Taking Stock

In our last episode of Taking Stock, we spent some time talking about understanding consumer motivations. In this episode, we dive into how consumer engagement is central to your revenue growth management strategy and how to connect the dots between RGM and consumer engagement – two functions that can often feel disconnected.    In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by Amy Levine and Ryan Mulligan as we discuss a holistic perspective around revenue growth management and how an effective consumer engagement strategy is connected to a successful RGM discipline. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by Amy Levine and Reed McKenzie as we chat through considerations for understanding your consumers and their motivations as well as implementing cross-functional efforts across the organization to further drive engagement and innovation.     Consumer engagement is critical for any consumer products company today. Understanding your consumers, their motivations, and their connection to your product is what drives success, and it needs to be a cross-functional effort. In our last episode of Taking Stock, we dove into the concept of consumer engagement – what it is, how it's evolved over the past years, and what to consider when building an effective consumer engagement strategy. Today, we're talking about understanding consumer motivations and the steps companies can take to ensure they're meeting their consumers' needs and expectations. 

Consumer engagement is a critical imperative for CPG companies today; it's how they'll compete and remain relevant moving forward. In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by colleagues Amy Levine and Idoia Hidalgo as we discuss the key components of building an intentional and seamless consumer engagement strategy.  There's been a major shift in consumer expectations over the past few years. Consumers are more digital, and they're communicating with brands across a number of channels and even through social platforms. But this isn't anything new – brands just aren't adapting or responding as well as they should be. There's a disconnect between what consumers want and how companies are meeting those needs, and the bridge between the two is consumer engagement.  Consumer engagement goes well beyond consumer satisfaction or content development. It's the effort of a brand or business to build meaningful relationships with its consumers through intentional interactions and establish deeper loyalty. It's about putting the consumer at the forefront of your overall strategy to understand their needs, adapt to evolving preferences, and drive competitive advantage. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by colleagues Megan O'Toole and Shatakshi Shekhar as we discuss the importance of investing in your employees and the ways in which organizations can adopt an agile learning mindset that embraces continuous professional development.  The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the greatest trend accelerators of our lifetime. For many companies, initiatives or plans that were on the backburner suddenly got accelerated, forcing organizations to think and act differently in order to respond, adapt, and survive. In the next few episodes of Taking Stock, we'll explore some of the recent consumer products trends that have gained importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  In this episode, we focus on the importance of investing in your employees. The Great Resignation. Attrition. Turnover. We continue to see these trends dominate the industry, as people continue to evaluate their own professional careers and seek out organizations that can meet their needs – both now and in the future.  

In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by colleagues Idoia Hidalgo and Hudson Rowland as they discuss their perspective on what “digital” means and some of the tactical steps that organizations can take to be successful as they consider their digital journey.   The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the greatest trend accelerators of our lifetime. For many companies, initiatives or plans that were on the backburner suddenly got accelerated, forcing organizations to think and act differently in order to respond, adapt, and survive. In the next few episodes of Taking Stock, we'll explore some of the recent consumer products trends that have gained importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  This time, we dive into the trend of adopting a digital mindset. Digital is ubiquitous in our day-to-day lifestyle, both at home and at work. It seems almost every task or process has some sort of digital component to it – perhaps more so following the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced all of us to turn to virtual ways of living, learning, and working. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by  Sebastian Valencia, partner at Clarkston Consulting, as we discuss how change management enables supply chain transformation. Deployment of any advanced supply chain planning tool isn't just about the points and the clicks, it's about the people. For companies to be successful in their supply chain planning and business transformation, proper OCM investment will pay off. For almost every business across every industry, the supply chain has been at the center of the conversation for the past two and a half years. A variety of drivers – from geopolitical instability to labor shortages to inflation pressures – have caused an unprecedented level of global supply chain disruption and uncertainty. In turn, businesses have started to adopt new technologies and capabilities to meet the needs of this current landscape and adapt to this volatility and disruption. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by colleagues Kate Poknis and Scott Shaw – who have a wealth of supply and demand planning experience and knowledge – to discuss supply chain resilience, agility, supplier diversification, talent constraints, and more.  When it comes to supply chain visibility, predicting the future is hard – the world is constantly changing, consumer demand remains fickle, and there's a plethora of new brands and competitors entering the market. How can companies plan ahead? Or can they? When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, demand for some products skyrocketed. Historical demand planning tools and previous strategies didn't apply anymore. Companies that thought they had it right when it came to supply and demand planning quickly discovered that they needed to deploy new strategies to establish and maintain a resilient, agile, and profitable supply chain. If not, their business would certainly be at risk. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by PK Sundar, consultant and DEI analyst, as we chat about why they started the Pride Network at Clarkston, the challenges they faced along the way, and lessons learned for establishing an ERG in a corporate setting. When it comes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE+I), there's always room for progress and growth. There are lessons to be learned, mindsets to be challenged, and goals to work toward. For many organizations, establishing an Employee Resource Group (ERG) is an internal initiative that can contribute to DE+I progress and growth while also creating a safe space for employees to be their true, authentic selves. 

