Clarkston’s Steve Rosenstock and Sarah Broyd recently attended the 2023 Promotion Optimization Institute (POI) Spring Hybrid Summit in Chicago, Illinois. The summit focused on “Evolving Enterprise Planning, Revenue Optimization & Advanced Analytics to Improve Retail Execution, Customer Experience, and Enhance Joint Profitability.” Consumer products executives, leaders, and manufacturers gathered to discuss the state of the industry and the future of automation, data and analytics, revenue growth management, and more. 

2023 POI Spring Hybrid Summit Key Takeaways

Below, we highlight their insights from the 2023 POI Spring Hybrid Summit and how these themes continue to resonate with our clients in the CP industry. 

1. The role of revenue growth management (RGM) in building for the future. RGM is critical to a business’s sustainability and future, particularly in today’s disruptive and uncertain environment. As companies pursue digital transformations, they leverage predictive modeling and a strategy embedded in analytics, allowing them to optimize what they do well, accelerate growth in the right segments and drive innovation. For some, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered next-gen RGM solutions provides that solution. From managing messy data to driving end-user adoption, integrating emerging AI technologies can provide RGM capabilities with a significant boost and help your business retain a competitive advantage.   
2. Leveraging actionable and shareable data. Data should be at the heart of every decision your company makes. When data is easily accessible and shareable across your organization – from retailer to manufacturer – it enables more informed, faster decision-making and prepares you to better respond or adapt to market changes. Having a single source of truth in that data (and a solid data strategy) can enable fact-based market planning and execution and lead to optimization across the entire enterprise.   
3. Optimization through advanced analytics. Advanced analytics can give companies a more holistic and intimate view of their key customers, enabling them to manage, interpret, and act on data in a more optimized manner. The topic of AI and its potential to enhance GRM seemed to be front and center and this year’s spring summit – and perhaps for good reason – but the key lies in understanding the need for a strategic, holistic, and integrated effort when it comes to the power of AI and advanced analytics.  
4. Developing skills and advancing people. Particularly during times of uncertainty or change, companies need to demonstrate their investment in their people. Prioritizing professional development, continuous learning, and upskilling or reskilling is critical to enabling sustainable growth at an organization. While automation and emerging technologies have the potential to help you achieve lofty optimization goals in RGM or other areas, you need to ensure your people understand, are invested in, and can support that change.  

Critical Topics for CP Leaders 

From discussions on price pack architecture and pricing strategy, to investing in your employees and putting the consumer first, the 2023 POI Spring Hybrid Summit was filled with engaging and enlightening discussions about the state and future of our industry. And while the themes from this year’s POI Spring Hybrid Summit were nothing new, they remain critical for CP leaders, as we often see clients struggling to navigate these consumer products trends and more in a post-pandemic world.  

If you’re interested in chatting more about this year’s summit or other emerging topics in the CP space, let’s connect.