmaurice, Caterpillar Farm

Traditional planning at the category manager and retail buyer level does not rise to the level of JBP. “Higher-level strategic planning, when done well, has a broad set of players who contribute in some way to the overall plan and its execution,” says Anne Chambers, CEO of Capre Group, an Atlanta-based sales and marketing consultancy that helps clients with JBP 2.0, which it calls “collaborative partnership planning.”

Disciplines involved in that planning process include shopper insights, shopper marketing, loyalty, category management, merchandising, sales, revenue growth management, supply chain, e-commerce and others. Team members are connected and aligned throughout each other’s organizations. “Defined roles and aligned performance metrics keep all parties focused on mutual goals,” Chambers says.

Omnichannel retailing, e-commerce, voice shopping and other developments bring more players to the team and “have an impact on the overall JBP process,” says Steve McGowan, regional vice president of shopper and consumer activation at Mondelez International. “Some additional people are included from both sides, and the strategic planning and alignment takes a broader look at the shopper journey to ensure that all touchpoints are being met.”

“JBP financial results increase when senior-level leaders support the efforts and hold teams accountable for results.”

– “Joint Business Planning: Creating Value Together,” from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and The Partnering Group

Bringing in this many players, and giving them new demands and priorities, makes leadership endorsement critical. “Leadership plays such a key role with change management and creating momentum in the organization,” Chambers says. “People need to understand this is a permanent shift; it’s the way we go to market now.”

Senior-level involvement is imperative on both sides to ensure follow-through and accountability. Though not bogged down in every detail, leaders oversee the entire process, from approving plans and allocating the necessary cross-functional resources to evaluating the results.

September 2019

Arguably, the most important player is one who is never physically present: the shopper. A shopper-centric approach inspired by the needs of the partners’ mutual customers becomes the game plan for “the trifecta – the win-win-win for the shopper, retailer and manufacturer,” says Christopher Brace, founder and CEO of the New York-based marketing strategy firm Syntegrate Consulting.

Next-gen JBP requires significant time and resources. As a result, “Some retailers are backing away from the formal JBP work while still having really strong business plans with their strongest suppliers,” Holcomb says. Those that do engage in JBP do so strategically and selectively. “The manufacturers doing true JBP are working with two or three retailers in the country, and retailers are maybe doing it with four to six suppliers.”

THE PROCESS Three essential elements of JBP are transparency, collaboration and agreed-upon performance indicators. “KPIs [key performance indicators] ensure that both sides are working against a consistent set of metrics that will help drive each respective business,” McGowan says.

Currently, collaboration tends to be lopsided, “but JBP at its best entails that the retailer and the brand co-create programs that meet the needs of the brand, the retailer and the shopper equally,” says Brace, adding that retailers prefer partners who demonstrate they understand category growth drivers and have a category-first mindset. “A common mistake is going to the retailer and talking all about the brand instead of starting out by saying, ‘Here’s what we know about you and your growth strategy, your strategic priorities and your strategic challenges, and here’s how we can help you meet those challenges.’ Another mistake is showing up with a program idea that’s too fully baked to allow for retailer input.”

Manufacturers with a good handle on consumer, shopper and category insights for their brands need to go the extra mile “to customize for the individual retailer’s shopper,” says Karen Sales, founder of Boise, Idaho-based sales and marketing firm KSMarketing and formerly vice president of shopper marketing at Albertsons.

Category comes before brand, insights inform the conversation, and each side helps solve the other’s long-term business challenges by pooling resources. According to Fitzmaurice, if there’s one question that drives the planning process, it’s this:

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JBP 2.0: NEXT-GENERATION JOINT BUSINESS PLANNING “Where is there growth we could be capturing together?” Partners reach an agreement on activities that will drive growth for both of them, as well as financial and nonfinancial targets, relevant KPIs, responsibilities and timing.

The traditional 12-month planning cycle is too short for JBP. A time horizon of two or three years makes more sense “in the current landscape where so much can change in so many areas – commodities, shipping, e-commerce, media and measurement tools, supply chain, overall footprint,” says Sales. “Set a joint target and have a rolling plan you are working against with quarterly check-ins and annual reviews.”

Technology will facilitate collaboration and program management. Shared access to a dashboard, with a common scorecard, will allow for ongoing joint reviews of the plan’s execution. Both parties can track agreed-upon performance measures. When those metrics are below par, the team can take corrective actions.

THE PLAN The written plan is both the product of the process and the continuation of the process. In other words, the plan is a process.

Based on mutual objectives and opportunities, it commits to writing the agreed-upon initiatives and activations; how and by whom they will be implemented; project milestones; expected benefits including return on investment; and performance metrics and results.

So parties can anticipate and react swiftly to changing market conditions, a joint business plan should take market trends and forecasts into account. Once the plan is deployed, partners continuously evolve it based on real-time results and market shifts.

The retail industry is rocked by near-constant disruptors, and part of the plan’s purpose “is to adapt to those challenges and lay out how to positively leverage or counteract them,” Holcomb says.

Milestones include periodic check-ins when partners revisit the plan. “In most cases there’s usually an annual broader strategic alignment session followed by periodic check-ins on a quarterly or monthly basis to ensure we are all tracking and working against the collectively agreed-upon objectives,” McGowan says.

The performance metrics typically take the form of a joint scorecard with two sets of metrics. “One is the traditional category-health metrics of volume, sales and profit,” Chambers says. “The second set of metrics measures the progress on category strategies. These are specific to the strategy and may include metrics like trips, basket or shopper penetration.”

THE PAYOFF The financial benefits of next-generation JBP are evident on the scorecard, but beyond that are organizational benefits and – most importantly – benefits for the shopper. Many retailers and manufacturers have work to do before laying claim to those benefits or conferring them on the shopper. As Fitzmaurice sees it, the parties’ main problem is they’re not talking the talk, let

September 2019

JBP 2.0 Cheat Sheet Ante Up: What Both Sides Should Bring to the Table • Cross-functional resources • Applicable technology • Shopper data • Consumer and shopper insights • Current and future category growth drivers • Trends (industry-, technology- and shopper-based) • Relevant intellectual property

JBP Best Practices for Manufacturers • Show you understand the needs of the retailer.

• Give retailers an opportunity to influence programs.

Don’t show up with “fully baked” programs.

• Share insights as to why shoppers do what they do inside the store, which stems from their life as consumers outside the store.

• Identify what is emotionally meaningful to the shopper relative to your brand, your category and the retailer.

• Translate those insights into stories that can be told in the retail space and other touchpoints along the shopper journey.

Source: Christopher Brace, Syntegrate Consulting

What JBP is NOT • Handled at the buyer/category manager level • Tactical trade negotiations • Category management • Promotional planning • Short-term planning • Brand focused

alone walking the walk, when it comes to business planning.

