Bricks and Clicks

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In the season 2 finale of "Bricks & Clicks," hosts Johnny and Colin are joined by Lucas Walker, the show's producer, to discuss the latest trends in the food industry. From plant-based offerings to fake cheeses and dairy ice creams, they explore the impact on the supply chain and the increasing use of mushrooms as a key ingredient.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.On this episode of the Bricks & Clicks Podcast, we sit down with Kellie Lee, creator and CEO of Rowdy, a nutrition company specializing in prebiotic and probiotic products. In this insightful conversation, Kellie shares valuable insights into sales and marketing strategies, including offering sample pouches and blending demonstrations to increase product sales.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In this episode of Bricks and Clicks, we talk with Ryan McKenzie, Co-Founder and CMO of Tru Earth, about how he and his business partner came up with the idea of creating ultra-concentrated laundry detergent strips in recyclable packaging, the success of their Facebook and Google Ads campaigns, and how they targeted customers at Expo West to expand their customer base. Tune in to learn more about their environmentally friendly products and digital marketing strategies.Connect with Ryan on Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryemckenzie/

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In this episode of Bricks and Clicks, we sit down with Gina El Kattan, co-founder of Nuba Tisane, to discuss their journey from stumbling into the business to partnering with local NGOs and supporting women in the labor-intensive process of hibiscus harvesting, as well as the challenges of building out distribution and expanding into the US market. We also talk about the lessons learned from their appearance on Dragon's Den and what's been going on since then.Connect with Gina on Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-el-kattan-b18074a4/

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In this episode of Bricks and Clicks, Vasa Martinez, CEO of Perfy, shares with us the story of his low-sugar brain soda company that's designed to help fight issues like depression and pre-diabetes. From launching successfully after one year, building customer loyalty, and cutting costs at Expos, to creating a meme account and studying energy drinks, Vasa offers insights into the challenges and successes of starting a beverage company in a highly competitive market.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.On this episode of "Bricks & Clicks," we're joined by Alexa Richardson and Lucas Walker of Triple Whale, where we dive into the world of e-commerce and podcasting, discussing the future of ChatGP and AI, how to leverage data for marketing success, and the role of generative AI in ad creative optimization.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In this episode of "Bricks & Clicks," we speak with Mike Fata, founder and former CEO of Manitoba Harvest, about the importance of density and local distribution for startups in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry.Mike shares his advice on how to determine the velocity threshold for success in a specific product category and the importance of understanding that threshold in order to grow and scale the business. He emphasizes the importance of making relationships with store owners and category managers in order to get a better understanding of the velocity expectations in the category and to strive to be 25% better than that expectation. Mike also discusses the importance of trade marketing and planning for CPG companies and provides tips for younger entrepreneurs starting in the industry.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In this episode of "Bricks & Clicks", we welcome Min Chen, the founder and CEO of Wisy, an AI startup solving problems in the CPG industry. Min shares his 20 years of experience in both tech and business, discussing how Wisy uses computer vision to improve the industry and the benefits AI can bring to companies in the field. Join us as we dive into the exciting world of AI and e-commerce.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.Omnium's third partner Adam joins Johnny and Colin to discuss competing in the Microsoft Excel World Championship, plus their recent Excel training they've opened up.

If you heard the most recent what's in my pantry episode, the group talked about launching a panckae mix brand. Andrew Maida Launched Flourish a few years ago, and talks expanding into the US.Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In the final episode of the year, Johnny and Lucas are joined by Lucas the producer to play What's in My Pantry.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.In this penultimate episode of Bricks and Clicks, Johnny and Colin break down Revenue Growth Management.What is Revenue Growth Management?How was it traditionally managed?What does it encompass?Your hosts also break down by department how to be involved in Revenue Growth Management.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.The proud parent of a thriving gluten-free sourdough starter, Sadie launched her business on an impulse, and learned how to run it between the baking and the bike-delivery runs. She now leads a team of more than 20 employees. You can find Bread SRSLY loaves in grocery store fridges throughout California, and shipped to gluten-free eaters nationwide.In this episode, Johnny and Sadie discussFounding story and background of how Bread SRSLY came to beBuilding the team, and finding the best team members for your businessFuture plans for growth, expansion, and world domination

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.Lisa Curtis is the Founder & CEO of Kuli Kuli Foods, the leading brand pioneering the sustainable superfood moringa. Moringa is a protein-rich leafy green, more nutritious than kale, with anti-inflammatory benefits rivaling turmeric. Kuli Kuli's superfood powders and snacks are sustainably sourced from African women and other small farmers around the world. Lisa began working on Kuli Kuli while serving in the Peace Corps and has grown it into a multi-million dollar social enterprise with products in over 11,000 stores. Prior to Kuli Kuli, Lisa served as the Communications Director at Mosaic and wrote political briefings for President Barack Obama!

