Beyond transactions: Building customer partnerships in consumer goods
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Transcript of Beyond transactions: Building customer partnerships in consumer goods
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods An Economist Intelligence Unit white paperSponsored by SAP
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20091
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Preface
Beyond transactions: Building customer partnerships in consumer goods is an Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by SAP. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole responsibility for this report. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial team conducted the interviews and wrote the report. The fi ndings and views expressed in this report do not necessarily refl ect the views of the sponsor. Dan Armstrong was the editor of the report and Sylvia Helm was the author. Mike Kenny was responsible for layout and design. Our thanks are due to all of the executives who responded to the survey.
October 2009
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
2
Contents
Introduction 3
Key fi ndings 4
Conclusion 7
Appendix 1: Overall survey results 8
Appendix 2: Americas survey results 13
Appendix 3: Asia-Pacifi c survey results 18
Appendix 4: EMEA survey results 23
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20093
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Introduction
The global recession and falling demand have hit the consumer goods sector harder than other industries. Except in China and a handful of smaller economies, retail sales fell dramatically in 2009 throughout the Americas, Europe and most of Asia. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit survey of the sales, marketing and customer service practices of consumer goods companies, respondents cite the global economic downturn as the biggest issue facing their industry.
The economy is one of several factors—including changing consumer needs, emerging new competitors and evolving requirements among retailers and distributors—that is beyond the control of consumer goods companies. Despite these challenges, survey respondents say they have strengthened customer relationships during the past year. They also say they are more engaged in developing products and services collaboratively with retailers and distributors.
Consumer goods manufacturers need to satisfy two tiers of customers in order to succeed. The fi rst is the retailer or product distributor; the second is the consumer who ultimately buys the product from the retailer or distributor. Manufacturers have to play to both audiences successfully. The majority of survey respondents say they are doing better than ever managing the fi rst relationship, ie, with retailers and distributors. The second one, with consumers, is more problematic.
About the survey
In September 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 84 executives of consumer goods companies on the challenges of getting customer-facing departments to work together more consistently and
effectively. Survey respondents spanned the globe, with 31% from the Asia-Pacifi c region, 33% from the Americas and 36% from EMEA. Respondents’ annual revenue ranged from less than US$500m to more than US$10bn. The level of seniority of respondents was high: 32% were C-level or board members and another 20% were vice-presidents or heads of business units.
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
4
Evaluating retailers and distributors Respondents give themselves high marks for providing high-quality service to retailers and distributors. But this self-assessment appears to be based on anecdotal evidence. Because manufacturers believe they already enjoy strong long-term relationships with their retailer/distributor customers, measuring the strength or value of the relationships is not a priority. In fact, most consumer goods respondents admit that they could not estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors, even if they chose to do so. Since they do not have this information, they cannot prioritise investments in service campaigns and customer-specifi c relationships.
Gathering customer feedbackThe second-tier relationship—with consumers—has always been problematic for manufacturers. It is hard for these companies to get information about consumers without going through their retailers and other distributors. Most survey respondents say they rely on point-of-sale data or second-hand feedback from store retail sales staff to secure information about their customers, followed by targeted focus groups and direct response feedback.
Key fi ndings
Measuring the value of customers(% of respondents who agree minus % who disagree)
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, September 2009.
My company has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers
or distributors
My company prioritises sales and marketing resources based on lifetime
value of retailers or distributors
Disagree Agree
-30-40 -20 -10 0 10
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20095
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Manufacturers admit that they are not good at using newer tools such as proprietary or third-party websites and online social media, although there have been some successes. Consuming branded goods is a universal experience in modern market economies, and social media allows consumers from all walks of life to share that experience. Twitter and Facebook provide ways to connect over the purchase and ownership of goods. Nike, Ikea, Guess, PlayStation, Adidas, Apple—all are widely mentioned across a variety of social networking, blogging, photo- and video-sharing sites.
