The CPG Guys

The CPG Guys Sri & PVSB continue founders month in 2021 with Katie Hotze, the founder & CEO of Grocery Shopii a white label retailer shoppable recipes app that helps shoppers save time while assisting retailers in expanding basket sizes.Follow The CPG Guys on LinkedIn at http://www.LinkedIn.com/company/cpgpodcast Katie answers these questions:What was the shopping experience friction that frustrated you as a shopper, leading you to develop the Grocery Shopii solution and how did you go about validating that your frustration was more widespread among shoppers?What are your thoughts on the current state of technology innovation taking place in the grocery industry and where in the shopping journey is the disruption taking place? Is it more focused on the first or last mile? Has the pandemic radically altered this course? Is there enough disruption happening?We understand you leveraged a startup incubator to launch Grocery Shopii. What are some of the key capabilities it brought to make your business development efforts successful? So, connecting recipes to grocery shopping is nothing new.  What do you see are the issues with how recipes are used today by grocers and brands, and where is the opportunity to disrupt this space?  To make the platform operate, you need to have actual recipes. How do you source the recipe content? How is this different than what others in the industry are doing? - the golden tipping point, fishing in the oceanThere are several other recipe-to-basket software solutions available on the marketplace, I won’t mention them by name. What makes Grocery Shopii stand ahead of the pack in terms of functionality, value, etc. from both the retailers and shopper perspectives? Why do you describe it as outcome-based? Does it help consolidate trips and build baskets?Shoppers increasingly expect the shopping experience to be tailored to their individual needs, leveraging longitudinal behavioral data sets and shopper attitudes. How does personalization come into play with your solution? - the greatest opp for grocery today is gen x and millennial. Fresh content with every visit. There is a metric called cook time she thinks of M-F for mealsWhat is your target audience within the grocery vertical: big national/super regional players or small to medium sized grocers? Maybe all of the above? And where are you in the process of adoption? Regional grocers know their customers, and we can help convert them.How are partnerships fueling your growth?What are your other priorities for growth and what are the major accelerators you are employing? Tech is a sandbox. Meeting the shopper in the micro-moment.Mentorship is a major theme in how you have built your business and a major point of advocacy for you, yes? Would you please expand on this and offer any advice to members of our audience seeking to venture into their own businesses? People, people, groups, names a mentor.Find all of our content at http://cpgguys.comCPGGUYS 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 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.comCPGGUYS 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.comCPGGUYS 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.comCPGGUYS 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.comCPGGUYS 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.comCPGGUYS 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.