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.Lisa Curtis is the Founder & CEO of Kuli Kuli Foods, the leading brand pioneering the sustainable superfood moringa. Moringa is a protein-rich leafy green, more nutritious than kale, with anti-inflammatory benefits rivaling turmeric. Kuli Kuli's superfood powders and snacks are sustainably sourced from African women and other small farmers around the world. Lisa began working on Kuli Kuli while serving in the Peace Corps and has grown it into a multi-million dollar social enterprise with products in over 11,000 stores. Prior to Kuli Kuli, Lisa served as the Communications Director at Mosaic and wrote political briefings for President Barack Obama! Experience as an intern for ObamaFounding and starting Kuli KuliChallenges of playing in multiple categories (powders, snacks (gummies / bark), drinks (tea / shots)Stay tuned for part 2 as we had some technical difficulties with this episode.

Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.Mary Tarczynski is Principal and Client Solutions Lead of Parabolic. She has has 25+ years of experience leading cross-functional teams to build equity and drive sales for CPG brands including Coca-Cola, Kraft, Clorox and Campbell's. She left corporate marketing to spend four years in emerging ad tech; then in 2016 co-founded Parabolic, a shopper marketing agency offering “ideas with trajectory” – integrated strategies, concepts and activations to help established and emerging natural brands “sell in” and “sell through” at retail. Current clients include Traditional Medicinals Tea, Good Foods, Second Nature Snacks, the Plant Based Foods Association, and Weleda Skin Care. In this episode, they discuss.Shopper Marketing and how it has evolved over the years.Measuring return on ad-spend when allocating dollars and overall success.Best practices, including where to find data for shopper marketing.

The unsexy parts of the process may be the most important. Reviewing the trade spend you've spent on events with retailers may not always be the most exciting.In this episode, Johnny and Colin are breaking down deductions from retailers, distributors, and making sure you're not leaving trade spend unaccounted for, without spending your resources on tracking everything down.Trade event planningDeduction clearingTrade event Management Monthly Accruing Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Olvia Chen and Pauline Ang are best friends and moms who started Twrl Milk Tea during the pandemic needed to fulfil the need for going out to the boba shop.In this episode Olivia joins us to discussShare her brand story, and the importance of bringing products representative of Asian American heritage to more fridges and pantry's.Build an innovative and sustainable brand.Looking at the differences between coffee and tea consumption in the USA vs the world.Choosing to go plant based as a milk product that isn't loaded with sugar.Food service as a distribution strategy at companies like LinkedIn.Connect with the co-founders Olivia and Pauline directly on LinkedIn and stay up-to-date with Twrl Milk Tea on Linkedin and Instagram.Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at Omnium. Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Johnny and Colin are back! This episode was recorded live at Naturally Bay Area with Heather Cooper, Senior Vice President of Retail Sales at Oatly. How Heather got into CPG industry Processes of good sales teams Key learnings over time for young sales reps Questions from the audience Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

We're taking a few weeks off for a pat leave, so we're going the episode we've been putting off. It's all about Oreos! From regional differences to their pricing and promotion strategy. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

It's that time of the year -- when buyers are looking to run promotions on everything from ice cream to sunscreen. It's a great time to run promotions like 2 for 6 to get a lift in sales, and more products in pantries. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Johnny, Colin, and Lucas share their experience raising capital, and why it's left a bad taste in their mouths. We're looking for an expert to come on and help prove us wrong. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Josh Mohr posted this would you rather to Twitter. Johnny and Colin breakdown which one is better. Velocity is units per store per week. $1M in Sales 2.3 units per store per week $650K in Sales 3.7 units per store per week Link to the https://twitter.com/jmmohr/status/1545064484829507584 (original post). Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Johnny and Colin break down their approach to hiring, recruiting, and managing and we discuss why there aren't more graduates looking to work in consumer packaged goods. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Johnny and Colin chat with https://www.linkedin.com/in/chase-novelich-232aaa63/ (Chase Novelich), Director of Ecommerce at https://bachans.com/ (Bachans), a Japanese Hot Sauce that has quickly become a pantry favorite. In this episode, they talk about. Becoming the #1 BBQ Sauce on Amazon. History of the brand Becoming #1 on Amazon Triple digit growth on all channels  From High Growth Ecommerce to Brick and Mortar Excellence Exceeding expectations in Target, WholeFoods, Costco etc. Topic 3 Managing Ecommerce and Brick and Mortar Expectations. Challenges of DTC vs. Brick & Mortar keeping everyone happy. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Drew Marconi, founder of https://intelligems.io/ (Intelligems), swings by to talk about pricing and how it impacts your bottom line. Your customers may be Most valuable growth levers to pull to drive sales without giving up too much profit. "Smart" pricing like the impact of free shipping, especially on smaller items. Ending things in 9 gives a significantly higher conversion rate (Regularly 10%). Discounts that increase the order value, buy more, save more. Guessing the price of Drew's favourite snacks

