Taking Stock

In our last episode of Taking Stock, we spent some time talking about understanding consumer motivations. In this episode, we dive into how consumer engagement is central to your revenue growth management strategy and how to connect the dots between RGM and consumer engagement – two functions that can often feel disconnected.   

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by Amy Levine and Ryan Mulligan as we discuss a holistic perspective around revenue growth management and how an effective consumer engagement strategy is connected to a successful RGM discipline. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by Amy Levine and Reed McKenzie as we chat through considerations for understanding your consumers and their motivations as well as implementing cross-functional efforts across the organization to further drive engagement and innovation.  

Consumer engagement is critical for any consumer products company today. Understanding your consumers, their motivations, and their connection to your product is what drives success, and it needs to be a cross-functional effort. In our last episode of Taking Stock, we dove into the concept of consumer engagement – what it is, how it’s evolved over the past years, and what to consider when building an effective consumer engagement strategy. Today, we’re talking about understanding consumer motivations and the steps companies can take to ensure they’re meeting their consumers’ needs and expectations. 

Consumer engagement goes well beyond consumer satisfaction or content development. It’s the effort of a brand or business to build meaningful relationships with its consumers through intentional interactions and establish deeper loyalty. It’s about putting the consumer at the forefront of your overall strategy to understand their needs, adapt to evolving preferences, and drive competitive advantage. In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by colleagues Amy Levine and Idoia Hidalgo as we discuss the key components of building an intentional and seamless consumer engagement strategy. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by colleagues Megan O’Toole and Shatakshi Shekhar as we discuss the importance of investing in your employees and the ways in which organizations can adopt an agile learning mindset that embraces continuous professional development. 

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the greatest trend accelerators of our lifetime. For many companies, initiatives or plans that were on the backburner suddenly got accelerated, forcing organizations to think and act differently in order to respond, adapt, and survive. In the next few episodes of Taking Stock, we’ll explore some of the recent consumer products trends that have gained importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  In this episode, we focus on the importance of investing in your employees.

The Great Resignation. Attrition. Turnover. We continue to see these trends dominate the industry, as people continue to evaluate their own professional careers and seek out organizations that can meet their needs – both now and in the future.  

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by colleagues Idoia Hidalgo and Hudson Rowland as they discuss their perspective on what “digital” means and some of the tactical steps that organizations can take to be successful as they consider their digital journey.  

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the greatest trend accelerators of our lifetime. For many companies, initiatives or plans that were on the backburner suddenly got accelerated, forcing organizations to think and act differently in order to respond, adapt, and survive. In the next few episodes of Taking Stock, we’ll explore some of the recent consumer products trends that have gained importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  This time, we dive into the trend of adopting a digital mindset.

Digital is ubiquitous in our day-to-day lifestyle, both at home and at work. It seems almost every task or process has some sort of digital component to it – perhaps more so following the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced all of us to turn to virtual ways of living, learning, and working. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by  Sebastian Valencia, partner at Clarkston Consulting, as we discuss how change management enables supply chain transformation.

Deployment of any advanced supply chain planning tool isn’t just about the points and the clicks, it’s about the people. For companies to be successful in their supply chain planning and business transformation, proper OCM investment will pay off.

For almost every business across every industry, the supply chain has been at the center of the conversation for the past two and a half years. A variety of drivers – from geopolitical instability to labor shortages to inflation pressures – have caused an unprecedented level of global supply chain disruption and uncertainty. In turn, businesses have started to adopt new technologies and capabilities to meet the needs of this current landscape and adapt to this volatility and disruption. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by colleagues Kate Poknis and Scott Shaw – who have a wealth of supply and demand planning experience and knowledge – to discuss supply chain resilience, agility, supplier diversification, talent constraints, and more. 

When it comes to supply chain visibility, predicting the future is hard – the world is constantly changing, consumer demand remains fickle, and there’s a plethora of new brands and competitors entering the market. How can companies plan ahead? Or can they?

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, demand for some products skyrocketed. Historical demand planning tools and previous strategies didn’t apply anymore. Companies that thought they had it right when it came to supply and demand planning quickly discovered that they needed to deploy new strategies to establish and maintain a resilient, agile, and profitable supply chain. If not, their business would certainly be at risk. 

In this episode of Taking Stock, I’m joined by PK Sundar, consultant and DEI analyst, as we chat about why they started the Pride Network at Clarkston, the challenges they faced along the way, and lessons learned for establishing an ERG in a corporate setting. When it comes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE+I), there’s always room for progress and growth. There are lessons to be learned, mindsets to be challenged, and goals to work toward. For many organizations, establishing an Employee Resource Group (ERG) is an internal initiative that can contribute to DE+I progress and growth while also creating a safe space for employees to be their true, authentic selves. 

In this podcast series, Clarkston Consulting Partner Steve Rosenstock sits down with experts and thought leaders from both within Clarkston and throughout its consumer products, life sciences, and retail client-base, covering a range of topics from industry trends and consumer dynamics to organizational governance and business strategy. Steve provides you access into the passions of its guests and allows you to benefit from their stories, knowledge, and deep expertise.  

In late 2021, Clarkston Consulting conducted a CIO Market Study, aiming to better understand the current priorities and challenges of upper or C-Suite level IT professionals (CIO/CISO/CTO/VP) at large companies ($350M+ revenue) in the retail, CPG, manufacturing, or life science industries. The results from the survey provided valuable insight into the current status and perceptions of IT departments; department expectations, priorities, and plans for the upcoming year; and important attributes in outsourcing and managed services, among other key findings.   

Throughout the course of your career, you’re going to experience a time where you’re uncomfortable.  

Maybe your beliefs are challenged, you’re put in an unfamiliar situation, or you’re encountering obstacles you’ve never quite had before and aren’t sure how to navigate. Maybe you’re having a difficult conversation with a colleague or making a giant career move. Whatever it is, there’s a chance you’re having to step out of your comfort zone, and that’s not always easy. That discomfort, however, can often lead to incredible transformation and growth.  

Oftentimes in both our personal and professional lives, we’re faced with challenges and opportunities that force us to make a change. It’s an understatement to say that change can be quite overwhelming, but it’s a dynamic path that we as humans are constantly navigating, and our ability to react to change – to adapt and thrive in a new environment or situation – is extremely important.