Top 5 Sales & Marketing Stories at 2012's Midpoint
As we enter the second half of 2012, the editors of CGT like to take stock of the stories that were of the most interest to our readers. Here is a look back at the top 5 sales and marketing headlines on Consumergoods.com this year. Although most companies have a hard time defining what Trade Promotion Optimization means to them, it is still comes in as the hottest topic on our list. Without further ado, click on the headlines below to review the rest of CGT's most popular sales and marketing stories for the first half of 2012:
The consumer goods industry has long tolerated the fact that a painful percentage of promotions fail to deliver on their intended goals, largely because there was no other option. But skyrocketing costs and a challenging economy mean spending money that doesn’t deliver a return has become simply untenable. Trade Spending Trends: Large Investments Warrant TPM Initiatives, a recent study by Consumer Goods Technology, found that 67 percent of consumer goods companies report that they need to improve promotion effectiveness.
2. Diamond Foods Completes Mission Critical TPM Journey
With strong brand names, including Pop Secret, Emerald and Kettle Brand, Diamond Foods often plays above its weight. When it came time to invest in its trade promotion strategy, Diamond Foods opted to take a calculated route marked rather than the more common "spend and learn" approach of larger competitors.
3. J. M. Smucker Completes Acquisition of Sara Lee Coffee Business
In addition, the companies entered into a long-term innovation partnership to collaborate on liquid coffee technology for the foodservice market.
4. Optimizing the Shopper Marketing/Trade Promotion Intersection
As shopper marketing initiatives continue to gain momentum CPG organizations are seeing increasing interaction between the teams responsible for trade funding/programs and those responsible for shopper marketing solutions. The intersection of the two disciplines is creating both operational and financial challenges while organizations seek to define the best path forward.
5. P&G to Cut 1,600 Jobs, Banks on Digital Marketing for ROI
According to an article on AdAge.com, The Procter & Gamble Company plans to eliminate about 1,600 "overhead" or non-manufacturing jobs, including some in marketing. Facing flat market shares and growing pressure to cut costs, the company is banking on digital marketing to help contain media spending long-term, executives said on the company's earnings conference call in January 27, 2012.