Johnny and Colin fly by themselves in this episode talking about sales velocity. In this episode they discuss: The importance of measuring units per store per week. When to use retailer dollars per store per week. Differences when calculating velocity at grocery stores, and other stores that sell groceries like Wal-Mart. Economical ways to impact velocity Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Josh Mohr cut his teeth at Red Bull Energy Drink during its early days in North America. After an 8-year stint in the energy drink category, he hopped over to help Muscle Milk become the #1 protein brand with millennials, ultimately ushering the brand through acquisition.  From there he moved onto a true startup as VP of Marketing for Revive Kombucha, bringing a rebrand to life which won "Best New Packaging of 2018 by BevNET" and following it up in year two by launching a game-changing shelf-stable innovation line called Revive Sparkling Kombucha (in cans) which won "Best New Product of 2019" by BevNET.  For the past two years, Josh has worked at TCHO Chocolate in Berekeley, California where he's led a rebrand and what has become a complete transformation with TCHO's commitment to be 100% dairy free by 2023. TCHO's new oat milk chocolate, Toffee Time, recently won the NEXTY Award for Best New Sweet Snack or Dessert at Expo West in 2022. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

What else is in our pantry? Johnny, Colin, and Lucas reach shoulder deep into their pantries to pull out 3 more stacks for discussion around pricing and promotion. Check out thebrandpantry.com Oreos as a sweet, accidentally vegan treat that are always on sale. https://wildplanetfoods.com/products/canned-pink-salmon (Wild Planet Canned Pink Salmon). https://shop.balzacs.com/ (Balzac's coffee). Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

As the Omnium team builds out https://mybrandpantry.com/ (My Brand Pantry), Johnny, Colin, and Lucas all picked a product from their pantry and guess the price on DTC websites, Amazon, and grocery retailers. The products from our pantry are: https://bachans.com/ (Bachans) https://newmansown.com/product/sea-salt-microwave-popcorn/ (Newman's own popcorn) https://www.kewpieshop.com/products/kewpie-mayonnaise-asian (Kewpie Mayo) We talk about food changes, and shrinkflation happening in Canada.

Johnny and Colin are planning out their year of promotions. Hear how they plan for their CPG clients. In this episode they talk about planning how to roll out the MAPs across all teams. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

How do you use your data, and what learnings can you develop from it? Johnny and Colin break down what to look for when developing your MAPS. Merchandising and promotions. What needs to change this year? Assortment - have your priorities changed based on sales? Are there items to move up, or items at risk? Pricing - Is the pricing still accurate? Shelving - How much inventory on the shelves, can you get? Where in the store can you be? Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Recorded live in the Gorgias office, Colin Davidson shares what brands who started as DTC need to know before going into grocery. DTC brands are marketing companies. They're marketing their store as much as their products. When moving to brick and mortar, you need to think of your team as a sales organization instead. This means knocking on doors and building relationships. It can take 3-4 years to sell into a retailer. Most retailers reset their shelves once a year. You need to be invited to sell in once a year. The expectation of 10-15% of your budget being spent to promote with the retailer. This comes out of your gross margin, and is in conjunction with additional promotion on your end (email, website updates, etc). This is the easiest to measure promotion, and covers the cost of things like changing out tags. Factoring additional costs associated with retail packaging requirements can increase costs as well Don't be afraid to copy what works from successful brands. Grocery is a 100+ year old industry. Often times, if there was an easier way to do something, a brand like Nestle or Pepsi probably would have done it by now. 8 weeks of velocity will tell you how well your product will sell. The goal is $10 of retail sales per SKU per week. Retailers know more than brands Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