“Their discussions still focus on product and price issues instead of providing a better commerce experience,” he says.

Right now, few have mastered true JBP, says Brace, but that just means there’s a vast frontier with plenty of opportunity. “If you’re the first in your category to do it, you’ll gain a competitive edge,” he says. But hurry, “because that’s where the industry is headed.” IQ

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TRADE PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 2019

TOOLS OF THE TRADE:

NEW TECH FOR OLD TRICKS While the call for transformation is loud and clear, the process is still going slowly.

S p o n s o r e d by

UpClear

R

BY A L A R I C E R A J AG O PA L

September 2019

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TRADE PROMOTION REPORT 2019

The trade promotion practice often gets a bad rap for continuing to apply outdated strategies and outmoded technologies to one of the most critical business functions for consumer goods organizations. But it’s not from lack of desire to change.

A survey fielded by the Path to Purchase Institute last year found that more than two-thirds of consumer goods companies consider the practice “extremely important” to the business.

But many survey respondents expressed dissatisfaction with existing management systems, program performance and overall effectiveness. They also lamented the need for deeper insights, better metrics and faster response capabilities.

So, while the knock about outdated strategies might still be true in some cases, progressive companies have been working to improve their traditional practices by adopting new tools that are moving trade promotion away from spreadsheets and incremental sales growth toward a more strategic, holistic commercial practice built for the omnichannel retail era.

Path to Purchase IQ’s third annual Trade Promotion Report will look at the tools that companies are using to transform their traditional practices into strategic efforts that incorporate broader, deeper consumer understanding to uncover new growth opportunities and strengthen relationships with key retail partners.

THE TRADITIONAL LANDSCAPE Given the money that’s at stake, no one in the industry contests the importance of trade promotion: More than $500 billion is spent on trade promotion annually around the world, making it the second largest line item in the budget of most consumer packaged goods companies. Trade spending represents more than 15% of a CPG’s total revenue, and despite all the disruptive changes to the industry, it continues to grow, according to an EnsembleIQ/SymphonyRetail study.

No one contests the need for improvement either: Gartner finds that as much as 67% of trade programs don’t break even — maybe because roughly 60% of companies still use manual processes and spreadsheet applications to manage their programs.

The reasons are many and decidedly complex. One is, of course, the retailer-manufacturer dynamic, which isn’t a wholly one-sided relationship but sometimes plays out that way. While both parties theoretically should be working toward mutually beneficial goals, the Institute’s most recent Retail and Consumer Goods Analytics Study found that, while 27% of CPGs identify trade promotion as a key area for improvement, only 8% of retailers did.

That suggests another obstacle for transforming the practice: the need to utilize the right data at the right time. There are

September 2019

troves of data available on both the retailer and manufacturer side of the table about shopper behavior, price elasticity, past program performance and a host of other topics. Making matters even more complicated is the growing need to take the digital shopper and new forms of data (i.e. social media data) into consideration.

So while the need for change is loud and clear, the task is still daunting and, therefore, slow-moving. Many large, established CPGs are stuck in legacy systems in which they’ve overinvested; internal policies and politics can oftentimes keep them from changing and evolving with the more advanced technology now available.

Meanwhile, smaller, emerging companies — who tend to be far more agile and nimble and not anchored to legacy systems — are jumping all over newer cloud-based and SaaS solutions.

Traditional CPGs, therefore, have two general avenues to pursue: Ditch their legacy systems and start anew, or acquire smaller companies that are already leveraging new technology to use as a blueprint for adopting new strategies and tools.

TIME FOR CHANGE Whatever the case, CPGs are exploring various technologies that can help them improve the future by making this line item far more worth the investment. Case in point: all the executives interviewed for this report have made changes to their legacy systems within the last few years.

Rich Products Corp., for example, upgraded its current system two years ago but is “in the process of building a business case for a new system to cover all divisions,” explains trade marketing manager Casey Joiner.

“We were motivated to upgrade our current system to add a few enhancements that were not included in the initial implementation,” says Joiner. “Our current search for a new tool is motivated by our company’s need for data consistency across all divisions.”

Meanwhile, a leading household products company implemented a new trade promotion management (TPM) system over the last year because “the organization needed consistent processes, tools and data that would allow us to perform advanced trade analytics,” says the vice president of revenue growth management (who requested anonymity).

“We have just begun a project to replace a bespoke [advertising & promotion] management system with an integrated TPM system,” says Cara Taylor, business relationship manager at Pernod Ricard USA. “Our A&P tool is at ‘end of life’ and we want to be able to track spend, calculate profit and ROI, and eventually get to trade optimization.”

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TRADE PROMOTION REPORT 2019 Until recently, 17-year-old pet food maker Blue Buffalo Co. didn’t have a tool at all, says Michael Gamage, director of customer sales and trade promotion. As the company grew and started expanding from pet specialty stores into mass merchants, it began to roll out a tool to manage the increasing activity. (Blue Buffalo was acquired by General Mills in 2018 and could potentially serve as the pilot for a TPM strategy to roll out across the larger organization.)

“We’re seeing a lot more granularity in decision making,” says David Moran, co-founder of solution provider Eversight.

“For leading CPGs, gone are the days of a few PowerPoint slides from headquarters instructing the field on the types of offers that should be going into the market. We’re now observing higher levels of precision at, for example, the individual customer and event level, where AI engines are systematically determining which offers to run. And we’re seeing a radical change in adoption.”

“Over the past five years, consumer goods manufacturers have undertaken a journey to improve their overall revenue management capabilities to build sustainable growth models and provide more confidence to shareholders,” echoes Thierry Soudee, founder and chief executive officer of UpClear. “This has definitely influenced the roadmap for ‘TPx’ vendors.”

Thus, TPx solutions are evolving to let CPGs manage pricing, promotions, trade terms, mix and all related causal factors (competitive activity, retail switching, etc.) in a holistic way, Soudee explains. Because of advanced data requirements and the complexity around the collection, cleansing and visualization of millions of data points to support decision making, TPx vendors have had to develop analytics tools, as well as predictive capabilities, to further facilitate analysis and definition of commercial strategies.

NEW TOOLS FOR THE TRADE Yes, many CPGs continue to use spreadsheets. But others are on the forefront of innovation by exploring — and even investing in — some emerging technologies.

“AI and machine learning with forecasting and promotion optimization is something that would be gamechanging.”

—Casey Joiner, Rich Products

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are gaining the most attention as the panacea for just about every business need. But what about utilizing these new tools for TPM? Machine learning is an important component powering Eversight’s experimentation algorithms, explains Moran. “Without ML, we wouldn’t be able to efficiently automate everything, from what new promotions to test, how to design experiments, teststopping criteria and winner selection, etc.”

