CPGmatters: Integrated Customer Marketing Paying Off for ConAgra Foods
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the monthly e-zine, CPGmatters.
Over the past five years, the sales and marketing function at ConAgra Foods has been entirely reorganized from 100 separate operating companies into an integrated organization. The realignment is paying off for the maker of such brands as Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Wesson, Pam, Hebrew National and others.
The latest example involves the Fresh Mixers line of shelf-stable meals introduced earlier this year. A program of consumer-centric consciousness and integrated customer marketing with several in-store activation tactics, contributed to early retail success.
"I think in the last year we are beginning to feel like we have made that transformation, feel like we really are acting as one company against the same goals, and we see that in our earnings and our profit and our sales," said Danica Konetski, senior director, shopper insights at ConAgra.
She explained that ConAgra's Integrated Customer Marketing (ICM) group brought together four functions that were previously much more loosely connected:
- Shopper Insights and Analytics
- Category Leadership (formerly under the sales organization)
- Shopper Marketing (evolved from the account-specific marketing function)
- In-Store Marketing (shopping systems and displays, that was all done by the brand managers and the vice presidents on the brands)
"Bringing these groups together, we have about 75 percent of our staff actually in the field working with the account teams," she said in a presentation in Phoenix at the Merchandising, Sales & Marketing Conference hosted by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA).
"We all agree that being shopper or consumer-centric is a good idea, and we've been practicing that for a long time now. Even having said that, I find that in many meetings the conversations tend to go toward - more often than we'd like to see - either the brand-centric or store-centric perspective."
Ms. Konetski described how ConAgra's ICM group applied a disciplined, insight-driven planning approach as it developed an account-specific launch strategy for its Fresh Mixers line of non-refrigerated convenience meals.
ConAgra consumer insight research had revealed several opportunities in the shelf-stable, single-serve, microwave steamer product form. Target customers were looking to break lunchtime boredom with new choices. The partner retailer had shared shopper data that showed "very nice alignment" with the target consumer, Ms. Konetski said.
To develop a launch promotion strategy, the ConAgra ICM team began by looking more deeply into those segments and what they are buying.
The program launch incorporated several in-store activation techniques, including direct mail, handouts, floor talks, and a "nicely designed" cylindrical display. Results from the launch program indicate that ConAgra grew its category share at that retailer by about 5 percent. It also brought new shoppers into the category. "Fresh Mixers brought some premium shoppers who usually buy in the frozen aisle into the shelf-stable aisle," Ms. Konetski reported.
In a separate decision process focused on aisle management, ConAgra incorporated insights it developed about shoppers' desire for improved shopping experience, while simultaneously addressing the retailer's desire to revitalize the center store. The ICM team conducted sorting analysis and cross-shop analysis to obtain insights about how the aisle might be shelved for best performance.
ConAgra subsequently moved to a six-month in-store test with that retailer, which is presently ongoing. "We're now testing alternatives for look and feel, including aisle headers," she said. "We hope to create a greater cross shop and bring more frozen users into the shelf-stable aisle."
Discussion Questions: What are the benefits as well as the challenges of integrating sales and marketing functions for multiple-brand owners? What specific disciplines particularly benefit from such integration? Are their any risks to individual brands?