Small Data Group

You don’t need to look beyond the headlines to see that retail is undergoing a massive transformation. Powered by changing consumer tastes, cost pressures, and the growth of online channels, there’s certainly a lot of change underway.  

Yet, while online innovation tends to get a lot of the press, top CPG brands are standing out from the crowd by thinking more broadly about how to build strategic relationships with consumers and retailers across all channels.

Many of these strategies are being driven by data. And of course a key disruptive force (and inspiration to many) continues to be Amazon, as they move into retail big-time with Whole Foods and look to continue to remake the retail experience with big and small data.

Meanwhile the use of data and analytics is also informing product design and packaging and even the way brands think about merchandising, as I began to study back in 2013 with this post.

Data at the Point of Sale (and Promotion)

As I talk to a ton of food and beverage and other consumer brands and market watchers in my current role at Repsly, it’s become clear that the key to getting attention and market share, and moving from being an emerging brand to breaking out and owning your category, is using small data to win in the field.

Brands can do this if they embrace 3 principles:

1. Simplify how teams capture data in the field by making it part of their everyday activities and embracing intuitive, consumer-style apps for reps that feel more like Instagram than Salesforce.
2. Standardize how managers and field staff apply this data to better target markets or specific accounts, schedule visits, optimize routes, run promotions, etc (this is where data-driven field execution comes into play).
3. Socialize learnings so everyone is on the same page (and understands the purpose of the brand), and the business can embrace an agile marketing approach as part of its overall go to market and product strategy.

Consumer brands that have both this type of testing culture and use data to get closer to their customers span multiple CPG segments. They include lifestyle fitness brands such as Altra Running and Nike (who I’ve written about quite a bit in the early days of this blog), craft beer and wine producers like Heretic Brewing and my friends at Down the Road Beer Company in Boston, and emerging food and beverage brands who are looking to “change the rules” like Health-Ade Kombucha, KIND Snacks and even Red Bull.

Of course whatever product you produce, getting feedback is essential, especially in frothy, highly competitive market segments.

The brands that “do it for the data” almost always create an unfair advantage in these segments, especially when they apply insights daily to improve their products, adjust paths to market – and ultimately build a data-driven culture that revolves around getting close to customers and being on trend.

Read more of my thoughts on this topic in a recent piece I wrote for MyCustomer. And check out the Repsly blog for regular expert perspectives on best practices in field team management and how leading consumer brands are using data to grow their business.