There even have been some early efforts to move trade planning to something that’s more “programmatic” in determining investments, similar to what’s taken place in the world of digital media buying. “This trend is mirrored by Amazon’s ‘Hands Off the Wheel’ initiatives [a move toward automated price negotiation and demand forecasting] and shows promise for a future world of integrated trade spending and loyalty that could be profoundly more effective,” he suggests.

Machine learning automatically analyzes large amounts of data using rule-based algorithms in order to find trends and patterns. If the underlying data points are messy, the results will also be messy. So it’s important for CPGs to first build a solid

Use of AI in trade promotion management ........37% ........27%

........30% ........32% Currently use Plan to use in the next 12 to 24 months

Price optimization

Promotion optimization Source: 2018 EIQ Retail Innovation Survey

September 2019

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TRADE PROMOTION REPORT 2019 foundation of basic data and analytics best practices.

To date, a lot of AI activity has involved the use of ML in e-commerce, particularly for search analysis, product recommendations, promotions and analyzing consumer sentiment — actions that ultimately will enhance trade planning but don’t directly impact TPM. When AI is applied directly to trade promotion activities, it could help improve timing, tracking and other aspects of the investment. What’s more, AI and analytics can also provide promotion-related insights for channel managers, category/ brand managers and financial teams to allocate trade fund dollars more accurately.

Impact of Outside Data on Trade Performance Which data elements would be most effective for optimizing and predicting promotion ROI? 3%

Corporate PR campaigns

15%

Social media sentiment analysis

MORE THAN JUST TALK Another potential area of investment for CPGs entails improving promotional effectiveness through natural language processing, the ability to listen to natural spoken (or written) language, analyze it and generate appropriate responses.

By using NLP, CPGs can verbally experiment with changing promotional criteria to test different outcomes. The feedback is immediate and can help determine actionable price points or promotional offers, and then identify trends that can be adjusted in real time. Since there is no PC or massive data crunching involved, this type of R&D can be done at relatively low costs.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is another technology set to watch.

Here, the benefits seem to be more on the back end for things like inventory management and product reordering — which can have an impact on promotional execution, of course, but don’t directly affect TPM like AI//ML already is.

“There’s a lot of latent enthusiasm about beacons, ESLs, cameras in-store, etc., but we’re not seeing these things become mainstream yet in terms of really impacting trade spending in material ways,” says Moran. While the majority of companies aren’t using open source analytics tools, Pernod Ricard is

“We’ll need to ingest large amounts of data, make sense of it, and segment it usefully.

Ultimately, promotions should be close to real time and based on consumer needs.”

—Cara Taylor, Pernod Ricard

September 2019

18%

64%

Digital consumer promotion (online, mobile, SMS)

Corporate and/or regional advertising media schedules

leveraging Microsoft Power BI for heightened reporting with visual cues and insights, says Taylor.

THE DATA WITHIN In exploring the need to improve trade promotion, it’s also important to consider some of the new data sets being incorporated into these tools. Many of the executives interviewed are working with social media activity, digital promotion results, corporate/regional advertising schedules, external factors (weather, economy) and comparative retailer analysis to inform their plans. “All of them help feed our segmentation ‘machine’ and pull out insights that drive account prioritization,” says Taylor.

“We’re beginning to align advertising schedules with trade plans,” adds Joiner at Rich Products. “As for retailer data, we’re using it to see main drivers from past performance.”

According to Soudee, TPx vendors have been innovating the last five years when it comes to: • Predictive Analytics: Solution providers have invested in advanced analytics and predictive modeling capabilities to support the growing complexity of the retail environment.

• Data Models: Promotion planning has become more personalized based on store types, geographic areas, shopper demographics, and other factors. This has pushed vendors to improve data models in order to handle bigger data sets, dynamically build commercial plans at any level, and better assess promotional performance.

There also has been innovation in mobile technology, which “has been significantly improved to ensure access from any device and at any point in time to facilitate collaboration with retailers, but also to increase sales manager productivity,” says Soudee.

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Evolving the TPM Practice

Q

What external data sources must now be considered when planning trade promotion programs?

Trade promotion programs should be planned based on a holistic approach that takes into consideration both brand and channel partner objectives.

From a brand perspective, it’s key that depth of discount and frequency of promotion don’t affect the target price index vs. the competitive set. A successful approach should maintain the appropriate brand positioning while also ensuring that the Gabriele Platé, promotional activity is designed to address specific shopping Client Services Director EMEA occasions.

UpClear From a retailer perspective, it’s important that promotions don’t erode category value by cannibalizing own brands or driving competitor product switching, but rather generate category expansion and overall growth.

That said, key external data points and data sources to be considered to support this process are: • Competitive intelligence through retailer data and third-party providers (competitor activities, activation, etc.).

• Basket data and shopper insights.

• Price-to-consumer analytics and promotion participation.

Q

What are the key steps a company must take to develop excellence in revenue growth management?

1. Define the vision. It ultimately should be driven by the leadership team and reflect the company’s growth aspirations and brand dream. It should also inform RGM ownership (which, depending on business size and model, could sit within sales, marketing or finance).

2. Identify pillars. Key revenue growth levers should be identified and included in a framework. Pillars are usually structured around promotion, pricing and mix management.

3. Assess current capabilities. To define a robust roadmap and allocate proper resourcing, existing capabilities around the previously defined pillars should be assessed with regard to processes, tools and organizational readiness (people skills).

4. Set goals. Based on the vision and current level of maturity, a clear set of aspirational goals should be defined for each pillar. These should in turn drive resourcing and budget requirements to achieve the desired objectives.

5. Define the IT roadmap. The data and tools required to scale best practices across the organization should be identified and included in the overall plan.

6. Embed new ways of working into the commercial routine. To drive tangible benefits, new KPIs, tools and ways of working should be included in the core commercial routine to ensure adoption of the newly defined growth approach and influence commercial decisions.

Q&A SPONSORED CONTENT

Q

What qualities should a company seek in a solution provider?

Vendor experience in the target markets: There are commercial complexities driven by market-specific retail structure, route to market, or local regulations that only a flexible solution already adopted in that region can address without affecting speed to deployment, adoption and overall “cost to deliver.”

Solution ease of use: A typical root cause of IT implementation failure is lack of user adoption. As good and sophisticated as a solution can be, it ultimately should simplify the end user’s day-to-day job. Selecting intuitive software can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful project, especially when the solution is leveraged by the sales community.

