POI Pulse: October 26, 2015

Chocolate Candy Market Poised for Dynamic Growth
Source: (Food Business News Oct. 23, 2015)

With 81% of Americans consuming chocolate, sales have continued to rise in spite of economic volatility. Supporting the market’s momentum is a growing body of research positioning cocoa as a nutritious superfood. Additionally, many consumers perceive chocolate candy as an “accessible luxury,” encouraging a trade-up to premium products, Packaged Facts said. Learn more

View the Final POI Fall agenda, Which includes Coca-Cola, Mars, Kimberly-Clark, PepsiCo, 7-Eleven, Tyson, Grainger, Del Monte, Bic, and more. Make your plans now, as Early Bird Rates end Tuesday 9-15-15
Join 300+ of Your Peers at POI Summit in Dallas!
Your opportunity to learn, network, and advance at the POI Fall Summit is November 4-6 in Dallas, TX. is slipping away, as we approach capacity. Register now to attend, as the POI April 2015 Summit was sold out!

More than 300 CPG Manufacturers and Retailers will join us —
Teams taking advantage of early registration include:
Jennie-O Turkey Store, Energizer, Kao Brands, Boulder Brands, Sunny Delight, Hy-Vee, E&J Gallo, NBTY, Burleson’s-Honey, Prestige Brands, BIC Consumer Products, Ventura Foods, Farmer John, First Quality Products, Pilgrims, Reynolds, Diageo, MillerCoors, Ruiz Foods, Edgewell, Grainger, Borden Dairy, Idahoan, Wrigley, Jack Links, Post Foods, Deli Express, Ruiz Foods, Hershey’s, Lidl, Pernod Ricard, AB Inbev, Tree Top, Storck USA, Bellisio Foods, Bimbo, Kind, Whole Foods, Ahold USA, JBSS, AAFES, DairyPure, Mondelez, Mars, PepsiCo, McCormick, Starbucks, Pinnacle Foods,Coca-Cola, Food Lion, Nestle, Kimberly Clark, Red Gold, DPSG, Johnson & Johnson, Perfetti Van Melle, Kraft Foods, Pictsweet, Hormel, Clorox, Tyson, Kellogg’s, Dannon, 7-Eleven, JM Smucker, Church & Dwight, Busch Bros.,Topco, Keurig Green Mountain, Hillshire Brands, Giant Eagle, Jarden, Musco Family Olive, ConAgra, Windsor Foods, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, Del Monte, Rich Products, Mckee Foods, SC Johnson, Novartis, and many others. By now you should have received your invitation. If not, reach me today at mkantor@p-o-i.org

Walmart Plays Catch-Up With Amazon
Source: (NY Times October 22, 2015)

The shift in retail to the Internet is a huge change, and it’s not just affecting Walmart,” said Simeon Gutman, a retailing analyst for Morgan Stanley. “Every retail company is trying to manage the transition. It’s not well defined or understood and there’s no road map. Learn more

Heineken Lights Up Holidays with Promotion
Source: (Grocery HQ October 21, 2015)

The promotion includes strategic digital partnerships, a sweepstakes. Heineken has also partnered with Pernod Ricard USA and Dr. Pepper Snapple group to create a total shopper solution opportunity bringing together upscale beer, leading spirits, sparkling wine and mixers. Additionally, cross-merchandising IRC (instant redeemable coupon) and MIR (mail in rebate) offers (where legal) will be available on holiday food and drink essentials including soft drinks and spirits. Learn more

More CCM Candidates w/ POI SJU
Source: (Next Orientation is December 16-17, 2015)
CCM graduates and candidates included sales, marketing and merchandising executives from Starbucks, Ahold USA, Walgreens, Norseland, Inc., Pinnacle Foods, 7-Eleven, ESM Ferolie, Hormel, Delhaize America, Keurig Green Mountain, Wakefern, Campbell Soup, Mondelez, Continental Mills, and others. Learn more

POI Global Summit is Set for Brussels, Belgium
Source: (POI 10-11, May 2016)
Building on the success of the inaugural POI Global Summit in Geneva, CH on 12-13, May 2015 leading global companies are advancing their understanding, and associated benefits of Joint Business Planning and the components of successful promotion collaboration.
At the POI Global Summit at the Sheraton, Brussels, these leaders come together around the critical sales, marketing, merchandising, and retail execution capabilities to create and optimize promotional plans, assortments, and pricing that drives brand/category/ store sales and profits. Save the date!