Priorities for improvement By a small margin, the top priority among survey respondents is reducing the cost of sales. As manufacturing becomes a commodity business and distribution channels multiply, more resources are required to maintain the power of the brand. This pressures margins. Moreover, as revenue growth levels off, the temptation increases to supply private-labelled goods for big retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Costco. In the short term, private-label extensions may boost revenues, but they can also erode brand equity, exacerbating the problems caused by creeping commoditisation.
0 10 20 30 5040
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, September 2009.
Reducing the cost of sales
Measuring the effectiveness of marketing/promotional campaigns
Maximizing repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
Areas in need of improvement (% respondents)
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
6
How the three regions differRespondents from all regions have differing perceptions of the global recession and the trend towards commoditisation. Companies in some regions are working more collaboratively with their retailer/distributor base to develop new products; others are not. And the use of newer marketing media tracks differently in different parts of the globe.
Americas. The economic recession has had a disproportionately larger impact on consumer goods companies in the Americas than in Asia-Pacifi c. More respondents also agree than disagree that over the last fi ve years, their products and services are increasingly seen as commodities. And the Americas region—particularly North America—is the centre of social media: Consumer goods companies there use online social media for gathering consumer and retailer feedback far more frequently than their peers in Asia-Pacifi c and EMEA.
Asia-Pacifi c. Asia-Pacifi c respondents are the least likely to cite the global recession as their biggest problem in the past year, refl ecting the healthier economy of that region. In keeping with the “export or die” mantra, Asia-Pacifi c is focused on creating consumer goods to order for markets in the West. Perhaps as a result, the region scores higher than the other two in terms of working with retailers and distributors to develop products collaboratively. Respondents do cite “commoditisation” as a problem in their industry, however. Their use of online social media is much lower than in the Americas.
EMEA. EMEA consumer goods respondents are most likely to say the economic downturn is the major hurdle facing their business, with 80% citing it as the factor with the biggest impact. With regard to commoditisation, most respondents (53%) see no increasing trend, perhaps because EMEA-based fi rms have had to contend with the threat of private-label competition far longer than those in other regions. As a result, 53% disagree with the statement “We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors than we were 12 months ago.” Companies in EMEA, like those in Asia-Pacifi c, use the newer online social media less frequently than older feedback channels.
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 20097
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Consumer goods manufacturers are faced with the need to retain market share in a recession while fending off global competitors. Commoditisation makes their goods indistinguishable from their competitors. Their margins are squeezed and they must reduce the cost of sales. Lessons from the survey include the following:
l Use online and social networking media to build brand loyalty, attract infl uential buyers and gain ground-level feedback. Use online services to get as much information as possible from the consumer rather than relying on retail store-level pass-back.
l Develop internal procedures to analyse and segment the retail/distributor customer base.
l Manage the retailer/distributor relationships based on profi tability; prioritise marketing expenditures based on the value of the individual retailer/distributor.