In this episode, Lucas asks Johnny and Colin about Expo west. What they saw, what was missing, and what their biggest takeaways were. Lucas also talks about differences and nuances in the UK and Ireland. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

One of the most common myths in CPG is that you can make it up in volume. Sometimes it's doable but unless you're a big company you're not going to make up for eroding margins. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

We screwed up how we would spend the $75,000,000 raised by Liquid Death by not investing in data. Investing in Nielson, IRI and other data sources are a great investment when growing your business. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Johnny and Colin are back, and don't expect this episode to be popular, but watch out when changing your packaging. It's rare to see a lift in sales when there is new packaging being released. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Johnny and Colin share how they use pay for performance marketing to evaluate the best trade rates and promotional opportunities in grocery store promotions. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

In this episode of Bricks and Clicks, Stix joinsJohnny and Colin of https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium) to talk about Liquid Death's Cans in Hands strategy. What it means to be a VP of Cult Indoctrination The brand's first Super Bowl Commercial How else Liquid Death plans to spend the $75M they recently raised General supply chain conversation. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

In this episode of Bricks and Clicks, Johnny and Colin of https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium) break down Rising Tide prices coming from P&G and the impact on the grocery industry What Campbell's is doing with their brothtails. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

The first recorded episode of the year DSD or direct store delivery vs other types of delivery Impact of Omicron variant on supply chains and logistics How we would spend $75M if we were a CPG brand. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

Colin and Johnny of Omnium breakdown why it's so hard to sell online. Bricks and Clicks is hosted by Johnny Valeriote and Colin Davidson, two of the three managing partners at https://www.omniumcpg.com/ (Omnium). Produced by Rolled Up, submit your comments and questions to us on Twitter.

60-75% of account planning is spent on distribution planning because it's going through SKU by SKU to see what products are selling well in each location. In this episode, Johnny and Colin talk about how they approach account planning with their clients.

What happens during account planning? In short it's a collaborative process when everyone, from the team at Omnium, heads of sales, account management, and customer marketing go over weeks and years of data to drive and execute the strategy for each account (retail store). When one store can have 2500 locations, the strategy of a single SKU can make a big impact, it's about a $1.3M sales opportunity. Turn Strategy into actionPrior to an account planning session, it's easy to talk about what would be nice to do in terms of promotions and prices, but it's not until the account planning actually happens that action can actually be taken. Otherwise you're just guessing and gambling big dollars away. Hone in on each account to see what you can, and should run. Timing is everythingTypically account planning will look at a year of promotions in advance, this could be your fiscal year, the calendar year or even the customer's fiscal year. It's critical to line up your promotions with high seasonality points. If the most shoppers are in the category during Thanksgiving, run your promotions then. More seasonal than you thinkMany products have opposite seasonality, and will come in strong, but finish the year weak. For instance, health products and foods to get healthier typically they do well at the start of the year because people want to undo the unhealthy habits at the start of the year. You want to avoid running promotions when nobody is buying in your category. Hedge Your RisksSpending $100,000 on an event can be expensive, work with your retailers to come up with variable rate or blended rates. This mitigates your risk if you run a promotion but environmental factors make it harder to sell. The best tool you haveHistorical data is the best friend you have. Looking backwards at how products and promotions have run, will be the best tool for predicting the future.

Transactional spending is something we all spend on, buying events, ads, shopper marketing, any type of marketing in store -- the goal of these is to drive sales in store, but also to build relationships with your retail partners. Johnny and Colin break down the nuances in this episode of Bricks and Clicks. What are events?Events are time based promotions like flyers or endcaps.  Not all partnership spend is created equal, the best investment you can make is into distribution and slotting. If you aren't aware of slotting fees, it's a fee to get a slot in the warehouse, and then the stores will pull that from the warehouse. Instead of being intimidated by slotting fees, you can work to build a partnership with your retail partners. What happens if it doesn't work out?Spending $500,000 on slotting fees may seem expensive, but it mitigates risk. If the grocery store brings on a new item and it doesn't sell, they've already made $500,000. As a supplier, brand or manufacturer, you're confident you're bringing in the products that will be profitable based on your other sales. When to spend heavySpending heavy can be intimidating so it's important to know when to do it. In addition to launching new products, if a product is slipping in sales or struggling, and at risk of being discontinued, it can be worth over investing. When a buyer looks at this, they see you spending a bit more than a competitor. It's not a solution to low velocity, but it may be enough to buy yourself some time in the category reset when a human sees you spending and not your competition. Especially if you have the inventory to move already. Understanding what your buyers want, and what impacts their P&L will get things done. Trade spend is a big line item 

