Foodservice manufacturers spend precious marketing dollars in the hope that they will capture the end user’s attention. All too often, however, marketers struggle to show a true return-on-investment from these efforts. With today’s shrinking budgets and growing marketing accountability, it is imperative that solutions be found that drive measurable results.
All well and good. But how to do it?
Studies (and informal discussions) indicate that a majority of foodservice manufacturers DO NOT formally revisit and analyze their trade promotion activities. Most of the analysis is anecdotal, sales-driven, and often driven by fear of competition. Even when organizations have TPM systems capable of aggregating data for analysis, there seems to be no initiative to do so. Why is this? Two themes tend to be in play:
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Historic perspective: “We never had it, so we forget we’ve got it, and we don’t do anything with it.”
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Timing: “By the time we collect all the relevant information, it’s often too late to address any shortfall in execution with our customers. We need to get better at collecting, analyzing, and using the results to plan.”
No kidding.
The shortfall often isn’t in the system (although it has been a stumbling block for years), but in MANAGEMENT’S lack of financial accountability to its divisions. I see this form of INSANITY as rampant in the industry. (Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.) Wake up and smell the ROI.
As mentioned in this space over the last few weeks, the lagging economy and rapidly increasing costs for raw materials and energy will put renewed pressure on organizations to lower their cost of doing business. Addressing ineffective trade promotion through POST EVENT ANALYSIS is one sure way to focus your investments where they should be, and not where your customers would LIKE it to be. (They have their own agenda, and it might not be the same as yours.) If your TPM solution does not currently AUTOMATICALLY create post-event metrics, set it up to do so. Then make your managers ACCOUNTABLE to review these results regularly with your customer base as part of their business review process.
Customers will RESPECT what they know you INSPECT.
And they will RESPECT you for doing so. Take it to the bank.