In this podcast series, Clarkston Consulting Partner Steve Rosenstock sits down with experts and thought leaders from both within Clarkston and throughout its consumer products, life sciences, and retail client-base, covering a range of topics from industry trends and consumer dynamics to organizational governance and business strategy. Steve provides you access into the passions of its guests and allows you to benefit from their stories, knowledge, and deep expertise.   In late 2021, Clarkston Consulting conducted a CIO Market Study, aiming to better understand the current priorities and challenges of upper or C-Suite level IT professionals (CIO/CISO/CTO/VP) at large companies ($350M+ revenue) in the retail, CPG, manufacturing, or life science industries. The results from the survey provided valuable insight into the current status and perceptions of IT departments; department expectations, priorities, and plans for the upcoming year; and important attributes in outsourcing and managed services, among other key findings.   

Throughout the course of your career, you're going to experience a time where you're uncomfortable.   Maybe your beliefs are challenged, you're put in an unfamiliar situation, or you're encountering obstacles you've never quite had before and aren't sure how to navigate. Maybe you're having a difficult conversation with a colleague or making a giant career move. Whatever it is, there's a chance you're having to step out of your comfort zone, and that's not always easy. That discomfort, however, can often lead to incredible transformation and growth.   Oftentimes in both our personal and professional lives, we're faced with challenges and opportunities that force us to make a change. It's an understatement to say that change can be quite overwhelming, but it's a dynamic path that we as humans are constantly navigating, and our ability to react to change – to adapt and thrive in a new environment or situation – is extremely important.  

Prioritizing organizational change management (OCM) and involving your people in the process is table stakes. For any successful implementation, there's a significant reliance on end-user adoption, as they're the ones who will be directly impacted by the change at the end of the day. How do you get individuals aligned and on board? How are you communicating with them? Are people willing to adapt? If not, why? What are their concerns? Are you listening to them?  In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by Eileen George, a principal consultant with Clarkston and a leader in organizational change management, as we discuss driving transformation through OCM.

It's nearly impossible to scan a news site or paper and not see a story focusing on some aspect of the global supply chain crisis. From ships stuck in ports to understaffed warehouses and empty grocery store shelves, the disruptions to our supply chains as a result of the COVID pandemic are hard to miss. Consumers have certainly been feeling the effects of widespread disruption and business leaders themselves are no different – a statistic from Bank of America counted a 412% increase in mentions of supply chain issues by chief executives over the previous year. Supply chain disruption has seemingly become such a constant that The Federal Reserve Bank of New York introduced a new measure for global supply chain disruptions in January 2022 – the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index. In this episode of Taking Stock, I'm thrilled to be joined by three Clarkston consultants – Aley Saleh, Scott Shaw, and Evan Shirley. They each bring a unique perspective on the situation having assisted clients with some of these very challenges over the past two years.