When you walk the grocery store, you always see the same products. Why is that? It might be easy to ignore when launching a new product, but most products that are launched, don't make it. Your favourite brands probably started out with one product, and even if you do succeed, it's very hard to replicate that. Analytics before launchesAs much as we want to launch the next best item in a category, which is why it's important to use the analytics and numbers to lower expectations and set budgets accordingly. Other things to consider before launching a product are the previous attempts to launch in the category. Even if you do everything right, you may only have a 5% chance of success. Plan for 0% marginThis comes from the CEO of Wild Planet, Terry Hunt, if you are putting revenue into the plan, plan for 0% margin. Your sales team still has a number to hit, but if it is a flop, that's what you planned for. Any profit, no matter how small is exceeding your plan. DTC launches are also risk free environments, especially in small batches. There's always a leap of faithNo matter what you do, you can't predict the future. Even when you do everything right you can still flop, you need actual sales data to predict what will happen. Velocity in the first 13 weeks is what will determine what your sales look like. Promotions and Bursts of SalesPromotions have a quick burst of sales, but it's short lived. Over time, more promotions will lead to more sales because customers are used to seeing your promotions but that takes time.

Were does your data come from?Retail data comes over looking at 104 weeks, or two years worth of data to be able to make multimillion dollar decisions for CPG brands. All of the purchases at point of sale goes through a syndication of data providers like Neilson and IRI who collect and sell the data to manufactures. This is layered on with other contextual information like products being sold, and promotions going on in the store at the time. They clean and structure the data so it's ready to use. What makes data messy?Brands who start DTC or in ecommerce are used to having great first party data sets. When using data from different sources, it doesn't always mesh well, skewing the results you're looking to achieve or uncover. For example, your on-site data, discount wholesaler, Amazon, premium grocery etc. The goal of these data sets is to uncover what's driving sales, if a website promotion is going on, did it impact offline sales as well? How does 3rd party data help?1st party and owned data is great, but it can lack context. Having access to all the data, for example, offline sales, can tell you when you are increasing sales but compared to the market as well. It can unlock insights like increasing prices at one store, but decreasing prices at another bring the greatest lift in sales.  The data will surprise you!Rarely will there be findings on a national scale. There may be some generic trends, but it will differ from store to store. For example, Publix, a Florida grocery store is great at running BOGOs. The same promotion at Publix won't work as a nationwide go to market strategy. Chocolate always sells.New flavors are tricky, chocolate and vanilla always sell, and people love new unique flavors. When you walk through a grocery store, you're hit with survivorship bias. Those products and flavors made it, but what happened to the ones that didn't.

What is Trade Marketing? Trade marketing and advanced analytics is like playing Moneyball (what Jonah Hill did in Moneyball). It's using data to make better decisions. It's a bit different than looking at things like Packaging, it's a study of the purchase environment, where people make purchases. What do those different marketing and trade activities do to impact the trade environment itself? Is this going to drive sales where we need it to drive sales?  DTC and Brick and Mortar marketing is similar, especially on the analysis side, it's the lens of increase sales, and knowing where you accel. Online or offline. The data and analysis helps companies make better decisions like which promotion to run, for example a 10 for 10 or a 4 for 5. Real world example.Clif bar might be running a promotion for a 10 for 10, when you can get 10 bars for $10. This type of promotion is bought by the manufacturer from the grocery store. Did you know?Buying promotions can be a few different things. Buying the promotional inventory from the retailer, and the amount that's discounted. There are other layers to add on as well, such as buying the ad and getting it printed in the flyer.  Endcaps, displays, and signage in the store all cost money, it's not the stores choosing to discount old inventory. Your brand may have to pay the retailer before the store even before you've sold any inventory. It's expensive but can be very lucrative. That's what Trade Marketing is, making sure your retail investments are profitable. Magic or Math?It's not magic, it's math to predict the future sales, using the vast sets of data available in the CPG industry.

Welcome to Bricks and Clicks, hosted by Johnny and Colin of Omnium. Every day they bring strategy and insights to their CPG clients developed by mathematicians with PhDs. Now they're sharing insights, strategy, and weekly events with you! Make sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcasts.