POI Pulse December 18, 2017

This year marked an impressive milestone
for POI – our 9th anniversary. It is truly incredible to look back at the progress we have made as an Association and as an industry over the past years. This year, POI has grown to encompass a global network of more than 5,800 industry professionals, with our membership today taking on, and achieving more today than in the prior years.

These changes, due in part to
technological advancements, increased regulation, and changing consumers have affected distribution channels, trading partner relationships, and, in many instances, helped spur competition.

While we are proud of recent progress, we have not lost focus on the future. In fact, we have just graduated more
of our next generation leaders this past week at the POI Certification in Collaborative Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University, and we are more
eager about 2018 and beyond, than ever before.

As you are well aware, our industry continues to face strong headwinds – market pressures, constant cost
cutting, and an uncertain political landscape in the U.S. and Europe.

 Acknowledging this reality, the POI is working to build an even more engaged and impactful organization
that can continue to effectively advocate, educate and communicate necessary trends, and needed advancement for Sales, Marketing, and Merchandising Executives.

2017 Accomplishments included The POI TPx
and Retail Execution Survey and Report, used by POI Members to benchmark their efforts, and identify areas for improvement. The POI Spring 2017 Summit in Chicago was sold out, with more Manufacturers taking on new projects than ever before. The POI European Summit in
May, in Amsterdam was a tremendous success with our growing community
in the face of extreme adversity. The POI Webinar Series reached over
3600 unique professionals across the globe.  The 2nd Annual POI Retail Execution Summit was a success, with engaged professionals
lauding the focus, takeaways, and new ways to collaborate across teams and trading partners. This included a deep dive on On Shelf Availability and the Substantial ROI for improved capabilities.  

2017 was also the year of POI Poster Sessions!  These micro projects, and integration with leading universities provided additional thought leadership, innovation, and engagement with peers. These efforts are especially important now
as trading partners work to implement and harmonize new global systems, adjust to an evolving retail landscape, and set the stage to address
challenges from Online Retailers that could directly and fundamentally impact our industry. 2017 is also the year of the POI TPx and Retail Execution Vendor Panoramas’, where Consumer Goods companies now rely on these
documents when considering technological advancements with their TPM, TPO, and Retail Execution capabilities.  

The POI’s recent efforts on each of these topics, and more (including reports, and presentations, may be found,
and are described in detail on the POI Website here.  The upcoming Holidays’ present a great opportunity to catch up, and read through the wealth of POI Resources to prepare for a
successful 2017!  Reach us with your thoughts, and needs.

As our year, and 9th anniversary comes to a close, I want to thank each of you for your support and
dedication to making POI the leading voice of the global CPG and Retail industry focused on the distribution and promotion of Consumer Goods (TPM, TPO, Retail Execution, and Collaborative Marketing). 

With your continued guidance, I am confident we can work together to build an even stronger, more connected POI Community that will advance the interests of our industry now and for years to come. 

We sincerely invite you to share your thoughts, and needs with us by dropping us a note at mkantor@p-o-i.org, or dhagemeyer@p-o-i.org

Sincerely,

Michael, Dale, and the entire POI Team