Make that "Cow to Wow"

In last month's Edit Note, the headline was "Cow to Cone," referring to one of the more imaginative sayings born from the reinvention of language in this industry. (Speaking of which, our very own Executive Editor Kara Romanow coined the term "demand signal repository" in her days at AMR Research.)

I received a few e-mails and even more in-person comments at our 10th annual Fall Conference last month regarding the expressions born in this market and am now happily charged to come up with one for other product lines and verticals -- albeit unsuccessfully thus far. It was brought to my attention that one ice cream company in particular takes cow to cone a step further and describes its supply chain as "cow to wow." Fantastic! It made me consider that "wow" is going to be even more critical for businesses in 2009, which leads me to our current issue.

Our annual Consumer Goods Registry lists 100 public consumer goods companies by revenue and then breaks out that list into vertical market rankings. A special call out is given to those that achieved the most significant growth. This unexpected year was game-changing for many companies beyond Wall Street. Even those whose primary business consists of staple products that consumers will always buy faced tremendous increases in commodities prices. They are, however, still a few steps ahead of those organizations producing goods that are considered "wants" rather than "needs."

Going into next year, consumer goods manufacturers of all kinds will have to strive toward wow even more. Leaner business, better innovation and the ability to quickly adapt are most critical. Luckily, we live in a place where there is always opportunity -- no matter what the circumstances. Solution providers who can enable improvements and help consumer goods manufacturers leverage such opportunities stand to gain as well. Which companies will step up? How will the list change in 2009? Stay tuned and bring your wow.