Top 5 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 headlines on Consumergoods.com this year. Unlike last year, when many of the top headlines midway through the year were focused on Trade Promotion Management (TPM), this year we are seeing a much broader spread of topics and trends – still including a case study focused on the ever popular TPM topic – but also covering acquisitions, downstream data, and more. Without further ado, click on the headlines below to review CGT's most popular stories for the first half of 2012:

 

There is one thing that remains the same year after year in the consumer goods industry, and it’s the fact that things are always going to change. In the second annual edition of the Review & Outlook Report, CGT tapped its most valuable resources — almost 80 respected industry experts — to recommend realistic actions for managing the big changes ahead of us. Top themes include “Big Data”, social media, mobility, cost containment and more.

 

With strong brand names, like 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 rather than the more common "spend and learn" approach of larger competitors.

 

In addition, the companies entered into a long-term innovation partnership to collaborate on liquid coffee technology for the foodservice market.

 

Known as the Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert can predict the future — and then help businesses and consumers understand it. In a recent blog article, he called 2011 “one of the most exciting — and game-changing — years in the food world”. Using last year as a backdrop, Lempert provided his top 10 predictions for the food industry in 2012.

 

Focusing on store-level data enables CG companies to win in modern retail. Here, a member of Procter & Gamble’s Retailer Connect Program candidly reveals how the company is using POS data to identify out-of-stock/zero sales incidents and then act in store to fix those opportunities and drive sales.