Chip Bergh

According to new retail data from Circana, August retail food and beverage sales revenue was 2% lower than last year while discretionary sales declined 3% in dollars. The U.S. Toy industry outperformed both with sales declines of 1%, underscoring the resiliency in the toy market compared to other industries. #toyindustry #toynews #toy #retail #licensing

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As we enter Q2 of 2024, I have been asked about key trends relative to the current strength of the consumer in the U.S. Despite headlines showing endless resiliency, we have seen some softness in purchasing behavior on the consumer front, especially in January and February, with a rebound since March.   Q1 also brought dynamic changes in the consumer goods sector's M&A landscape. Key highlights include:   Health Focus: Significant deals like Medbase's acquisition of Zur Rose Group reflect a growing emphasis on health and wellness. Luxury and Efficiency: Firms like Tapestry are strategically acquiring to enhance luxury portfolios and operational efficiency. Tech Integration: Investments in AI and digital capabilities are driving better consumer engagement and operational agility. Strategic Consolidations: Companies are optimizing their portfolios by focusing on core areas and divesting non-core assets. Global Investments: Cross-border M&A remains strong, targeting regions with high growth potential.   Despite economic uncertainties, these trends show the sector's resilience and strategic focus on long-term growth.   #ConsumerGoods #MnA #BusinessStrategy #HealthAndWellness #DigitalTransformation

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some insight from the linkedin algorithm

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General Mills spoke recently at a Barclays investor event and used the platform to reassure investors of its plans to return to growth. While it has been a difficult stretch for major CPGs as consumers' wallets are tighter than in years past the company did highlight some indicators suggesting near-term growth. But beyond that General Mills emphasized a need to create a new competitive playbook. They highlighted misses on innovation, pricing movements, and packaging sizes, as areas of concern. Identifying the problem is always the first step, but how do they correct course? Immediate levers to pull like boosting media and trade spending, will improve top lines in the short term, but a commitment to consistent consumer and competitive research is needed to help realize efficiency gains on the bottom line. #Fletcher #CPG #CompetitiveIntelligence https://lnkd.in/gxMcbGDU

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DTC/Digital Native Brands struggle to achieve scale. CPG portfolio's are stagnating. Consumers are trading down, and retailers owned brands are disproportionately growing. Target, Costco, Trader Joes, and Aldi owned brands are winning. Now Walmart has launched a formidable new elevated basics brand, BetterGoods. The best way to beat the Amazon/Temu/Shein/TikTok marketplaces is to sell products they don't have.

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I’m excited about what the future of retail media means for our media tech clients but also for marketing leaders in general. BCG does a great job outlining why CMOs will want to increase retail media spend—and how RMNs need to step up their game to help them justify greater investment. If we are to believe analyst projections of $100 billion in U.S. retail media spend over the next 2-3 years, it seems many of the items on BCG’s RMN “to-do” list need to happen, especially: - Offering a more seamless customer experience across online and in-store to boost performance across the full consumer journey - Providing more and more data and actionable reports to enhance transparency, insight, targeting, and personalization - Deepening relationships to deliver increasingly tailored media solutions that are unique to each advertiser and its consumers - Achieving a level of sophistication that matches—or at least approaches—the performance, scale, and precision of leading digital ad platforms like Google and Meta (e.g., as Amazon has done) https://lnkd.in/gKJ53T-x

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When two customer-centric retail fanatics get together on a podcast, amazing things can come up in the discussion. I sat down with Andrew Hankinson from Zwilling in an early episode of Now and Zen to talk about customers, retail, and where things are going in consumer businesses. "This episode I chat with Timothy Connor, a successful, long-term Japan resident. In this episode we discuss in-depth, retail in Japan and how his business Synnovate, specifically his new concept "Responsive" is helping companies adopt a more customer-centric focus through improved customer experience. Timothy believes the future of retail is the customer as the point of sale. It's more than just a discussion about buzz-words, please join in on this innovative customer approach conversation." Some highlights are: Explains the concept behind "The Customer as a Point of Sale" What makes the Japanese consumer "unique" "Don't game the system, work the system” His definition of Omotenashi - "Invisible Service” What is the customer experience "Secret sauce"

