Industry Insights

There will come a day very soon when the words "crowdsourcing" and "open innovation" will become quaint, archaic reminders of ideation history. Here's why...

CG companies are in need of an overhaul. Historically, it was logical to structure a multinational's operations on the basis of geography, but this way of working is no longer fit for purpose due to factors such as globalization and different levels of digital maturity. At the same time, companies now require much more sophisticated approaches to engage and excite their customers.

Rapid developments in technology along with economic and marketplace changes continue to put pressure on salesforces to adopt new approaches. Are you ready for the next generation of customer planning?

An in-depth look at the changing role of category captainship in consumer goods

Mobile commerce will grow exponentially during the 2013 holiday season with consumers buying at home and in store via their phone. In fact, mobility will drive e-commerce sales gains of between 13 percent and 15 percent. Today's sales and marketing strategies, therefore, need to acknowledge the mobile device not as a "channel" but rather as gateway to multiple channels.

Today's digital channels have and will continue to fundamentally transform the consumer experience, creating a new class of more informed and more demanding shoppers. As a result, we are also now seeing a blurring of the traditional lines between trading partners, where the "war for the consumer" may actually be yielding to a truer form of collaboration than we've ever seen.

While people may debate "nature versus nurture", the right environment can help stimulate creative thought and collaboration that leads to breakthrough innovations.

The very basis of competitive advantage in the consumer goods industry is shifting. The next wave of breakout winners are building and leveraging capabilities rooted in analytics and actionable insights.