Analytics and data integration capabilities: Best-in-class revenue management solutions provide similar functional capabilities. The areas where the sophistication level tends to vary dramatically is in data integration and analytics. The vendor’s ability to integrate structured and unstructured data from disparate channels (e.g., online and offline) in a robust way, as well as the analytical capabilities to build meaningful visualization from that data, are key differentiators. An analytically driven vendor can help CPGs successfully bridge the gap between data and insights.

The best way to determine if a solution provider is a good fit is feedback from businesses that have already adopted the solution. This can unveil key lessons learned, but also help understand vendor approach and strengths and weaknesses from the client lens.

UpClear is a leading software solutions provider and revenue management consulting partner for the consumer goods sector globally, with over 50 clients of all sizes in more than 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

TRADE PROMOTION REPORT 2019 According to Taylor, there’s still more work to be done mobility-wise. “Although we’ve been successful in ingesting the information into a data warehouse, it has been challenging to integrate and present [the data] in a meaningful way without significant speed issues. The reports overwhelm mobile devices.”

“It’s no longer cool to call it TPM. [Revenue growth management] encompasses more than just trade.”

THE FUTURE OF TRADE PROMOTION When TPM was still in its infancy back in 2006, Forrester Research reported, “Many consumer products companies are struggling with how to track, report and execute trade promotions effectively internally and … need to master that before figuring out how to manage it with their channel partners. Adding to that is a fundamental question of who owns the money. That makes TPM an extremely difficult conversation for retailers and manufacturers to have.”

Fast-forward to 2019, and not much has changed. Trade promotion is still a very difficult process to manage. So what does the future of trade promotion look like?

First off, “It’s no longer cool to call it TPM,” according to Blue Buffalo’s Gamage. The more in-the-moment practice is revenue growth management, which “encompasses more than just trade” and will be a “highly integrated process and system,” he says. [Editor’s note: See Path to Purchase IQ’s August issue for more on RGM.] Elsewhere, some companies are infusing TPM into their supply chains and other business functions to do a better job getting product to the right place at the right time. That trend will continue to grow, Gamage predicts.

“Advanced analytics, supported by efficient data integration and machine learning capabilities, can really facilitate CPG companies rolling out revenue management best practices at scale,” adds UpClear’s Soudee. “The ability to quickly establish data connections is key to building fresh insights and communicating them across the organization.”

As for the future of trade promotion, Soudee predicts that the design and execution of marketing initiatives overall will evolve.

“Drivers of successful promotions and marketing activities will become more and more related to penetration [mental and physical availability] rather than brand awareness or ‘trade up’ mechanics,” he says. “With the growth of online channels and the ability of manufacturers to directly reach consumers with personalized offers (thanks to AI), trade activities will become less and less relevant — shifting the execution from the store to the consumer.”

“It is likely AI/machine learning for TPM systems will be available sooner (in the next few years),” says that anonymous household products company VP. He also envisions voice-activated commands; requesting scenarios to maximize a prescribed metric (revenue, incremental sales, ROI); and automated systems that optimize products, time periods, competitive recommendations, brand/category impacts, consumer impact and potential ROIs.

September 2019

—Michael Gamage, Blue Buffalo Co.

“This could likely be maintained entirely in an ERP [enterprise resource planning] system,” he predicts.

The omnichannel marketplace also demands change, suggests Rich Products’ Joiner. “It will probably start to include all spending to drive sales — marketing, warehousing, shipping — as well as traditional trade expenses,” he says. And while it may not be on the horizon just yet, “from what we have seen in our search for a new tool, AI and machine learning with forecasting and promotion optimization is something that would be gamechanging,” he says.

“Trade spending will be managed through an integrated content management system that blends personalization, A/B testing and automation to allow a much more segmented view of personalized promotions,” suggests Eversight’s Moran.

“It will become ‘programmatic’ just like marketing has, and funding investments will dynamically move between ‘mass’ and ‘personalized’ offers.”

“We will need to capture and make sense of all sorts of digital promotions, loyalty programs, digital price matching, etc. It will need to be meaningfully segmented to retail accounts and consumers,” says Taylor. “Promotions will become smarter — but to do so, we’ll need to ingest large amounts of data, make sense of it, and segment it usefully. Ultimately, promotions should be close to real time and based on consumer needs.”

Finally, moving beyond isolated trade promotion planning to take a more integrated, strategic view of commercial investments is the ultimate goal for all practitioners.

And while it may have been coincidental that everyone interviewed for this report is currently working toward a new TPx solution, it seems more likely that many CPGs have realized the need to review their existing tools and strategies — whether that entails a simple refresh or a complete restart.

Whatever the case may be, it’s apparent that executives are assertively articulating their TPx wants and needs, and hoping solutions and service providers are taking note. IQ

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OMA Award Winners Each year, Shop! recognizes and honors retail displays with its Outstanding Merchandising Achievement (OMA) Awards competition. Showcased here are the 2019 Display of the Year, Budget Award and Creative Award winners.

Display of the Year Award

TEMPORARY

SEMI-PERMANENT

PERMANENT

The Ruffino Prosecco Holiday Spectacular

Tecate Pouring Can

Kingsdown BedMatch Experience

Entrant: Rapid Displays, Chicago Client: Heineken USA, White Plains, New York Comments: The objective was to design, engineer and manufacture a photorealistic, supersized pouring Tecate can that appeared to defy gravity. Using 4CP translucent inks printed on metallic foil, Rapid Displays was able to replicate the reflective highlights of the can and deliver an impactful display for use in grocers and mass merchants.

Entrant: Ryan Scott, High Point, North Carolina Client: Kingsdown, Mebane, North Carolina Comments: The objective of this program was to create an interactive fixture that embodied the technical nature of the product while evoking the comforting feeling Kingsdown wanted consumers to feel when engaging with the fixture/product. This fixture needed to be inviting and not intimidating so that consumers were comfortable laying down and getting scanned for their suggested mattress.

Entrant: Bish Creative Display, Lake Zurich, Illinois Client: Constellation Brands, Victor, New York Comments: The Ruffino brand wanted to creatively promote its extraordinary bubbles, while emphasizing their strong brand identity in the Ruffino orange color. Floating bubbles and the visual appearance of effervescence was a challenging thing to accomplish with static merchandising and 3-D components.

September 2019

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OMA AWARD WINNERS

Creative Award

TEMPORARY

SEMI-PERMANENT

PERMANENT

Cazadores Catrina Day of the Dead Pole Topper

Veuve Clicquot Romantic Picnic Basket Display

Belvedere Digi

Entrant: Bish Creative Display, Lake Zurich, Illinois, and Madden Communications, Wood Dale, Illinois Client: Bacardi USA, Coral Gables, Florida Comments: This display was the centerpiece of a larger Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) promotion for the brand. The Catrina display needed to be colorful and authentic in order to make a bold statement as to the relevancy between the brand and the Dia de Los Muertos holiday.

