President John F. Kennedy once said: "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." E. Jeffrey Hutchinson, the North American CIO for
Danone/Dannon, cited that famous quote when I asked him about the new challenges that consumer goods manufacturers face in today's troubled economy. As you'll see in this month's cover story on Page 12, Hutchinson isn't afraid of change -- rather he embraces it, which is a sentiment shared by the additional "visionary" consumer goods executives honored in this issue (Page 15). Ranging from CIOs from Fortune500 firms to executives from innovative mid-market companies, we hope that the business and technology triumphs led by these extraordinary men and women give you hope that change is possible even in a downed economy. The findings from our annual Sales & Marketing Report, conducted in partnership with
AMR Research, will also remind you that business is not as usual, but AMR analysts offer proactive measures that consumer goods firms can take to improve TPM, category management, downstream data and additional customer-facing initiatives.
