The CPG Guys

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB welcome Chieh Huang, co-founder & CEO of Boxed.com for this episode.Chieh co-founded Boxed.com 8 years ago. He holds a bachelors degree from Johns Hopkins and a law degree from Fordham.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast Questions Chieh answers include:Your career was born into the legal field early and then passed Astro Ape & Zynga? How was Boxed born? What is the mission of boxed.com and what consumer needs does it fulfill? Is it a club/value ecosystem?With the rapid growth of eCommerce in 2020, how is boxed keeping up with increased demand and fulfillment needs?What tools, avenues and vehicles does Boxed use to reach the consumer? What is your philosophy of value for the consumer?How are brand partnerships established with boxed? Is it a rigid criteria?What opportunities do brands have to highlight themselves on boxed? Is retail media a capability? How does a brand execute against this?What’s the role of content - digital shelf SEO copy, title, bullet points...what matters?The pandemic had a significant impact on manufacturer supply chain capabilities including private label. How did Boxed manage consumer expectations around OOS and how did you keep consumers engaged when they might not have been able to source products from you?How do you bring on new assortment from brands? Can brands bring on exclusive assortment only sold on boxed?Hacking growth in ecommerce requires a deep focus on numbers - what are the metrics that should matter to brands selling on boxed?To access all of The CPG Guys content, visit http://cpgguys.com CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB are joined in a two-part series by Bryan Gildenberg, SVP of Commerce at Omnicom Group.In the second episode of the series, Bryan shares his predictions in CPG retail for 2021.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast Specifically, Bryan addresses these questions:As we move to 2021 emerging trends. 2020 was a year for the books - can anyone really create an accurately successful plan for 2021? What advice do you have for brands?Amazon. It’s evolved and it’s a larger part of CPG businesses and brands. Where does it belong? Marketing or Sales? Or elsewhere COE on its own?Let’s get to the role of social media vehicles in lower funnel CVR. Tiktok vs instagram vs native facebook or twitter? In Gretzky terms: where is the puck going?DTC provides data and nowadays attribution is real in the digital journey. 1st party data is therefore par for the course?Reinventing the demand chain on how to drive customer acquisition to engagement to conversion - developing and sustaining a customer relationship : they all have new ways and means. All CPG Guys content may be found at http://cpgguys.com CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB are joined in a two-part series by Bryan Gildenberg, SVP of Commerce at Omnicom Group.In the first episode of the series, Bryan shares his thoughts on the transformations in CPG retail that occurred in 2020.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast Specifically, Bryan addresses these questions:Walmart has  made major moves towards omnichannel in 2020. Epic? Thoughts? Huge winner?Instacart is another one we recognized in our Omnies awards a couple days ago - most improved marketplace? They have been gaining distribution and retail partnerships all year? HH name in 2020!Let’s get strategic and discuss horizontal approaches for brands vs vertical approaches. For growth. Any opinions?Our favorite topic - retail media. We feel media and trade budgets are colliding. It’s violent but the outcome is convergence. Is that an issue? How should brands manage?DTC seems to have arrived. It’s everywhere and everyone is entering the game. Is this realistic?All CPG Guys content may be found at http://cpgguys.com CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB celebrate the first annual "Omnies" which recognize the best in omnichannel digital for retailers, marketplaces and brands.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast In the fourth episode of this series, Retailer awards are named for the following categories:Most Innovative Retailer Best Retail Mobile App  Best Customer Generated Content Best Retail UX Best Partnership Best Supply Chain resources & capabilities Best Retailer Use of Social Media Find all our content and the full list of winners at http://cpgguys.comReferences to Texas A&M Center for Retail Studies and its employees being involved in calculating the results of the awards was satirical and intended to add humor to the series of episodes. CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB celebrate the first annual "Omnies" which recognize the best in omnichannel digital for retailers, marketplaces and brands.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast In the third episode of this series, Retailer awards are named for the following categories:Best eCommerce RetailerBest Omnichannel RetailerBest Regional RetailerMost Improved RetailerBest BOPIS RetailerRising Star RetailerThe rest of the retailer awards are in episode 4 of the seriesFind all our content and the full list of winners at http://cpgguys.comReferences to Texas A&M Center for Retail Studies and its employees being involved in calculating the results of the awards was satirical and intended to add humor to the series of episodes. CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB celebrate the first annual "Omnies" which recognize the best in omnichannel digital for retailers, marketplaces and brands.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast In the second episode of this series, Marketplace awards are named for the following categories:Best eCommerce Marketplace Most Improved Marketplace Rising Star Marketplace Most Innovative Marketplace Best Marketplace EnablerFina all our content and the full list of winners at http://cpgguys.comReferences to Texas A&M Center for Retail Studies and its employees being involved in calculating the results of the awards was satirical and intended to add humor to the series of episodes. CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB celebrate the first annual "Omnies" which recognize the best in omnichannel digital for retailers, marketplaces and brands.