Entrant: Bish Creative Display Client: Moet Hennessy USA, New York Comments: This basket and balloon needed to truly appear to be floating above the product, setting Veuve Clicquot above its competitors for the spring and summer selling months.

Durability and stability were dominant objectives for this display, as it was designed to to appear to defy physics using transparent materials.

September 2019

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Entrant: Merchandising & Marketing Corp., Mamaroneck, New York Client: Belvedere Vodka, Zyrardow, Poland Comments: This display is injection molded, electroplated and has more than 20 component pieces that are hand assembled. A video screen incorporated into the head of the bear communicates celebration messages activated by a corresponding mobile application.

OMA AWARD WINNERS

Budget Award

TEMPORARY

SEMI-PERMANENT

PERMANENT

Friskies Lil’ Soups Floorstand Powerwing

Simple Truth Pistachio FreeStanding Display

Scuf Vantage Controller Wall Display

Entrant: WestRock, Atlanta Client: Nestle Purina Petcare, St. Louis Comments: The detachable backboard of the floorstand could easily be removed and hung as a power wing display near other complementary product or in other strategic off-shelf locations. Large graphic areas were added to the display to provide space for the brand’s fun, playful colors and complementary messaging.

Entrant: Williams Lea Tag, London, and Innomark Communications, Fairfield, Ohio Client: Kroger, Cincinnati Comments: The client wanted to increase its store-branded pistachio focus to combat the competitive brand’s increasing supply cost. This display served to minimize competition while raising awareness of its own brand.

Entrant: The Royal Group, Cicero, Illinois Client: Scuf Gaming International, Suwanee, Georgia Comments: The product was displayed under acrylic while still enabling the customer to view all sides of the product with a mirror strategically placed underneath. Each element was highlighted during the shopper’s approach and was tested using predictive eye-tracking software.

September 2019

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Activation Gallery

New Product Introductions When consumer goods companies launch new products, whether they’re new brands or extensions of existing ones, activation at retail is critical. Here we showcase various new products that caught the eyes of Path to Purchase IQ editors in stores so far this year.

Coca-Cola Co. trumpeted the first new permanent flavor for its flagship brand in more than a decade – orange vanilla – across multiple retailers. Walmart hosted sampling events and gave the SKU secondary merchandising space on pallets outfitted with headers touting “a new twist on delicious.” Family Dollar got a custom floorstand stocking slim cans, while chains such as Ahold Delhaize’s Hannaford, Kroger and Walgreens made room for national floorstands stocking 12-packs of cans, individual bottles or individual cans. At CVS/pharmacy, cooler clings depicting orange vanilla Coke touted a “two for $3.50” deal on any 20-ounce bottles. Meanwhile, Circle K added the flavor to its Polar Pop fountain machines. National TV spots, social media activity, digital activity, outdoor ads and radio spots were also part of Coca-Cola’s marketing campaign supporting the launch.

September 2019

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Clique Brands’ Versed, a budgetfriendly, digitally incubated clean skin care brand, launched at select Target stores and Target.com in May. (By July, Versed rolled out to all of Target’s U.S. stores.) Versed comprises 19 skin care SKUs, which enjoyed secondary merchandising space via endcaps outfitted with signage positioning the line as comprising “high-performance formulas” with “hype-free price tags.” On the brand’s dedicated website (VersedSkin.com), product pages direct users to Target.com to buy items.

Kimberly-Clark rolled out its new Huggies Special Delivery diapers at select retailers this summer. The diapers’ arrival was spotlighted at Meijer via endcaps and security wraps communicating that the SKUs are made with plant-based materials and is the brand’s softest diaper ever. Huggies also teamed with Target on a larger program to drum up support for the launch. The marketing plan included a Target. com landing page, bold endcaps in stores and August experiential events in the Minneapolis market, the retailer’s headquarters.

RB reached out to Walgreens shoppers ahead of the April 2019 launch of the manufacturer’s Neuriva brain performance supplements.

An ad in the retailer’s monthly coupon book as well as shelf blockers on health and wellness endcaps touted the product as “Coming Soon.” A feature in Walgreens’ March 3 circular carried the same messages.

The retailer also promoted pre-orders of the product at Walgreens.com.

September 2019

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Activation Gallery

The Pioneer Woman dog treats line, which was born from a collaboration between Nestle-Purina and writer/TV personality Ree Drummond, launched exclusively at Sam’s Club and Walmart in April. Sam’s Club merchandised the treats in the pet aisle on a pallet in stores, while spotlighting the line with an “Explore the flavor frontier” home page carousel ad and display ads within SamsClub. com that directed shoppers to an e-commerce shop corralling four dog treat SKUs.

Walmart began stocking Procter & Gamble’s Native products early this year, announcing the aluminum-free deodorant’s entry with a home page carousel ad in February. The deodorants were also included with a “new” burst in a March circular feature corralling natural personal care products. In stores, single and multi-pack SKUs are stocked in line. Single SKUs also get secondary merchandising space on a custom endcap display or on sidekick, both touting the brand’s more than 5,000 five-star customer reviews.

September 2019

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Blue Buffalo Co. pet food hit Walmart shelves for the first time earlier this year with SKUs from the premium brand’s entry-level Life Protection Formula. The product was merchandised on a dedicated endcap outfitted with a branded header and signage touting the brand’s “True Blue Promise” as well as Walmart’s grocery pickup service. A feature in the retailer’s June circular supported the launch.

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Technology Innovation

P2P Toolkit

A roundup of technology-driven tools that drive consumer understanding, engagement and conversion on every step of the path to purchase.

Stylish hat retailer Tenth Street Hats has seen success from an augmented reality experience added to its online shopping pages. (No separate mobile app required.) Results have shown that shoppers are more than two times more likely to buy a hat after using the feature, that revenue is nearly 42% higher per user, and the overall conversion lift is 52%. Tenth Street Hats, part of Stockton, Californiabased Dorfman Pacific, worked with Vertebrae, Santa Monica, California, and its Axis platform to bring Tenth Street’s range of hats to life. Shoppers on the Tenth Street site first can see the hat in a 3-D mode, spinning and moving the hat around for a closer look. Then, by clicking a “virtual try-on” button, the tool accesses the desktop or mobile camera and instantly overlays the hat on the user’s head. I gave it a whirl and was certainly impressed with how it gives a shopper a bit of an extra feel for the hat in a fun way – as opposed to blindly buying and hoping it fits. The Vertebrae platform also helps manage all of the 3-D content on the site and delivers analytics on how shoppers are engaging with the experience.

Dan Ochwat, a P2PI contributor for nearly two decades, has been on the lookout for digital path to purchase tools since 2011. Send comments and P2P Toolkit inquiries to danochwat@gmail.com.