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Yesterday, The Coca-Cola Company announced its third quarter earnings results. Once again, our marketing innovation is driving meaningful global results.     We have clear leadership within our sparkling portfolio, and we’re continuing to grow brands across non-sparkling categories. From successful innovations like Topo Chico Sabores, to our plans to debut Bacardi Mixed with Coca-Cola in 2025, to driving recruitment and growth by leveraging partnerships like the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we remain relentlessly consumer centric.    We’re also using digital technology like artificial intelligence to drive agility, productivity and innovation in our marketing work. With our agency partner WPP, we’re using generative AI technology from NVIDIA to create customizable, locally relevant and on-demand advertisements and point-of-sale imagery. This is driving more effective consumer messaging, faster speed to market and lower costs.     Learn more and view safe harbor here: https://cokeurl.com/50b536  

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If you think it's been a tough environment for CPGs, buckle in. This 1-pager highlights the five market forces disrupting the industry and provides actionable insights on how to turn them into competitive advantages. #CPG #Retail #Consumer #Commerce Interpublic Group (IPG) Inc. Magazine

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Walmart takes a multi-faceted approach to minimize food waste and maximize the sell-through of food products. When items remain unsold, Walmart actively works to redirect these products to those in need through donations to food banks and other charitable organizations. Additionally, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have provided funding to purchase equipment that increases the capacity of charitable meal distribution systems, helping these organizations transport and deliver fresh food more efficiently. For food items that are no longer edible, Walmart finds alternative uses such as animal feed, compost, or energy production. Walmart's commitment to sustainability and reducing food waste is an ongoing effort, and the company continues to seek out new solutions, like this one. #WalmartSustainability #FoodWasteReduction #Innovation

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Liz Buchanan <> The CPG View On this week's podcast, "Pioneering the Future of CPG Data," on The CPG View featuring Liz Buchanan, President, North America at NielsenIQ. Liz covers the following key points: 🎯 Leadership and Market Evolution: Liz emphasizes her transition to leading Nielsen IQ's North American business and the dynamic changes in the market, highlighting her extensive experience and the company's adaptive strategies. 🎯 Data Activation and Value: A major focus is on making data "activation ready" by ensuring it is comprehensive, granular, and useful for driving business outcomes, particularly in retail environments. 🎯 Customer-Centric Approach: Liz shares the importance of understanding and addressing customer needs through modern data access methods, personalized insights, and maintaining high standards of data stewardship and privacy. Tune in to gain insights on new data strategies, AI tools, and market trends shaping the CPG industry on The CPG View. 🚀🌟 Full Podcast Link (Apple, Spotify, Google, etc): 🎧 https://lnkd.in/eEqXpSB6 #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #success #cro #ceo #leadership #cmo #cdo #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin #thecpgview

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Wondering what is happening in Food Service in convenience retail? #NACS and #NIQ have recently discussed these trends at our latest conference as NIQ rolls out the first POS based Food Service market measurement for convenience in the US. Link below to read the highlights. #NIQandGfK #TheFullView #MovingMeasurementForward #NIQ #GFK #nielseniq #retailanalytics #retailinsights #cpg #cpgindustry #retail #groceryretail #convenience #beverageindustry #quickcommerce #collaboration #future #business #manufacturing #collaboration #connectedcollaboration #media #investments #onlineadvertising #sales #retail #growth #grocery #retailing #technology #sustainability #techanddurables #generalmerch #computing #electronics #devices #IoT #PrivateLabel #ownedBrands #telco #AI #GenAI #AskArthur #Leading #DesignTheFuture #LeadingNotFollowing #NeverGiveUp

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Did you know that while pricing is important to the Hispanic Consumer, things like Brand Reputation are even more critical to them than other shoppers? Our #pepviz data and analytics proprietary practice has helped us gather interesting findings on our consumers that help us reiterate our commitment towards consumer centricity. Learn why Brand Reputation is so important to the Hispanic Shopper here: https://bit.ly/pepviz_data  