Conclusion
8 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 1Overall survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Appendix 1: Overall survey results
42
25
14
14
5
Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers (retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category
Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling, relevant marketing
Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes
Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services
Other
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.(% respondents)
1. No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination; 3. Some procedures 4. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and Don’t knowunits are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies
Planning and executing promotional activity
Developing and launching new products
Planning and executing marketing campaigns
Analysing and segmenting customers
Analysing and segmenting consumers
Gauging customer satisfaction
Measuring effectiveness of processes
Responding to customer demands or complaints
Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
Other
Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.(% respondents)
1 15 15 46 19 2
2 12 19 38 27 1
5 12 27 36 20 0
8 14 29 32 14 2
12 10 32 30 14 2
12 19 25 33 10 1
11 16 36 23 11 4
6 7 19 39 25 4
5 23 19 36 14 2
8 4 12 4 73
Appendix 1Overall survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
9 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
Reducing the cost of sales
Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve sales volume and revenue objectives
Cross-selling or upselling consumers
Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
Segmenting and profiling consumers
Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
Other
Don’t know
In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. (% respondents)
43
43
33
31
30
25
25
24
23
20
17
13
12
2
1
Helping each function within your organisation find and act on ways to support the others
Developing and sharing a detailed picture of consumer behaviors and preferences
Measuring the probability that planned promotions will result in achieving sales and volume targets
Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual planning through promotions to claims management
Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent picture of the organisation
Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors by total value over the life of the relationship
Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. (% respondents)
43
36
32
29
27
26
25
23
5
2
2
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?(% respondents)
In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service, convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
We are currently developing a social media strategy
My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
Agree Disagree Don’t know
24 73 4
73 19 8
63 26 11
24 57 19
36 45 19
29 46 25
46 48 6
65 26 8
49 43 8
58 31 11
46 40 13
35 50 15
10 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 1Overall survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Global economic downturn
Evolving consumer needs
Emergence of new competitors
Changing requirements among retailers and distributors
Significant demand shifts for our products/services
Focusing on sustainability efforts
Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain
Finding access to credit/capital
Emergence of new markets for our products and services
Disruptive technology developments
Other
Don’t know
Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.(% respondents)
65
38
32
32
24
13
12
11
7
7
8
0
Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
Improving online or self-service product support tools
Improving usability, search and navigation of retailer- and distributor-facing websites
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.(% respondents)
48
33
25
19
1
14
Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service, merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites
Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content, in-store content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)
Building or supporting online communities of consumers
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower consumers? Select all that apply. (% respondents)
63
35
32
31
0
11
Point of sale feedback
Feedback from in-store sales staff
Our own e-commerce site(s)
Third-party e-commerce sites
Phone order interaction
Direct response feedback
Call center customer service interactions
Targeted focus groups
Online social media efforts
Other
Don’t know
What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve the experience of both types of customers? Select up to three from each column.(% respondents)
We are best at collecting and usingWe are worst at collecting and using
39 25
36 21
18 29
4 39
26 12
33 8
21 7
33 13
11 26
00
7 15
Appendix 1Overall survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
11 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
Monitoring the results of actions in terms of consumer behavior and marketing metrics
Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative
Putting recommendations into action
Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that their comments are being addressed
Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers, both positive and negative
Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information
Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
Synthesising information from online channels into coherent recommendations
Synthesising information from customer service into coherent recommendations
Other
Don’t know
My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information from retailers and consumers to improve the customer experience are: Select up to three. (% respondents)
39
35
31
31
24
23
20
20
15
14
1
4
Asia-Pacific
North America
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Middle East and Africa
Latin America
In which region are you personally based? (% respondents)
31
30
20
8
7
4
48
38
14
Individuals (eg, retail)
Businesses or other organisations (eg, business-to-business)