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For the gaming community, streaming channel Twitch is a popular way to watch tournaments and videos from influential gamers who stream videos. On July 15 and 16, Amazon teamed with Twitch for two 12-hour broadcasts that highlighted products for sale on Amazon Prime Day, which was held those days. The broadcasts included celeb Twitch streamers such as Jericho and AnneMunition promoting products best for their community in gaming, electronics, housewares and more, and the streamers shared demos of unseen titles that will be released. The broadcasts were like a QVC special – only instead of grandma watching, it’s her grandkids. The curated Prime Day specials were called “Twitch Sells Out: A Prime Day Special Event.” Viewers were able to buy through the streaming special if they had a Prime account.

They could also comment during the specials and even stream their own commentary through an interactive on-screen overlay.

Facebook’s Instagram said in its business blog that it now includes ads with its Instagram Explore feature, a tab users select to syphon through a feed of what’s trending and newsworthy among the accounts they follow, or from accounts that have interests related to that user. Ads will be posted and a user can click them for more info or continue swiping by. Instagram said in the announcement that more than 50% of accounts on Instagram use Explore every month, and 80% of users follow a business on the app.

Walmart is already testing with various companies that focus on using autonomous vehicles to deliver goods to the shopper’s front door (see article, page 30), and now the mass merchant signed on another partner – Palo Alto, California-based Gatik – to test autonomous commercial trucks and vans for hauling product from warehouse to warehouse.

Gatik refers to its business model as autonomous vehicles for “short-haul logistics.” The trucks, still with a human rider, follow a fixed route from fulfillment center to fulfillment center or a pre-set destination. Where as autonomous robots or drones may be seen as completing the last mile of delivery, Gatik’s model is to manage the “middle mile” warehouse delivery.

Tapping into the release of Columbia Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” Papa John’s rolled out specially designed pizza boxes that included a Snapcode to be scanned while using the Snapchat app on either Apple or Android phones. The result was an augmented reality experience of a “webified” Papa John’s logo connected to 3-D animated recreations of locations from the film: Palace of Westminster, Tower Bridge and Rialto Bridge. In addition, app users could then play an augmented reality game by turning the camera on themselves, and virtually try to catch slices of pizza with their hands and mouth that are slung by a virtual web.

Kraft Heinz’s popular lemonade brand, Country Time, ran a social campaign last year called “Legal-Ade” that sought to pay fines on behalf of kids who got burned for running a lemonade stand in an illegal state. This year the fight continues with its #LegalizeLemonade effort, turning more of a focus on the actual states that still fine residents for operating an illegal stand. The updated program still reimburses fines. Parents upload images of a child’s fine with a story of why the lemonade stand was meaningful to the child, and they are reimbursed up to $300. Going further, Country Time is leveraging a resource center at CountryTimeLegalAde.com that highlights the current illegal states and information on how to start changing that law in those states. Last year, Texas and Colorado changed the law. In addition to the site, Country Time is running posts on its social pages to highlight the campaign and is leveraging programmatic out-of-home billboards to personalize messages in those states.

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P2P Toolkit

British supermarket chain Tesco is reportedly looking to develop a cashierless store, working with an Israeli company named Trigo Vision that would embed AIenabled cameras and sensors to track items picked up and placed in shopping bags to automatically trigger transactions via the shopper’s mobile phone – similar to the Amazon Go process. Tesco highlighted the Trigo Vision technology inside a Tesco Express store as part of a capital market day event, according to an article in Britain’s The Daily Telegraph.

Trigo Vision is also working with Shufersal, a grocer in Israel, to provide an autonomous shopping experience in 272 of the chain’s stores.

Using Apple Business Chat, retailers selling over the Shopify e-commerce platform now have the ability to chat with Apple-enabled shoppers through the Shopify Ping mobile app. Businesses on Shopify Ping can interact with shoppers to answer questions on products and inventory through the Apple chat messaging, as well as connect when they’re not shopping to further the conversation. The Shopify multi-channel commerce platform serves more than 800,000 independent merchants globally, most of which use it to design, build and manage an online storefront and handle mobile, web, social media and more through the platform.

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In support of their Spartan Race sponsorship, Johnson & Johnson has issued a unique, digitally enabled SKU-based reward card for its Bengay and Motrin products at Walmart. The program helps runners in Spartan’s grueling obstacle races save money on post-race pain relief. The program comes from TPG Rewards. The card was distributed inside gift bags handed out to Spartan racers, who then went online to activate the card and bring it to Walmart for $5 off the purchase of any two Bengay or Motrin products. Unlike a standard e-gift card, the TPG SKU-Based Reward Card limits the purchase to an exclusive retailer, in this case Walmart. After the card is activated, it is scanned at checkout and the reward is automatically deducted from the purchase. The 2019 program began in May and will run through December. After seeing the results from various races that already occurred, J&J is aiming to repeat the program for 2020.

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Shopping with Steve

The Value Channel Steve Says:

As I studied the value channel across a few prominent retailers, I couldn’t help but consider the impact this rapidly growing segment is having on major manufacturers and traditional retailers – and that’s not to mention the impact private label, emerging brands and e-commerce are having on them as well. In the past, value stores were simply located in downscale neighborhoods and very rural locations, and they had their niche. Now with stores appearing in mid- to upscale suburban communities, their impact is even more dramatic. Here, I’m sharing some findings at Aldi, Dollar General and Dollar Tree.

The $1 price point is achieved in partnership with Hershey (shown here), Procter & Gamble in paper goods, Crystal Geyser in bottled water and PepsiCo in carbonated soft drinks and snacks. “More $1 Power” – great value in many departments.

Steve Frenda, executive advisor for EnsembleIQ and the Path to Purchase Institute, has been a passionate retail watcher for more than four decades.

Having worked as a retailer, for a brand manufacturer and in the infotech world, he is an authority on the entire path to purchase and its changing face.

Contact Steve at sfrenda@ensembleiq.com

This photograph taken at Dollar Tree says it all. It’s a retailer that strives to sell everything in the store for $1. There is a lot of work that needs to be done with brands to make the vision come to life. In this case, it’s Hallmark.

Although Aldi stores have a relatively small footprint, check out not only the impressive wine section but also the efforts to cross merchandise fresh fruit and cheeses. Additionally, some of those prices will catch your attention. I noted that some of the varietals are quite popular with the Millennials and Gen Z population these days.

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Dollar Tree does promote a bit of treasure hunting in the front of its stores. In this case, it’s an attractive display of glassware and other gift items for $1. In the background, there’s a nice display of jewelry, hair accessories and scarves. All of this comes in a clean store that is pleasant to shop.