Macro trends in consumer goods have wildly accelerated and evolved over the last two years in the face of the ongoing COVID pandemic. From behavioral changes in consumers to unprecedented supply chain disruptions, a near-overwhelming number of factors has driven meaningful shifts in how consumer products organizations conduct their business. In today's episode of Taking Stock, I'm joined by Global Vice President of Business Development & Strategy for Consumer Industries at SAP, Mark Osborn. Mark shares his insights on how the industry has evolved in recent years and the impact of COVID on macro trends in consumer goods.  Mark's insights bring to light the context of the industry, how it's evolved, and how brands can evolve to meet rapidly changing consumer expectations and market dynamics. Click below to listen to the full discussion with Mark and subscribe to our insights to receive more information like this each week.

On September 15th, Tom Finegan, Clarkston CEO and co-founder, published his first book Amplifiers: How Great Leaders Magnify the Power of Teams, Increase the Impact of Organizations, and Turn Up the Volume on Positive Change. His book quickly moved up the bestseller charts and I was excited to connect with Tom on Taking Stock to ask him some questions that were on my mind about the book and his writing process. I wanted to know why he was driven to write Amplifiers and why he felt this was an important message for us right now. I was also interested in Tom's perspective on how to apply the learnings from Amplifiers outside of the organization – in driving societal change and in life.  Contact ampifiers@clarktonconsulting.com if you are interested in connecting with Tom Finegan for a talk or workshop activity on leadership and followership styles, traits, or motives. For additional information about Amplifiers, visit info.clarkstonconsulting.com/amplifiers.

In January 2020, the World Economic Forum released statements calling for a “global reskilling revolution”, estimating that 42% of core skills required to perform existing jobs are expected to change by 2022. Since then, the COVID pandemic has rapidly accelerated digitalization across nearly every industry and only placed an even stronger focus on the need for new skills and capabilities in our modern workforce, making learning, training, and development all the more critical for any business. Jessica Mitsch is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Momentum. Jessica and I walk through her background, Momentum's founding, changes in the workforce, and the impact of COVID on diversity, equity, and inclusion, career development, workforce planning, training, and more.

Application Managed Services (AMS) is an evolving practice. Typically known to be commoditized and reactive, the next generation managed services model is moving to a more proactive approach that includes identifying issues and gaps before they even arise. The next generation managed services approach includes expanding services beyond maintenance and operations spanning to development management, information technology (IT) improvements, and broader lifecycle activities. This shifted focus to value and emphasis on the broader business outcome has left companies and AMS providers seeking more of a partnership rather than a transactional relationship.

Supply chain executives have been under pressure this year. Meeting the rising demands of their customers, increasing speed to market, expanding eCommerce fulfillment abilities, and reducing overall risk are some of the key initiatives they’ve had to focus on across industries. In addition to the rising demand from consumers, warehouse management talent is growing increasingly more difficult to find and maintain this growing demand. Because of this recent accelerated drive for advancement, omnichannel is changing the overall natural of warehouse operations and strategy.

Implementation project methodologies are often split into two groups, Waterfall vs Agile. Agile is known to adapt well to changing environments, and work best with individuals who exhibit a strong sense of teamwork and flexibility. Whereas, Waterall is a traditional workflow with a more structured environment where processes and procedures are well-entrenched. With companies still working in a primarily virtual capacity, the influence of working with one approach over the other has certainly shifted. But, what does a hybrid approach look like and what are the benefits? A blended approach to implementations is oftentimes a stronger approach than pure Agile on its own.

Managing a diverse workforce is top of mind for many organizations right now. Today’s workplace has become increasingly diverse, with different ages, races, backgrounds and skill-sets working side-by-side.  Further, Covid-19 has accelerated the trend of remote work and organizations are currently contemplating what is the right mix of remote vs. onsite mix going forward.  While this mix of employees provides unique opportunities for organizations to bring different perspectives to bear, it also brings about unique challenges that leaders need to consider.