An equal mix of both
Who are your organisation’s primary customers?(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically 2 3 4 5 Not at all Don’t know
Empower salespeople
Empower customer service staff
Create effective marketing campaigns
Refine product development process
Forecast demand
Improve customer service
Improve retail offerings and selections
Adjust pricing
How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?(% respondents)
18 33 34 7 4 5
11 42 26 15 2 4
18 38 26 17 1 0
15 30 35 17 2 1
15 30 34 16 5 0
18 37 29 11 2 2
10 45 26 10 5 5
10 42 34 6 5 4
12 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 1Overall survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
45
8
6
8
32
$500m or less
$500m to $1bn
$1bn to $5bn
$5bn to $10bn
$10bn or more
What are your organisation’s global annual revenues in US dollars? (% respondents)
General management
Strategy and business development
Marketing
Finance
Sales
Operations and production
IT
Procurement
Supply-chain management
Customer service
R&D
Information and research
Risk
Legal
Human resources
Other
What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions.(% respondents)
40
24
24
21
20
15
10
10
7
6
5
4
2
2
2
6
Board member
CEO/President/Managing director
CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
CIO/Technology director
Other C-level executive
SVP/VP/Director
Head of Business Unit
Head of Department
Manager
Other
Which of the following best describes your title?(% respondents)
2
15
8
2
4
15
5
15
27
5
13 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 2Americas survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Appendix 2: Americas survey results
32
29
21
14
4
Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers (retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category
Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services
Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes
Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling, relevant marketing
Other
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.(% respondents)
1. No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination; 3. Some procedures 4. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and Don’t knowunits are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies
Planning and executing promotional activity
Developing and launching new products
Planning and executing marketing campaigns
Analysing and segmenting customers
Analysing and segmenting consumers
Gauging customer satisfaction
Measuring effectiveness of processes
Responding to customer demands or complaints
Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
Other
Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.(% respondents)
4 11 21 43 14 7
4 14 21 39 18 4
7 11 39 29 14 0
7 14 29 29 14 7
7 11 39 18 18 7
18 11 18 32 18 4
15 4 37 15 19 11
7 4 21 46 18 4
11 14 21 36 14 4
7 7 14 7 64
14 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 2Americas survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Reducing the cost of sales
Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve sales volume and revenue objectives
Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
Cross-selling or upselling consumers
Segmenting and profiling consumers
Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
Other
Don’t know
In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. (% respondents)
39
32
29
29
29
25
21
21
18
11
11
11
7
7
4
Helping each function within your organisation find and act on ways to support the others
Developing and sharing a detailed picture of consumer behaviors and preferences
Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
Measuring the probability that planned promotions will result in achieving sales and volume targets
Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent picture of the organisation
Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual planning through promotions to claims management
Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors by total value over the life of the relationship
Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. (% respondents)
46
32
29
29
21
21
18
14
7
4
4
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?(% respondents)
In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service, convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
We are currently developing a social media strategy
My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
Agree Disagree Don’t know
25 68 7
68 29 4
64 29 7
33 48 19
32 54 14
32 39 29
50 46 4
57 32 11
46 43 11
50 36 14
46 39 14
36 39 25
15 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 2Americas survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Global economic downturn
Evolving consumer needs
Significant demand shifts for our products/services
Emergence of new competitors
Changing requirements among retailers and distributors
Finding access to credit/capital
Disruptive technology developments
Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain
Focusing on sustainability efforts
Emergence of new markets for our products and services
Other
Don’t know
Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.(% respondents)
68
29
25
21
21
11
11
11
11
4
11
0
Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
Improving usability, search and navigation of retailer- and distributor-facing websites
Improving online or self-service product support tools
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.(% respondents)
29
25
21
18
4
36
Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service, merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
Building or supporting online communities of consumers
Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites
Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content, in-store content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower consumers? Select all that apply. (% respondents)
54
36
36
36
0
14
Point of sale feedback
Feedback from in-store sales staff
Our own e-commerce site(s)
Third-party e-commerce sites
Phone order interaction
Direct response feedback
Call center customer service interactions
Targeted focus groups
