CPG execs poor at turning data into profit?

Source：Businesswire Release Date：2013-06-18 324

Food & Beverage

Accenture survey finds consumer packaged goods (CPG) senior managers lack flair in turning technology to business asset; a significant number says they don’t trust available data

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies have invested heavily in technology platforms to improve their trade promotion performance but many believe they don’t have the acumen or business processes to capitalise on these investments.

Based on interviews with 350 senior executives in large CPG companies, The Perfect Promotion Study conducted by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reveals that 61% claim to lack the talent to turn data analytics into profit. About 21% of interviewees said they trust their intuition more than the available data to make trade promotion-related decisions.

Trade promotion spending

CPG companies have also changed their trade promotion investments since the start of the economic downturn in 2008. About 71% of CPG companies have increased their trade promotion spending in response to the economic downturn – 23% by more than one. Many executives participating in the study believe the additional investment has delivered additional value: 27% believe their return on investment (ROI) has increased by more than a quarter since the downturn, while 16% believe that their ROI has declined.

Some 53% believe their company’s trade promotion performance is good, but could be improved; 28% believe it to be either “totally ineffective” or in need of significant improvement, and only 19% view their trade promotion performance as industry leading.

“The right approach to trade promotions is to blend leading edge technology with outstanding talent and make better use of predictive analytics and greater process integration across the business,” said Ed Stark, a managing director in Accenture’s Consumer Goods & Services practiceAir Jordan