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast In the first episode, CPG Brands awards are named for the following categories:Best Digital CPG Best DTC CPGMost Improved Digital CPGRising Star Digital CPGBest CPG Use of Social MediaMost Innovative Digital CPGFind all our content and the full list of winners at http://cpgguys.comReferences to Texas A&M Center for Retail Studies and its employees being involved in calculating the results of the awards was satirical and intended to add humor to the series of episodes. CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB welcome Bridget Lasda, Chief Customer Officer for King Juice/Calypso Lemonade for this episode.Bridget started her career at The Coca-Cola Company and then Heineken USA before joining King Juice.Questions Bridget answers include:You joined Coca-Cola straight out of college. What were some of the experiences or skills you honed at Coca-Cola that have served you particularly well in your career there and beyond?What were some of the requirements of selling alcohol beverage products that were surprising or challenging for you as you joined HeinekenUSA?After working your entire career at large companies with venerable brands, you decide to join this emerging Calypso business. What drew you to this opportunity and were there any particularly humbling experiences you faced working for an early-stage brand?The trade requirements you faced over your career have been transforming as the omnichannel world emerges. What was needed for an omnichannel retailer is much more demanding than just a brick & mortar retailer. Can you tell us what capabilities you need to bring when selling into a national omnichannel retailer particularly as it relates to the digital shelf?When you are Coca-Cola, you are often the category captain or trusted advisor to the buyer. How do you position King Juice’s role and what specific set of capabilities do you employ to succeed in a highly competitive and crowded category?Calypso’s distribution is growing rapidly,even reaching to Hawaii. Is your growth strategy more geographic or channel based? What are your KPIs beyond equivalized cases?The pandemic had broad impact on the food & beverage industry. How did that manifest for King Juice in your supply chain and retail demand? Has that changed as the pandemic extends? Is virtual selling harder or easier that live meetings?Convenience retailers like 7 Eleven and Go Puff have entered the eCommerce world. Is this a promising channel and do you think that more competitors will enter the market? What are some of the key transformations that you are watching in the retail industry that pertain to immediate consumption beverage?How has a commitment to your community through volunteerism brought balance to your professional pursuits and how would you advise our audience to consider similar altruistic pursuits?To access all of The CPG Guys content, visit http://cpgguys.com CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys welcome Ken Coogan from Coogan Partners. Ken recently fielded a survey with CPG shopper marketing professionals and joins the podcast to share the results with our audience.Questions covered in the interview with Peter: What are some of the CPG-related transformations getting your attention in the pandemic?Why did you field this survey and can you give us details behind the makeup of the respondents?What do you see as the key conclusions from the study?What do you consider to have been the biggest changes impacting shopper marketing?  How are they accelerated by Covid?What does the survey tell us brands are doing to win in these turbulent times from an investment perspective?Driving trial through in-store sampling has been virtually eliminated due to health concerns. How are brand compensating and is there a benefit to the digital shelf (sampling for reviews)?What are the sources of insights that brands are turning to to drive their decisions in the pandemic era?What do you think the biggest issues and opportunities will be going forward?How should retailers and brands be thinking about the post pandemic future?In your consulting work around share groups, you bring together people with similar roles at non-competing manufacturers to discuss topics of interest to them. Can you share with us some areas of focus that have risen to the top this year and do they align to this research?Download the survey results here.Access all The CPG Guys content at http://cpgguys.com CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast. 

The CPG Guys Sri Rajagopalan & Peter V.S. Bond are joined in this episode by Wayne Duan VP of eCommerce & Digital Commerce and Sara Master Director of eCommerce Marketing & Catalog Management, both from Constellation Brands, makers of iconic brands like Corona, Modelo, Kim Crawford, Meiomi, Casa Noble & Mi Campo.Sara & Wayne talk about the unique requirements in marketing controlled substances, particularly in leveraging retail media. They also discuss insights in consumption behavior during the pandemic.Questions they address in the interview:Unlike other food & beverage categories, alcohol is subject to additional restrictions in how brands can invest in promotion and shopper marketing, specifically with retailers. Would you tell us about “Tied House Laws” and the “Three Tier System” to ground our audience in how you navigate your operations?  How do these restrictions influence your go-to-market strategy within eCommerce? We understand that the restrictions you mentioned around “Tied House Laws” have also influenced consumer perceptions around alcohol and eCommerce. Is it true that, even today, many consumers think it’s just not allowed or available?Based upon what you just shared about these legal restrictions, let’s put it into real world examples: If a retail media placement is managed and invoiced by a retailer what can you do or not do; and is that different for a third party marketplace that is not owned by a retailer, like Instacart and Drizly for example? As Constellation leans into eCommerce, both from a content and a paid marketing perspective, what is the link between eCommerce and in-store sales? How does eCommerce influence in-store sales and how does your team support this?  Tell us about how content contributes to the digital shelf experience and how you determine where to invest against content? Does content strategy differ based upon how premium a product is? While eCommerce shopping has increased since COVID-19 we know consumers are still shopping in store but they are shopping differently. What are some of the most meaningful insights you can share with us about behavior changes in alc bev retail since the beginning of the pandemic and how are these influencing your business decisions? Trips, product mix, sizes, etc.   Are state omnichannel alc bev laws changing of late and are they benefitting the consumer? In other words, will I ever be able to purchase spirits, wine and beer in Pennsylvania without visiting 3 different stores or in a single eCommerce transaction?  How does Constellation invest in digital media given the legal restrictions? Is everything “Above the line?” What are the target capabilities of a media platform that draw you to investing in them?  As you look to the future, how will the recent bumper growth in eCommerce, paired with the downturn driven by the pandemic, impact Constellations Brands? Do shoppers move away from categories when times are tough or is it brands and pack sizes? How do you compensate?All CPG Guys content may be CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual’s use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.