Taking Social to a Business Level
Source: (Baseline Mag Oct. 22, 15)

In just over a decade, social business has evolved from a futuristic concept into a daily activity. But getting software, systems and people in sync can be daunting. Social tools and features are advancing rapidly, and they are increasingly at the center of mainstream business initiatives, including marketing, sales, operations and customer support. Learn more

Kroger Launches Changes Based on Customer Feedback
Source: (Cincinnati Enquirer October 22, 2015)

We’re constantly remodeling stores. We’ve expanded health and wellness products. We’ve increased offering ready-to-eat-foods. Customers love that we’re going digital, not having to park, and take the kids. Convenience is driving everything we do. Learn more

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Supercharge Your Annual Planning to Drive Profitable Growth (Source: POI Fall Summit, Dallas)
Hear from Sunny Delight Beverages, Del Monte, and Schwan’s on how taking an proactive approach to annual planning from scenario planning to collaborating with your retailers can help you maximize your trade budget-and minimize quarter-end surprises. Learn how the impact of better promotional planning helps strengthen the relationship with retailers, manufacturers, and brokers to drive profitable growth. Learn more at the POI Fall Summit Learn more at the POI Fall Summit

The Upcoming POI Summit in Dallas, TX on November 4-6 is sold out!
Attendees are coming to solve unique challenges (given market disruptions), improve processes, and learn from leaders the strategies, and actions to supercharge profitable growth. Attendees will get a first view of POI’s latest research on TPx and Retail Execution from Dale Hagemeyer. Then find answers and solutions at the POI Summit to achieve their goals.

“Early results of the recent Promotion Optimization Institute Research conclude that nearly two-thirds of manufacturers believe that the entire process of creating a promotional plan from budgeting to planning to execution to settlement to post event analytics takes a burdensome amount of time”.

Additionally, if you’re among the 62% experiencing challenges justifying or building a business case for investment to deepen your trade promotion (TPx) capabilities (according to POI research)

If you have any questions, or have not received the survey, please reach Dale at dhagemeyer@p-o-i.org or Michael at mkantor@p-o-i.org. Those who complete the survey will have an opportunity to review the results of the report, and implications with Dale Hagemeyer.

Your Peers are leading sessions at POI Dallas to help all attendees understand, and improve your capabilities, and personnel to drive growth. Including:

“Executing Predictive Analytics in the Field to Drive Profitable & Mutual Growth with Our Customers”
Managing a successful, cross-functional customer relationship is already a demanding endeavor for most manufacturers; industry headwinds such as dwindling budgets, compressing margins and diffused shopper attention mean that a strategy based on facts-not estimation-is more important than ever. Executing win-win growth based on a fact-based strategy requires that Big Data is converted into dynamic, nimble & mutual insight that’s accessible at the point of decision-making: where the salesforce meets the customer.
We will share a proven strategy for executing predictive analytics at the customer level and driving collaboration across the manufacturer organization. The session will include a clear assessment of the problem, the approach to solving that problem, and actual results-including examples from major retail customers.
Presented by: Brandon Stine, Trade Marketing Manager, Mars, Inc.
David Dickerson, Sr. National Account Manager, Mars, Inc.

Forecasting the Future and Understanding the Past with Colgate Business Planning
To improve the management of their volume and trade spend, Colgate-Palmolive implemented Colgate Business Planning. Customer Business Planning is a set of processes and tools which combines a top down and bottom up planning approach. Explore the business drivers behind Colgate’s investment in its process and tools plus learn how Colgate will look to improve their existing process and solution through the implementation of Trade Promotion Optimization (TPO). Learn lessons on challenges that were faced, and overcame as they looked to implement these processes and tools. This will include hearing about key drivers and challenges on implementing TPO, understanding Colgate’s business considerations when leveraging predictive analytic capabilities, and how they plan to measure ROI going forward.
Presented by: Tommy Thomas, Manager, Global Development, Demand Chain, Global Information Technology, Colgate-Palmolive

We look forward to seeing you in Dallas!

View the preliminary agenda for the upcoming POI Global Summit in Brussels, BE 10-11, May, 2016 here

Have an outstanding week!

Michael Kantor
CEO & Founder
Promotion Optimization Institute, LLC
mkantor@p-o-i.org

www.POInstitute.com

POI Pulse is read by over 3,500 Retail Merchandising and CPG Marketing Executives.

To advertise, reach us at: mkantor@p-o-i.org or call 914-319-7309