[ Our perspective ]
We live in truly exciting times filled with unprecedented opportunities for growth and innovation. On one hand, today's consumer landscape is changing faster than ever before. "Generation Z" kids are experiencing adult issues earlier than ever, families are reconstituting what it means to operate as a family unit, and Baby Boomers are redefining our very definition of career longevity and retirement. On top of fundamental changes in mindset across demographic groups, the non-stop evolution of new technologies and viral spread of information is continually changing (and for the most part improving) the options consumers have for how they shop, evaluate, buy, use, and dispose of the plethora of products in their lives.
In this fast paced environment, we see opportunities everywhere for our Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail clients to invent exciting next generation products and services, in the process driving revenues and profitability to new performance levels. At the same time, investments must be made carefully, as fully 95% of the 45,000+ new products that will come to market this year will fail to meet expectations.
More and more, the key is quickly aligning and tailoring your offerings to the evolving tastes of consumers. Consumers increasingly expect the products they buy to be tailored to their personal needs and whims. In order to meet this demand, manufacturers must build adaptive product lines while sustaining healthy umbrella brands. Retailers face many of the same challenges. Competition is ferocious and buying information is nearly ubiquitous, but this fact is compounded by realization that the very same consumer can be looking for the lowest price purchase one second (e.g., stocking up on several cases of Coca-Cola at Walmart) and then turn around and seek out a truly indulgent service experience at an egregious price (e.g., grabbing a Grande Latte at Starbucks).
In this ultra-competitive environment filled with educated consumers, traditional segmentation strategies and marketing communications are failing and must be replaced with marketing strategies and programs that can sense and react to information in real-time. To build distinctive offerings and loyalty while maintaining profitability, CPG companies and retailers alike must leverage today's wealth of consumer information – from loyalty card data to custom research – and reinvent their businesses to respond to that information at every level. Identifying their best prospects and responding to their needs almost instantaneously is the only way to stay ahead in this unprecedented marketplace.