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I had the distinct pleasure of sitting with Kantar BrandZ for an in-depth conversation about global brands through the lens of PepsiCo's iconic portfolio -- what makes a brand valuable, the role of brands, how to stay relevant, deploying distinctive assets in a consistent and connected way, how the best-of-the best do it and so much more. I believe brands have a bigger role to play than before and at PepsiCo we talk about Positive Brands. We want to inspire people to make better choices for them and the planet. We are developing programs that leverage the scale and power of our brand marketing to accelerate our sustainability journey and connect with consumers. And we recognized brands are only relevant to people to the degree that they connect to something meaningful in their lives; something bigger that connects to core human needs like community, security, control, connection, enjoyment, etc. When it comes to deploying distinctive assets, we have to be very humble as marketeers. Memory structures, distinctiveness, brand meaning is built over generations. As marketeers, we stand on the shoulders of the giants that went before us. I'm very humble to the generations of incredible marketeers who have built these brilliant brands. Thank you Kantar for recognizing PepsiCo in the BrandZ Top 100 Brands Global Report 2024. Check out the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/eE3mtGxZ #PepsiCoProud #BrandZ #Kantar

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The bifurcation of our current economy is eye popping. On one side consumer confidence spiked last month - the Conference Board's October report rose more than 11% (to a reading of 138) - its biggest one-month jump in 3 1/2 years. The last time? March 2021. “Consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned positive,” said Dana Peterson, the board’s chief economist. Wait what? How'd that happen? Conversely you have a BLS Jolts report confirming what #jobseekers already knew - the long awaited"September Surge" was a nothing burger. Hiring rate remained steady at 5.6 million (3.5% rate). There's a breakdown on hires by industry and region in Table 2 of the BLS report (attached in comments). Check it out. You'll see : ➡ Hiring is down overall YoY by 277K jobs in the private sector ➡ The Northeast is lagging with hiring down 15% MoM, ➡ "Professional and Business Services" added 1M hires, however this was 11K fewer than Aug '24 and 4K less than was added in Sept of 23. Newsflash: Employment is definitely not in expansion mode. Also alarming: job openings remained at 7.4M - BUT the number of open roles declined by 1.9M over the year. Thats over 20% fewer open roles than a year ago! ➡ Fewer open jobs without unemployment decreasing = greater competition for what roles there are. Also worth noting: there have been 525,000 fewer quits this year so far. Definitely DO NOT QUIT unless you have something lined up - this market is straight up squid games. Recruiters claim it's the worst employment market in recent memory, and that includes 09-12 (although interest rates went to near zero by end of 2009 which spurred hiring. That won't happen again). Clearly no one at the Conference Board gauging #consumer confidence has spoken to anyone in the #greenbannergang. Nor have they applied to any jobs. Probably haven't met the hundreds I have who are torching a lifetime of savings, dipping deeply into 401Ks, or burning through HELOC money while competing with 500 others for a role that pays 20% less than their last one. On a macro - level, I imagine we'll see some revisions to holiday forecasts, especially in retail. Confident consumers spend. Thats a good sign! Yes, consumer debt is at an all time high, but that's mostly because houses and rent are stupid expensive. (context: In 2000, the median home value in the United States was approximately $119,600. Today in 2024, its $420,400. WTF?) Hopefully the rainbows and unicorns being touted by consumer confidence folks will translate into actual hiring. Otherwise the haves and have nots will continue to erode the economy from the inside out (have jobs or not have jobs). I'll link to BLS report in comments. Here's the CNBC (Cheerleaders, Nothing But Cheerleaders) source article: Also please comment on anything I missed.

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In episode 13 of #ThePubWayPodcast, Mike and I sit down with Keith Gooberman, CEO and Co-Founder of Pontiac Intelligence, to discuss the role of DSPs in the CTV space, contextual advertising, and the upcoming 2024 Pontiac Summit, bringing together industry leaders across the ecosystem. During the episode, we covered: 🔐 Pontiac Intelligence and the changing privacy landscape 📺 The Role of DSPs in the CTV Space 🌐 The evolution of contextual advertising 🎧 Listen now: https://lnkd.in/ess9eqxu #CTV #Publishers #AdTech #ContextualAdvertising Seedtag

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The Costco Wholesale phenomenon is a masterclass in #retail excellence, blending strategic product placement, bulk-buy bargains, and an engaging treasure-hunt experience to convert first-time shoppers into lifelong members.     By meticulously curating a chaotic yet efficient environment, Costco has achieved what many retailers aspire to – a deeply loyal customer base. And from the depths of the aisles, a key takeaway emerges: retail success lies in creating compelling, value-driven experiences that resonate with #shoppers on a personal level. Read more great insights on Costco’s successful #customer retention model from Phil W.: 

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