when consumer expectations With digital trends changing as rapidly as ever, operating a consumer-centric strategy is one of the most pressing challenges for global brands.
Michael Boswell, VP of Customer Experience, Breakthru Beverage Group; Ariel Dalton, SVP of Commercial Danone Nicole Vinson, Vice President of North American and Global Marketing Excellence; Keranova We recently investigated how companies are redesigning legacy structures and creating new operating models to drive growth based on consumer experience, agility, and connectivity.
Turn consumer data into commercial accuracy
For Boswell, consumer data is at the heart of our modern operating model. At Breakthru Beverage, his team is transforming the way products reach shelves by using consumer data to decide where and how to expand distribution.
“It used to be that every time a new product came out, it filled the market,” Boswell said during a panel discussion in 2018. C.G.T.”■ Consumer Goods Sales and Marketing Technology Summit, October 28-29. “Now, we are using data to identify where consumers are already, taking into account what they want, where they are, where and how they shop, and making their experience better by delivering the right products, in the right place, at the right time.”
This data-driven approach allows every salesperson to walk into a store and understand which products are underperforming or over-indexing based on local consumer behavior.
Build consumer insights into every feature
Dalton shared how Danone is embedding consumer insights across its commercial ecosystem, from product innovation to digital engagement.
“We put consumers at the center of every commercial decision we make, from category strategy to in-store execution. This is the behavior we expect across all functions,” she said. Her team uses a proprietary framework to align category, shopper, and digital strategies around shared KPIs. The goal is cross-functional visibility that allows all parties to anticipate and meet consumer needs.
Dalton also emphasized that success depends on connectivity.
“When internal systems are connected and external partnerships are aligned, consumers win,” she said.
Also from CGSM: How Southern Glazer’s fills the BevAlc data gap
Break down silos and achieve agility
For Vinson at Kellanova, agility starts with breaking down silos. Her team introduced “full-funnel marketing leads” within each brand and category to ensure end-to-end accountability for consumer engagement.
“We operate like a SWAT team,” Vinson explained. “A cross-functional pod that lets you collaborate with IT and data analytics partners to quickly resolve issues.”
The company also uses a 70-20-10 budgeting model to set aside “flex dollars” for short-term opportunities to support experimentation without compromising core goals.