Online social media efforts
Other
Don’t know
What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve the experience of both types of customers? Select up to three from each column.(% respondents)
We are best at collecting and usingWe are worst at collecting and using
43 14
36 14
25 18
4 29
29 14
32 4
21 7
32 21
18 32
00
7 25
16 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 2Americas survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Putting recommendations into action
Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative
Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
Monitoring the results of actions in terms of consumer behavior and marketing metrics
Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that their comments are being addressed
Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information
Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers, both positive and negative
Synthesising information from customer service into coherent recommendations
Synthesising information from online channels into coherent recommendations
Other
Don’t know
My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information from retailers and consumers to improve the customer experience are: Select up to three. (% respondents)
36
29
29
29
29
25
21
18
7
7
4
7
North America
Latin America
Asia-Pacific
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
Middle East and Africa
In which region are you personally based? (% respondents)
89
11
0
0
0
0
39
39
21
Individuals (eg, retail)
Businesses or other organisations (eg, business-to-business)
An equal mix of both
Who are your organisation’s primary customers?(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically 2 3 4 5 Not at all Don’t know
Empower salespeople
Empower customer service staff
Create effective marketing campaigns
Refine product development process
Forecast demand
Improve customer service
Improve retail offerings and selections
Adjust pricing
How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?.(% respondents)
14 29 36 7 7 7
11 46 18 14 11
11 39 36 14
14 29 29 25 4
8 27 38 19 8
11 36 29 14 4 7
4 46 29 11 4 7
4 30 56 4 4 4
17 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 2Americas survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Board member
CEO/President/Managing director
CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
CIO/Technology director
Other C-level executive
SVP/VP/Director
Head of Business Unit
Head of Department
Manager
Other
Which of the following best describes your title?(% respondents)
0
7
7
0
4
18
0
14
43
7
50
11
7
4
29
$500m or less
$500m to $1bn
$1bn to $5bn
$5bn to $10bn
$10bn or more
What are your organisation’s global annual revenues in US dollars? (% respondents)
General management
Marketing
Sales
Strategy and business development
Operations and production
Finance
R&D
Information and research
Supply-chain management
IT
Procurement
Legal
Human resources
Risk
Customer service
Other
What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions.(% respondents)
29
29
29
21
18
14
11
7
7
4
4
4
4
0
0
14
18 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 3Asia-Pacifi c survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Appendix 3: Asia-Pacifi c survey results
46
27
12
8
8
Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers (retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category
Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling, relevant marketing
Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes
Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services
Other
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.(% respondents)
1. No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination; 3. Some procedures 4. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and Don’t knowunits are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies
Planning and executing promotional activity
Developing and launching new products
Planning and executing marketing campaigns
Analysing and segmenting customers
Analysing and segmenting consumers
Gauging customer satisfaction
Measuring effectiveness of processes
Responding to customer demands or complaints
Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
Other
Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.(% respondents)
19 15 50 15 0
12 23 27 38 0
8 4 23 38 27 0
12 12 19 42 15 0
15 8 19 38 19 0
15 19 19 38 8 0
15 27 27 23 8 0
8 12 19 23 35 4
4 31 4 42 19 0
17 17 67
19 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 3Asia-Pacifi c survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
Reducing the cost of sales
Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve sales volume and revenue objectives
Cross-selling or upselling consumers
Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
Segmenting and profiling consumers
Other
Don’t know
In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. (% respondents)
54
46
42
38
35
27
27
27
23
23
23
15
4
0
0
Developing and sharing a detailed picture of consumer behaviors and preferences
Helping each function within your organisation find and act on ways to support the others
Measuring the probability that planned promotions will result in achieving sales and volume targets
Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual planning through promotions to claims management
Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors by total value over the life of the relationship
Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent picture of the organisation
Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. (% respondents)
46
46
42
35
31
27
23
19
4
0
0
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?(% respondents)
In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service, convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
We are currently developing a social media strategy
My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
Agree Disagree Don’t know
23 73 4
69 19 12
65 23 12
15 62 23
31 42 27
12 50 38
50 46 4
69 23 8
62 27 12
58 31 12
54 27 19
38 54 8
20 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 3Asia-Pacifi c survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Evolving consumer needs
