Commercial Intelligence: Larry Thomas, Accenture

Although consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies that invest in business intelligence equip themselves with the right tools to grow and be more profitable, many still fail to use it to their advantage. Larry Thomas, senior executive, Accenture Consumer Goods & Services (www.accenture.com), shares his insight on this challenge.

What challenges do CPG manufacturers face when it comes to business intelligence?

In recent years, companies have augmented their technology and data management systems, not only to store and manage data, but to improve the chances of extracting relevant knowledge from it.  However, some CPG companies armed with business intelligence are still missing windows of opportunity to utilize the data in order to improve commercial performance and see a real return on their investment.

There are three key reasons for these missed opportunities. First, the data gathered may not be of optimum quality, relevance or freshness, or it may be too general to be useful in revealing trends that can help develop successful products or target the right consumer.  Second, the problem can be organizational, where data is controlled by one department, such as marketing or finance, and is not accessible by other functions -- preventing a company from making optimal use of it through cross-departmental insights.  And third, some organizations may not recognize the scope of capabilities needed to analyze the complex data and to spot and corroborate trends that yield real market insight.


What steps can a CPG company take to better anticipate and meet consumer demand?

There are four actions CPG companies can take to better anticipate consumer needs, sell more products and achieve high performance:

1. Synthesize information from customers and external data providers to gain greater insight into the market.
2. Analyze company performance by channel, brand, geography and customer segments to better understand competitive threats and opportunities.
3. Conduct strategic and operational planning that includes predictive analysis of consumer and channel segments, as well as plan-to-market under different scenarios.
4. Continually improve operational performance by analyzing key areas, such as sales force effectiveness.

Practicing these measures can help companies gain a better and comprehensive understanding of products, consumers, promotions, media and markets to make the best and most informed business decisions, while extracting real benefits from their data and technology investments. Today, consumer facing companies that use such approaches to commercial intelligence are providing real-world examples of how effective it can be in generating significant sales. For instance, one leading company works with meteorologists to be able to ship items such as bottled water, duct tape and candles to store locations in markets where a storm has been forecast -- a great example of a company that is sustaining high performance by staying ahead of consumer needs and acting on them through commercial intelligence.

Explain how commercial intelligence can be a competitive tool.

Effective use of commercial intelligence is a must in today's increasingly competitive environment.  As the storm example suggests, companies are leveraging it to elevate and maintain their leading position.  In this climate and the increasingly fragile economy, companies can no longer afford to simply manage and store data or run reports, but must use it more aggressively to seize on commercial opportunities with clients and consumers and become operationally more efficient than ever.