What does Quality in Consumer Products mean? Today, we’ll be talking through quality assurance on the podcast. For CP companies, determining the right level of regulatory compliance forces tough decisions in balancing the tightrope of efficiency vs. efficacy. While there is no singular answer for companies, a diverse strategy that accounts for different products, and varying requirements across those products, is critical to success.

According to Peter Drucker, “Developing talent is business’s most important task – the sine qua non of competitive advantage in a knowledge economy.”  As organization consider this task, it is important to understand how so many of the traditional norms and expectations relating to talent acquisition, collaboration and inclusiveness have been altered in recent years, even before the pandemic. In acquiring talent, companies need to ensure that they are taking into account future employees who are seeking purpose-driven companies whose values are aligned with their own. To drive collaboration, the right  tools, technologies, and resources need to be made available to employees and partners to foster virtual collaboration in an increasingly virtual environment. To ensure inclusivity, organizations need to allow for diverse thought and perspectives into their decision making processes - not just because it is the right thing to do…but because it will also drive business value

2020 was a year of immense change and disruption, with the pandemic impacting the business transformation plans of consumer-products firms in terms of priorities and modernization schedules. This has brought conversation around supply and demand planning to the forefront. The spikes in consumer demand brought about by the pandemic have forced many of you streamline your production and manufacturing efforts – with a shift in focus to SKUs and product lines that were easiest to manufacture and simply get out the door quickly. 2020 was also a year where, in many ways, forecasts were thrown out the window and companies being forced to react in real time to fast-changing consumer demand, meet retail customer needs, and ensure products are being properly allocated.  Looking ahead, organizations are rethinking their strategies that will allow them to more effectively manage supply chain risk, accurately forecast supply and demand planning, and become more agile in the future.

Optimizing promotions to more effectively partner with customers and drive category growth is a priority for CPG organizations right now.  With companies having invested heavily to ensure the right tools and data are in place, they need to be more strategic in considering the following: With the continued to growth in eCommerce and Direct to Consumer, how to ensure promotions are being allocated across channels With market volatility only increasing in the future, how to shift from away from an historical based promotional strategy that simply emphasizes year-over-year planning and top-line growth With consumers spending less time in stores and more online, how to stand out in an increasingly crowded digital shelf

I have had the pleasure of working within the consumer products industry for over 25 years and one of the things I learned early on in my career is that executives don’t implement massive ERP systems, such as SAP, simply because they want to. These projects require massive investments in time, resources and dollars and, if not properly planned and executed, could have a negative impact on the business. There are many planning steps required ahead of time to recognized the SAP benefits eventually after implementation. Executives decide to embark upon these transformational initiatives because, at the core, there is business benefit they are trying to unlock. At the highest levels, organizations are looking to drive a standard way of working throughout the business through the harmonization around a single system, or achieve a greater level of transparency through streamlined financial analysis and reporting. However, if you look specifically at the consumer products, retail, or life sciences industries, there is more tangible business value that companies are looking to unlock. And these goals are even more paramount in light of the challenges this past year and the acceleration of many of the trends we had been anticipating. All of this said, I am excited to welcome Sham Karim and Anand Nataraj to Taking Stock. Sham and Anand lead our SAP practice at Clarkston and will share their perspectives as to how companies are looking at SAP to improve their ability to serve their customer more effectively with SAP benefits, speed up their go-to-market capabilities and provide a more seamless experience for their end users.   https://clarkstonconsulting.com/insights/sap-benefits-taking-stock/  

Personalization isn’t exactly new. Brands have been exploring various degrees of personalized marketing and customization across every facet of a consumer’s experience for some time.  What has changed, however, is the depth and breadth to which today’s consumer expects personalization. Now, brands are expected to deliver an entirely personalized experience tailored to the individual, from targeted product recommendations to dynamic content to real-time, personalized communications. The hyper-personalization and personalized marketing that is expected of modern CPG organizations is ultimately achieved through robust data and analytics capabilities supported by an obsessive, empathic understanding of the target consumer. Companies need to be thinking about how they can more effectively understand the consumer and leverage these new capabilities to provide an integrated customer experience.  In doing so, authenticity, transparency and relevancy need to stay top of mind to ensure that messaging speaks directly to the consumer’s needs. All of this said, I am excited to welcome Idoia Hidalgo and Musa Jose to this week’s edition of Taking Stock around personalized marketing. Both are leads in Clarkston’s Sales and Marketing practice and, together, we will discuss the topics outlined above, with a focus on why it is so important for companies to not only understand their consumers, but tap into what they truly value.