Global economic downturn
Changing requirements among retailers and distributors
Emergence of new competitors
Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain
Significant demand shifts for our products/services
Focusing on sustainability efforts
Emergence of new markets for our products and services
Finding access to credit/capital
Disruptive technology developments
Other
Don’t know
Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.(% respondents)
58
46
46
35
23
23
19
12
8
0
4
0
Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
Improving online or self-service product support tools
Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
Improving usability, search and navigation of retailer- and distributor-facing websites
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.(% respondents)
62
35
31
23
0
0
Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service, merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites
Building or supporting online communities of consumers
Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content, in-store content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)
Other
Don't know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower consumers? Select all that apply. (% respondents)
69
38
31
27
0
8
Point of sale feedback
Feedback from in-store sales staff
Our own e-commerce site(s)
Third-party e-commerce sites
Phone order interaction
Direct response feedback
Call center customer service interactions
Targeted focus groups
Online social media efforts
Other
Don’t know
What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve the experience of both types of customers? Select up to three from each column.(% respondents)
We are best at collecting and usingWe are worst at collecting and using
27 35
35 23
12 42
4 54
31 12
38 8
31 4
27 4
8 23
00
8 8
21 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 3Asia-Pacifi c survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative
Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that their comments are being addressed
Putting recommendations into action
Monitoring the results of actions in terms of consumer behavior and marketing metrics
Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers, both positive and negative
Synthesising information from online channels into coherent recommendations
Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information
Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
Synthesising information from customer service into coherent recommendations
Other
Don't know
My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information from retailers and consumers to improve the customer experience are: Select up to three. (% respondents)
58
35
35
31
31
23
23
15
12
12
0
0
Asia-Pacific
Latin America
North America
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
Middle East and Africa
In which region are you personally based? (% respondents)
100
0
0
0
0
0
54
35
12
Individuals (eg, retail)
Businesses or other organisations (eg, business-to-business)
An equal mix of both
Who are your organisation’s primary customers?(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically 2 3 4 5 Not at all Don’t know
Empower salespeople
Empower customer service staff
Create effective marketing campaigns
Refine product development process
Forecast demand
Improve customer service
Improve retail offerings and selections
Adjust pricing
How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?.(% respondents)
27 38 35
12 54 15 15 4
19 42 27 12
19 27 46 4 4
8 38 35 12 8
19 42 19 15 4
23 27 27 8 8 8
8 50 23 8 8 4
22 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 3Asia-Pacifi c survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
46
12
12
12
19
$500m or less
$500m to $1bn
$1bn to $5bn
$5bn to $10bn
$10bn or more
What are your organisation’s global annual revenues in US dollars? (% respondents)
General management
Finance
Strategy and business development
Sales
Customer service
Procurement
IT
Operations and production
Marketing
Supply-chain management
Risk
Information and research
R&D
Legal
Human resources
Other
What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions.(% respondents)
42
31
15
15
15
15
12
12
12
8
4
4
4
0
0
4
Board member
CEO/President/Managing director
CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
CIO/Technology director
Other C-level executive
SVP/VP/Director
Head of Business Unit
Head of Department
Manager
Other
Which of the following best describes your title?(% respondents)
4
19
8
0
4
15
12
12
27
0
23 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 4EMEA survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Appendix 4: Europe Middle East and Africasurvey results
47
33
10
7
3
Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers (retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category
Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling, relevant marketing
Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes
Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services
Other
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.(% respondents)
1. No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination; 3. Some procedures 4. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and Don’t knowunits are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies
Planning and executing promotional activity
Developing and launching new products
Planning and executing marketing campaigns
Analysing and segmenting customers
Analysing and segmenting consumers
Gauging customer satisfaction
Measuring effectiveness of processes
Responding to customer demands or complaints
Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
Other
Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.(% respondents)
17 10 47 27
3 10 13 47 27 0
20 20 40 20
7 17 37 27 13 0
13 10 37 33 7 0
3 27 37 30 3 0
3 17 43 30 7 0
3 7 17 47 23 3
24 31 31 10 3
100
24 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 4EMEA survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
Reducing the cost of sales
Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve sales volume and revenue objectives
Cross-selling or upselling consumers
Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
Segmenting and profiling consumers
Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
Other
Don’t know
In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. (% respondents)
53
47
43
37
30
27
23
20
20
20
10
10
10
0
0
Helping each function within your organisation find and act on ways to support the others
Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent picture of the organisation
Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual planning through promotions to claims management
Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
Developing and sharing a detailed picture of consumer behaviors and preferences
Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
Measuring the probability that planned promotions will result in achieving sales and volume targets
Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors by total value over the life of the relationship
Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. (% respondents)
37
33
33
30
30
30
27
23
3
3
3
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?(% respondents)
In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service, convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
We are currently developing a social media strategy
My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
Agree Disagree Don’t know
23 77
80 10 10
60 27 13
23 60 17
43 40 17
40 50 10
40 50 10
70 23 7
40 57 3
67 27 7
40 53 7
30 57 13
25 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 4EMEA survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Global economic downturn
Emergence of new competitors
Changing requirements among retailers and distributors
Evolving consumer needs
Significant demand shifts for our products/services
Finding access to credit/capital
Disruptive technology developments
Focusing on sustainability efforts
Emergence of new markets for our products and services
Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain
Other
Don’t know
Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.(% respondents)
80
40
30
30
23
13
10
10
7
3
10
0
Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
Improving online or self-service product support tools
Improving usability, search and navigation of retailer- and distributor-facing websites
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.(% respondents)
53
43
23
13
0
7
Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service, merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content, in-store content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)
Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites
Building or supporting online communities of consumers
Other
Don’t know/Not applicable
In which of the following ways does your organisation empower consumers? Select all that apply. (% respondents)
67
33
30
27
0
10
Point of sale feedback
Feedback from in-store sales staff
Our own e-commerce site(s)
Third-party e-commerce sites
Phone order interaction
Direct response feedback
Call center customer service interactions
Targeted focus groups
Online social media efforts
Other
Don’t know
What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve the experience of both types of customers? Select up to three from each column.(% respondents)
We are best at collecting and usingWe are worst at collecting and using
47 27
37 27
17 27
3 37
20 10
30 13
13 10
40 13
7 23
00
7 13
26 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 4EMEA survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Monitoring the results of actions in terms of consumer behavior and marketing metrics
Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative
Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers, both positive and negative
Putting recommendations into action
Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information
Synthesising information from customer service into coherent recommendations
Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
Synthesising information from online channels into coherent recommendations
Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that their comments are being addressed
Other
Don’t know
My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information from retailers and consumers to improve the customer experience are: Select up to three. (% respondents)
43
33
30
27
27
23
23
20
17
13
0
3
Western Europe
Eastern Europe
Middle East and Africa
Asia-Pacific
Latin America
North America
In which region are you personally based? (% respondents)
57
23
20
0
0
0
50
40
10
Individuals (eg, retail)
Businesses or other organisations (eg, business-to-business)
An equal mix of both
Who are your organisation’s primary customers?(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically 2 3 4 5 Not at all Don’t know
Empower salespeople
Empower customer service staff
Create effective marketing campaigns
Refine product development process
Forecast demand
Improve customer service
Improve retail offerings and selections
Adjust pricing
How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?.(% respondents)
14 31 31 14 3 7
10 27 43 17 3
23 33 17 23 3
13 33 30 20 3
27 27 30 17
24 34 38 3
3 60 23 10 3
17 47 23 7 3 3
27 Economist Intelligence Unit 2009
Appendix 4EMEA survey results
Beyond transactionsBuilding customer partnerships in consumer goods
Board member
CEO/President/Managing director
CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
CIO/Technology director
Other C-level executive
SVP/VP/Director
Head of Business Unit
Head of Department
Manager
Other
Which of the following best describes your title?(% respondents)
3
20
10
7
3
13
3
20
13
7
40
3
0
10
47
$500m or less
$500m to $1bn
$1bn to $5bn
$5bn to $10bn
$10bn or more
What are your organisation’s global annual revenues in US dollars? (% respondents)
General management
Strategy and business development
Marketing
Finance
Operations and production
Sales
IT
Procurement
Supply-chain management
Risk
Customer service
Legal
Human resources
Information and research
R&D
Other
What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions.(% respondents)
50
33
30
20
17
17
13
10
7
3
3
3
3
0
0
0
28
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