2012 will be a year of guarded growth for the Consumer Products industry. The economy, while continuing to show signs of a slow recovery, remains fragile and increasingly exposed to the risks associated with a global market. Consumers remain cautious in their spending, with purchase decisions dictated less by brand loyalty and more by cost and convenience. Technology continues to change how people shop, mandating that CP companies connect with shoppers through new media to drive advocacy.

One Underlying Theme to Meet Challenges

Looking ahead, Clarkston contends that there is one underlying theme for companies to meet the many challenges presented by these economic and consumer driven trends, one that will allow them to:

• answer critical business questions
• realize sustainable growth

Consumer Products companies will realize competitive advantage through their ability to embed analytics into their organization.

Read more about how to realize competitive advantage through analytics in our 2012 Consumer Products Industry Outlook.