Looking back on 2020, the consumer products industry saw a huge uptick in online purchases.  While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly was a huge accelerator in this shift, as an industry we have been heading in this direction for some time now.  As we consider this growth, it is fair to wonder;  Have created a new normal in the industry? Are we going to see these levels and consumer behaviors maintain? Or are we will see a complete shift back towards brick-and-mortar purchases once the world starts opening up again? At Clarkston we are constantly talking with our clients about building up their direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies and ensuring they have the right plans in place to move the needle. You can’t think about DTC without thinking about how that fits within your company’s overall integrated sales strategy, thinking about its impact on brick-and-mortar, eCommerce, and more. Thinking about these channels of distribution holistically and ensuring you have a seamless strategy, not thinking about them competitively but instead how they complement one another, is a challenge that CPG companies need to embrace. I am excited to welcome Evan Shirley and Ken Accardi on this week’s edition of Taking Stock. Evan and Ken lead our Sales and Marketing practice at Clarkston and will share their perspectives as to how companies should be formulating and evaluating their strategies around diversifying sales, especially with the rising consumer trends thanks to the pandemic.  Through our discussion, we will hit upon why leaders need to be thinking about their sales strategy in an integrated way, be taking into account the impacts across company pricing and promotional strategy, and how learnings can be leveraged from one channel to apply towards another area to enable better partnership with their more traditional retail customers.

From senior executives to first year entrants in the job market, there is an intense focus on your 'personal brand' and what it says about you. This week I welcome Michelle Tartalio to the podcast to discuss the importance of building your brand, where to focus, how to identify what's unique about your brand, and key steps to building that message in a digital world.  https://clarkstonconsulting.com/insights/personal-brand-building/  

What does the future potentially look like for the retail industry post-pandemic? - This week, I am excited to welcome Sean Burke to Taking Stock. Sean is an Associate Partner at Clarkston and one of the leaders of our retail practice. Having worked with retail brands over the past 10 years, Sean has helped his clients navigate these changes and prepare for whatever the future might hold. In our discussion, you will hear us hit upon the growth of e-commerce and how Covid-19 has accelerated many of the trends we have been talking about for years. 

While it's critical for companies to report on sustainability, it is even more important for companies to embed sustainability efforts throughout the organization. I welcome back Sam Ruiz to Taking Stock and she discusses why now is the right time for companies to update their CSR reports due to the fact that consumers' purchasing decisions are being driven towards brands that they find to be environmentally and socially responsible. 

In this episode, I sit down with Irene Birbeck, a Partner at Clarkston Consulting. Irene shares her perspectives on a wide range of topics related to gender inequity and the barriers that unfortunately still remain in the work place. 

In this week's Taking Stock, I am pleased to welcome Paul Garrison. Paul is the President of Clarkston Consulting, where he helps guide and execute the firm’s strategy, overseeing the core consulting business unit, and is charged with leading over 300 stewards of the firm; from first-year consultants to thirty-year industry veterans. Paul's perspectives on leadership are vast, allowing us to touch upon a variety of topics that are applicable to leaders across all organizations.  

In this episode I am please to welcome back our first ever guest on Taking Stock, Brandon Miller. Brandon, who leads Clarkston's Diversity Council, sits down with me to discuss some of the fundamental issues that our society is facing and how we all need to impact change; as leaders in our organizations and as leaders in our communities.  

