Combined Consultants Information

If you’re looking for the best place to keep up with fast changing best practices in CPG marketing, you’re in the right place. For the last 40 years my company, Combined Consultants and I personally have been obsessed with best practice in CPG marketing. Here’s what we have done for the industry and can do for you; 1. Are you still selling brands when your growth depends on collaborating to build retail categories? Retailers don’t care about brands; they care about their retail categories. Improve your category management capabilities. In 1993, we created the discipline of CatMan. In 2017, we organized and led the complete renovation of the discipline as CatMan 2.0, working with companies like Walmart, P&G, Ahold and Kraft/Heinz. We can bring your internal capabilities up to world class standards. 2. How are you using the “Internet of things” and its vast data bases to build your business? How are you leveraging Artificial Intelligence? This sophisticated technology is disrupting the CPG industry. We have written a white paper to explain how AI enhances CPG marketing and especially CatMan. We’re also implementing AI solutions in aggressive companies. Reach out to discuss how we can have you up and operating with AI in 90 + days with no IT disruption and minimal investment of internal human resources. 3. Ice Creams marketing protein claims for their brands are growing at 25%/per year! Are you stuck with a “last century” definition of what your consumers care about? Shoppers are seeking transparency about ingredients, sources and product processes from brand owners and retailers. We have written a white paper on how to l to respond to this shopper desire. Reach out for our white paper and a sample CatMan plan which shows how new attributes and approaches may be the key to growth. 4. Do you really know what your customers want and are you giving it to them? And are your internal support people giving your sales teams what they want and need to serve your customers? Use Peter Drucker’s “Managing by Results” philosophy to improve your team’s performance and your business. Drucker was the foremost business theorist of the 20th century. We have adapted his simple yet brilliant approach in a process to drive your business. Reach out for a demo. 5. Do you have a sensible, up-to-date business plan? Can you put it on one page and keep it current? Do all your people know what it is, where they fit in and are they aligned with your plan? Create a strategic plan that works. We have been using the approach from the Japanese Total Quality Movement called OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures). We have used this simple, fast and powerful planning process in companies all over the world, from Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong to J&J in Europe. Reach out for a demo. 6. Does your company know as much about marketing as P&G does? Apply P&G -based marketing intellectual property to improve your marketing discipline. We are one of the few companies to have had access to virtually all P&G’s marketing approach as embedded in their internally developed demand side software called Emmperative. We have permission to share our enhanced version with interested marketers. Reach out for a sharing session. We have over 200 individual components of the marketing process.