Blog Archives

The market is aflood with questions and ideas on whether and how to create an enterprise mobility strategy. Many leading organizations are well on their way, but most are just starting to explore the tangled web of mobile devices, solutions, and promises of untapped business value. If you are just starting on this journey, or have met stalled efforts to build organizational buy-in, ... Read More»

It’s been eight months since tainted cantaloupes hit the market, causing multiple deaths and dozens of sicknesses.  Since then there has been more talk but not a lot of action towards taking simple steps to address the underlying issues.  The industry desperately needs leadership – for its own good.  For obvious reasons, the consumers stopped buying cantaloupes and retailers ... Read More»

I was recently reflecting upon an industry conference I attended back in 2002, where I moderated a panel discussion on Trade Promotion Management effectiveness.  The panel consisted of three Consumer Products executives, across Sales, IT and Finance. The conversation centered around how the percentage of their revenues allocated towards TPM was escalating, and they were ... Read More»

During a recent earnings call for a leading Consumer Products company, a financial analyst asked the CEO how his company has successfully competed against private label - particularly at a time when consumers are gravitating more and more towards lower-priced alternatives. Now, considering this company has realized significant organic growth over the past two years, in the midst of the ... Read More»

At the Home Depot, you can buy all kinds of beer accessories, but no beer.  You can find anything from a $2.99 Mr. Bar-B-Q Vertical Beer Can Chicken Roaster to an Outdoor ½ Keg Beer Dispenser for $1,709.00. And, believe me, my husband would like nothing more than a kegorator of some sort in the house.   Unfortunately, and to his eternal dismay, installing a bar in our home is not ... Read More»

I am constantly being asked by our clients what will be the impact of the Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) on their approach for delivering solutions to meet their internal business and their customers’ needs. Last month in San Francisco over 3,000 people gathered to share insights on this area as well. As we see Cloud companies get acquired by the likes of SAP and Oracle for ... Read More»

There has been a lot of talk around our hallways recently around the “Moment of Truth”, the moment when shoppers finalize their purchase decision.  This got me thinking about my own purchase decisions and what influences me.  Am I a lost cause for Consumer Products (CP) companies?  Given my shopper profile, how can CP companies influence my Moment of Truth? Well, for me, that ... Read More»