In this episode I sit down with Anna Ivashko from Clarkston Consulting to explore the topic of Organizational Effectiveness, and discuss why its a foundational competency for all organizations.  

For Life Sciences organizations, there has never been a debate around quality and regulatory compliance.  However, for Consumer Products companies, it is often a greater challenge to gain alignment around the strategic imperative of quality. In this episode, we discuss what is 'good enough' for CP companies and strategies they should deploy to ensure quality is maintained without sacrificing competitive advantage.

Steve sits down with Clarkston's Nicole Borse to discuss Trade Promotion Management (TPM). Today, companies spend anywhere from 15 to 25 percent of gross sales on trade, however, many CPG companies continue to struggle with effective management of their trade spend. Nicole shares her perspectives on how companies can better manage these allocated funds and steps to take to improve their TPM processes and systems. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, Steve sits down with Supply Chain experts Bruce Twery and Sebastian Valencia, both Partners at Clarkston Consulting to discuss specific ways in which supply chain leaders can manage the challenges of today and perhaps more importantly, set their organization up to be able to manage the future challenges that lie ahead.

Are we headed for recession 2.0? Many CPG companies are asking this question during this global pandemic. As business leaders, we are all attempting to manage through today's challenges, knowing that there is no script for us to follow, and no guidelines to adhere to. In this episode, Steve sits down with Aaron Chio from Clarkston Consulting, and shares his perspectives on the lessons we can learn from the 2008 recession, and apply them towards the current challenges of today. 

When a small group of consultants came together to start Clarkston Consulting almost 30 years years ago, they had a vision of creating a different kind of consulting company. In this episode, Steve sits down with two of Clarkson's Founders, Tom Finegan and Neil Nelson to discuss how they sought to create a professional services company that focused on the success of their clients while, just as importantly, encouraged the personal growth of their stewards.

Having the consumer at the center of everything you do has become a strategic imperative for many successful brands and organizations. In this episode, we sit down with Idoia Hidalgo from Clarkston Consulting to discuss what consumer engagement really means, and how it intersects with things such as data, digital marketing, consumer advocacy, and consumer personas. 

In this episode, Steve sits down with Clarkston's David Patterson, who leads Clarkston's Quality and Regulatory Community. David summarizes several of the chronological events and factors that led to the Boeing 737 groundings, and shares his unique perspectives on what Boeing's mistakes can teach us about our tolerance and management of risk.

In this episode, Steve sits down with Clarkston's Sebastian Valencia to learn what it is that separates transformational leaders and their ability to set a visionary strategy for their respective organizations, and how these leaders get their organization to believe in the mission, align around a common purpose and vision, and ensure the right level of actionable goals and measures are disseminated throughout organizational functions.

Having a consumer first strategy is a perquisite for success for today's consumer products companies. In this episode of Taking Stock, Steve is joined by Sam Ruiz, a consultant and expert in the areas of Digital Marketing and Sustainability, and discusses the importance of consumer products companies keeping the consumer at the center of everything they do.

Clarkston Consulting Partner Steve Rosenstock is joined by Clarkston's Evan Shirley, an expert and thought leader in the area of Direct to Consumer (DTC). In part one of our Direct to Consumer series, Evan shares his perspectives on the strategic imperative for companies to adopt a more robust DTC strategy, and the opportunities a DTC strategy can potentially unlock for consumer products companies.

Clarkston Consulting Partner Steve Rosenstock is joined by Jessica Morris, expert in the area and topic of employee engagement, to discuss her perspectives on the strategic imperative of an engaged workforce and steps companies can take to drive greater engagement. We discuss the changing dynamics in today's society that impact engagement, the gig economy, remote workforces, and the power behind people analytics. 

Clarkston Consulting Partner Steve Rosenstock is joined by Brandon Miller, who heads Clarkston's Diversity Council, to discuss Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. Topics will include the historical evolution of D&I throughout corporate America, why some organizational leaders are missing the mark when it comes to D&I, and the business benefits for companies that adopt a more diverse and inclusive mindset throughout their organizations.