J. Schall Consulting’s Post

What's your process of predicting "the next big thing"? A prospective client recently asked us about how we approach trend forecasting...and our answer likely surprised them a bit! While examining historical/current retail sales data is important, we most often use it for validation purposes... Instead, we typically start by watching shifts in consumer behaviors that transcend the category because they drive demand. After this perspective is established, we can look for possible connections with consumer-driven areas that are emerging within the category. #strategy #trends #markets #fmcg #cpg #food #beverages #sportsnutrition #supplements #innovation #productdevelopment #marketing #branding #merchandising #retailing #retail #business #businessintelligence #entrepreneurship #consultants

The entry fee to compete in today's CPG industry is a "great product," but that "great product" alone will not determine level of success. This is why the smartest CPG brands are focused less on product-based differentiation, as they know that competing on that alone will only provide a transient advantage... With today’s fast-follower low barriers-to-entry CPG business landscape, your best product features are too easy to copy and an insufficient defensible moat. What's the solution? A bold strategic narrative enables CPG brands to create a unique story that will guide their entire internal and external business activity. When done correctly, this is what carves through the marketplace noise and leaves a valuable long-term impact on purchasing behavior... #strategy #trends #markets #fmcg #cpg #food #beverages #sportsnutrition #supplements #innovation #productdevelopment #marketing #branding #merchandising #retailing #retail #business #businessintelligence #entrepreneurship #consultants

CPG industry innovation presents a paradox... Consumers continue to demand new CPG products. And to meet that continual consumer demand for newness, CPG companies have gotten innovation drunk, and it has caused a proliferation of products/brands. Yet only around one-tenth of new CPG products launched annually survive their first few years in-market... So, while new product development is highlighted as a universally important growth driver for CPG companies…remember it can also be a resource-intensive process that results in a questionable return on investment. Interested in more around how to manage innovation risk, we explored this in a longer form content piece 👉 https://bit.ly/3ZzwOW2 #strategy #trends #markets #food #beverages #fmcg #cpg #supplements #sportsnutrition #innovation #productdevelopment #branding #marketing #merchandising #retailing #retail #business #businessintelligence #entrepreneurship #consultants

📣 📣 📣 CPG brands: Is your product a good fit for small format retail distribution? Look at all these possible distribution points your product could be. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀???? Comment with "𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗲𝘀" and I will DM you a top 100 list of c-stores with some useful info.

Do consumers know CPG companies? This is a trend we’ve seen on the rise for the past 5 years, that I don’t think would have occurred if not for the digital shelf. However, I often wonder if the consumer looks at these as weird or doesn’t care? A couple thoughts… - Big Costco guy of course and still desperately waiting for Scan & Go. - P&G is the largest of the CPGs by market cap, but there’s a lot of undercover brands over the years that they have bought that don’t get rolled under these “line drives” - this is obviously a great basket building promotion (drives AOV up) but given the limited competition in some of their categories, this pits the shopper in a weird divide in my mind because so much of big CPG has been, up until this point, about the BRANDS. - building off that, if I’m a Cascade guy, that doesn’t translate to the same company that produces my laundry detergent or paper towels? Thoughts? Does this drive any LTV or HH penetration?

When you're an early-stage CPG brand founder...each individual customer means the world to you. But then as you scale (and your customer base grows), CPG brands (oftentimes unintentionally) wrongfully distance themselves from those original core customers...making them feel like just a number. And that’s becoming a bigger issue in today’s CPG marketplace where customers expect brands to add value to their lives beyond simply providing a great “made to stock” product. So, CPG brands must focus on building a company culture that rewards the creation and adoption of unscalable customer-centric strategies. The goal would be to prioritize customer intimacy even as the CPG brand goes through the typical growth/adoption construct... #strategy #trends #markets #fmcg #cpg #cx #customerexperience #food #beverages #sportsnutrition #supplements #innovation #productdevelopment #branding #marketing #merchandising #retailing #retail #business #grocery #businessintelligence #entrepreneurship #consultants

UNLOCK 15% ANNUAL GROWTH IN YOUR FMCG BUSINESS Transform your FMCG business from survival to significance with proven strategies for scalable growth, increased revenue, and market dominance. Like | Share | Comment! #FMCGBusinessGrowth #AnnualGrowth #BusinessSuccess #SalesBoost #BrandVisibility #OperationalEfficiency #MarketTrends #GrowthStrategies #BusinessTransformation #FMCGIndustry #ConsumerGoods #Retail

Private brands in the U.S. are currently worth $250 billion, and AlixPartners projects an additional $100 billion growth for food retailers in the next 5-10 years. Consumers are increasingly choosing private brands for their quality and value, not just their affordability. This trend offers grocers a significant opportunity to differentiate and build customer loyalty. Manufacturers can support this transition by providing insights, R&D, and innovative product development to address structural challenges in the U.S. market. The bottom line? Innovation and quality are key. Grocers who invest in these areas for their private brands are poised for significant growth. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gz4B4K3m

Applied to CPG, this is 💯 accurate quote from Peter Thiel “Superior distribution by itself can create a monopoly, even with no product differentiation. The converse is not true.” #beverageindustry #beverages

Private brands in the U.S. are currently worth $250 billion, and AlixPartners projects an additional $100 billion growth for food retailers in the next 5-10 years. Consumers are increasingly choosing private brands for their quality and value, not just their affordability. This trend offers grocers a significant opportunity to differentiate and build customer loyalty. Manufacturers can support this transition by providing insights, R&D, and innovative product development to address structural challenges in the U.S. market. The bottom line? Innovation and quality are key. Grocers who invest in these areas for their private brands are poised for significant growth. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eH9VtPEP