As you would expect in a general store, there’s a wide variety of categories available, from the chain’s heritage of soft goods to household, hardware, HBC, toys, greeting cards, groceries and more. All at incredibly low prices. Check out the “DG$1Deals” as shown here.

Consider the agreements with major manufacturers to enable prices of $1 on these items.

As I walked through Aldi – a clean, wellappointed and efficient store – I was struck by one thing: the corporate pride they take in their operation, whether it is Aldi’s accomplishment of being a recognized value leader (as seen here), its $13.50 per hour starting wage for store associates, or its spirit of giving back to the community in food donations and cash. Also, note in the partial sign in this picture that they are now touting “Same Day Delivery.”

Dollar General has been very innovative and shopper-oriented, exemplified by the fact that it was one of the first retailers without a loyalty card to introduce digital coupons. The shopper’s ID is his or her phone number. Consider the strength of this proposition in that Dollar General shoppers’ cell phone usage indexes at roughly two times the general population. The reason: their customers often have no home computers or Wi-Fi.

In a time when the number of retail stores is contracting, there is an amazing success story that has emerged. Dollar General, truly a general store, is now at 15,000 stores and growing. Imagine that 80 years ago in Kentucky, when the first store opened, it was largely a retailer of surplus and discontinued soft goods. Today, the chain is a major success in 44 states.

As I travel through the Midwest and Southeast in my RV on state highways, I’m struck there is a Dollar General store roughly every 10 miles – always with cars parked in front.

I’d like to reiterate that this is not your mother’s Aldi. Something that struck me on my store tours is what appears to be a greater number of upscale shoppers than I have ever observed before. In my circles, rather than an embarrassment (as shopping in these value stores was in the nottoo-distant past), things have shifted 180 degrees to being a badge of honor in cocktail conversations.

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Solution Provider News

Quotient Launches Data-Powered Audience Solution Quotient Technology, Mountain View, California, launched Quotient Audiences, a data-powered audience solution that provides CPG brands more effective ways to deliver digital advertising that converts to sales. Leveraging its footprint of more than 100 million CPG buyers, Quotient Audiences offers scale and depth of consumer purchase history and intent to construct targetable shopper segments for use in digital advertising across all platforms. Audience segments are built using item-level purchase data (offline and online) from about 400 million transactions per month within stores representing $150 billion of total sales per year, and from the Quotient proprietary digital promotions network where more than 75% of all CPG digital coupons are activated.

JDA Supports Walmart’s Scheduling System JDA Software, Scottsdale, Arizona, successfully worked with Walmart in the development and rollout of the retailer’s new advanced scheduling system, supported by JDA Workforce Management. The rollout of Walmart’s latest scheduling system has been deployed to more than 1.1 million of its associates across approximately 4,600 stores. JDA Workforce Management for

advanced scheduling and employee selfservice is playing a vital role for Walmart in its quest to improve scheduling accuracy and to account for true demand needs at each store.

With JDA Workforce Management, managers save time in manually editing and creating schedules and have real-time visibility into schedules on a daily and weekly basis.

Female-Owned Design Firm SnapDragon Launches SnapDragon, a global brand design firm, was created with Elle Morris’ acquisition of HMSDesign in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Morris, most recently the CEO of HMSDesign, with a career of more than 20 years in design and brand strategy, leads SnapDragon as president and CEO. Morris is supported by a primarily female leadership team, which is unique in the creative business. SnapDragon’s business model is focused on transparency in process, strategy, pricing and design leadership, supported by a team of highly specialized professionals and global partnerships in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and Mexico, in order to provide varied cultural perspectives.

SnapDragon has also added capabilities in digital design and retail design for clients that require a more holistic view of their brand.

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Walgreens Gets Employees Talking via Theatro Walgreens is implementing a voicecontrolled workforce solution from Dallasbased Theatro across its entire chain, with the first 1,000 locations to be deployed in 2019. Theatro’s offering allows Walgreens store team members to communicate with each other quickly and easily. Team members can use their voices to interact with Theatro’s artificial intelligencepowered Intelligent Assistant to get the information they need with a small voicecontrolled device that allows the associate to remain “heads-up and hands-free” when assisting customers.

Edge by Ascential Extends Digital Shelf with Jumpshot Data, insight and advisory solution provider Edge by Ascential is partnering with marketing analytics company Jumpshot. The partnership ensures that Edge by Ascential is uniquely positioned to combine its e-commerce data with Jumpshot’s traffic to individual product pages (based on a panel of tens of millions of devices creating five billion actions a day), to deliver a highly accurate, integrated digital shelf and market share solution.

Send your solution provider news – new products, projects, programs and technologies – to Charlie Menchaca at cmenchaca@ensembleiq.com.

Personnel Appointments BRAND MARKETERS WellPet, Tewksbury, Massachusetts WellPet hired former Ocean Spray vice president Clark Reinhard as its latest chief marketing officer. Reinhard is responsible for accelerating global growth across the WellPet family of brands with a focus on fueling new and emerging categories, like dental health and raw-infused nutrition. Reinhard will oversee all brand management, marketing, advertising, and public relations efforts across the Wellness, Whimzees, Old Mother Hubbard, Holistic Select, Eagle Pack and Sojos brands. He will operate out of the company’s headquarters in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Before Ocean Spray, Reinhard spent nearly two decades at Procter & Gamble working as a marketing director across a portfolio of CPG brands in the home and personal health categories.

RETAILERS Albertsons Cos., Boise, Idaho Company veteran Gineal Davidson was promoted to president of the company’s Portland division, which operates more

BRIAN COHEN

ALYSSA KARRASCH

than 140 stores in Oregon and Washington.

Davidson started with Albertsons 30 years ago as a courtesy clerk in Boulder, Colorado, and was quickly promoted to the service deli department. Since that time, she has held positions of increasing responsibility.

Davidson was named to her most recent role of intermountain division vice president, marketing and merchandising in October 2017.

SOLUTION PROVIDERS Geometry, New York Curt Munk, former FCB/RED executive vice president – group director, strategic planning, was named Geometry North American chief strategy officer. The company also named former Kantar executive Alice Fournier as senior vice president, digital commerce.

CURT MUNK

CLARK REINHARD

Hinge Global, Cincinnati Former Amazon executive Alyssa Karrasch was named vice president of business development and strategy. Karrasch oversees business development, global expansion and project management. She also is responsible for building on Hinge Global’s success, and helping to drive future growth and partnerships in the coming years. Karrasch reports to Dean Seifert, president and chief operating officer.

Match Marketing Group, Norwalk, Connecticut Brian Cohen, former Epsilon chief operating officer, agency, was named Match Marketing Group CEO. He succeeds Michael Dill.

Editorial Index Accenture..................................... 8 Advantage.................................98 AGI In-Store............................... 13 Ahold Delhaize................. 69, 86 Aldi...............................................94 Amazon.com.............................90 Bacardi USA...............................84 Beiersdorf Inc........................... 27 Belvedere Vodka.....................84 Bish Creative Display......83, 84 Blue Buffalo Co.........................88 Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide................................... 9 Brown-Forman Corp................ 9 Capre Group............................. 74 Caterpillar Farm.......................73 Circle K........................................86 Clique Brands...........................86 Coca Cola Co., The..................86 Columbia Pictures.................. 91 Constellation Brands.............83

Coty Inc....................................... 12 CVS/pharmacy.........................86 Crystal Geyser..........................94 Darko........................................... 15 Del Monte Foods................ 8, 28 Design Phase...............13, 14, 15 Dollar General..........................95 Dollar Tree..................................94 Duracell.......................................25 Edge by Ascential...................96 E. & J. Gallo Winery.................26 Eversight.....................................77 Family Dollar.............................86 Ferrara Candy Co.....................23 Fisher-Price................................ 15 Frank Mayer and Associates Inc........................... 13 Gatik............................................. 91 Geometry...................................98 Great Northern........................ 12 Heineken USA...........................83 i2i Labs........................................30

Innomark Communications.....................85 Instagram................................... 91 JDA Software............................96 Johnson & Johnson................ 92 Jumpshot...................................96 Kimberly-Clark.................. 87, 98 Kingsdown................................83 Kraft Heinz................................. 91 Kroger...................................85, 86 KSMarketing.............................. 74 Madden Communications...84 Mars Agency, The.................... 31 Mars.............................................. 16 Mechtronics Corp................... 14 Meijer........................................... 87 Menasha..................................... 12 Merchandising & Marketing Corp........................84 Meyers......................................... 15 Microsoft.................................... 15

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Moet Hennessy USA..............84 Mondelez International.29, 74 MTV Games............................... 14 Nestle.................................... 14, 24 Nestle Purina Petcare.....85, 88 News America Marketing....98 Nintendo of America............. 13 Papa John’s................................ 91 Partnering Group, The..........73 PepsiCo................................ 12, 94 Pernod Ricard...........................77 Positec......................................... 15 Pratt Industries........................ 13 Procter & Gamble.............88, 94 Quotient.....................................96 Rapid Displays..........................83 RB.................................................. 87 Rich Products Corp.................77 Royal Group, The.....................85 Ryan Scott..................................83 Sam’s Club.................................88 Schering-Plough..................... 14

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Scuf Gaming International..85 Shopify........................................ 92 Snapdragon..............................96 Spartan Race............................. 92 Syntegrate Consulting.......... 74 Target............................. 86, 87, 98 Tenth Street Hats.....................90 Tesco............................................ 92 Theatro........................................96 TPG Rewards............................. 92 Trigo Vision................................ 92 Twitch..........................................90 UpClear................................ 78, 81 Vertebrae...................................90 VizSense..................................... 10 Wakefern Food Corp.............. 13 Walgreens..............85, 87, 91, 96 Walmart................. 85, 88, 91, 96 Walt Disney Co., The.............. 13 WestRock............................. 14, 85 Williams Lea Tag......................85

Retailer Intelligence

Target Welcomes Huggies’ Special Delivery Diapers

Huggies Special Delivery diapers enjoy secondary merchandising space on an endcap (via Minneapolis-based Knock Inc.) outfitted with a black header communicating the diaper is new at Target. “Between the marketing elements on the endcap and the packaging, it’s just so dark and different that we’re excited to … stop [shoppers] in their tracks,” Conway said. Shelf tags in stores will also communicate that the diapers are new at

BY C Y N D I L O Z A

Packaged in boxes depicting black-andwhite photographs of parents and their babies against a bold black background, Kimberly-Clark’s new Huggies Special Delivery premium diapers stand out in a category full of pastels, whites and soft colors. In partnership with Target, a program incorporating the brand’s bold creative showcases the new diapers in stores, online and through unique Minneapolis-area experiential events.

Huggies boasts that its Special Delivery line is Huggies’ softest diaper ever; made with responsibly sourced, plant-based materials; free of parabens, fragrance and elemental chlorine; and dermatologically tested and clinically proven hypoallergenic for a baby’s delicate skin.

“Over the past few years, the diaper category has evolved quite a bit because of changing consumer needs, which is great – but until now, there has still been a segment of parents who haven’t been able to find a diaper that has the trifecta of softness, free-of’s, and trusted protection,” said K-C’s Brett Conway, senior brand manager, shopper marketing, Target team.

Huggies Special Delivery diapers began rolling out to select retailers nationally on June 26, and then hit Target on July 21, the week the mass merchant had its in-store baby department reset.

From the start, Huggies knew Target would be a critical retail partner for the launch of its most premium diaper because of the huge overlap in the brand’s consumer and shopper segments, Conway said. Target shoppers, he explained, have high demands of their products, look to the retailer for inspiration, love newness and tend to shop more premium SKUs in categories such as beauty.

“It’s those types of CPG categories that just do really well at Target,” said Conway, citing Welly Health PBC’s vibrant and colorful firstaid brand Welly as an example. “It is [shoppers] that are willing to pay more for things that kind of overdeliver on their expectations.”

Millennial moms are the majority target consumer, but the market is more than just moms, Conway said. Thus, dads and their babies are depicted in Special Delivery marketing materials and – for the first time in Huggies history – on diaper boxes.

When Huggies approached Target, the program was only half-baked – a different approach from past K-C collaborations.

“Oftentimes, my peers in the industry and I feel like we have to go in to a retailer like Target with a really buttoned-up strategy, product proposition, marketing plan to impress and to get them excited and make them feel like we’re on it, but what was different about this go-around was that we brought Target on earlier,” Conway said.

As a result, Huggies discussed diaper and packaging designs with Target and received feedback and ideas that could still be implemented, Conway said.

At more than 600 of Target’s 1,844 stores,

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the retailer.

Huggies additionally hosted two Target-branded experiential events in downtown Minneapolis – the mass merchant’s hometown – and nearby Edina, Minnesota, to support the launch.

The events included a truck that has been converted into a mobile portrait studio for a photographer to take black-and-white photographs of families, reflecting Special Delivery’s packaging. (Visit P2PI.org to see images.)

The idea for the event was developed after brainstorming with Geometry’s experiential team and came out of the insight that to new parents – especially Millennial parents – beautiful photography of their little ones is important, according to Matthew Hiltner, Geometry account director.

The overall marketing plan also includes a Huggies landing page on Target. com, banner ads and sponsored social media posts (via Target’s in-house media company Roundel), in-store sampling (via Advantage), and email marketing (executed by News America Marketing with creative from Geometry). IQ

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