2. 2 The Category Leadership Imperative
The Fall season, to me, is a time for re-
flection. As the trees change colors and
temperatures mercifully retreat, it is a
time to not only think back on the journey
of the past year, but to build excitement
and anticipation for the coming new year.
For many of us, Fall also means the fourth
financial quarter is now looming, and
brings about a different kind of reflec-
tion—an urgent reminder that results are
coming due sooner than we would prefer,
and a recognition of the challenges that
continue to affect our performance.
It’s because of this that I’m excited to
share Caprē Group’s Category Leader-
ship initiative and how it impacts results.
Our work with top manufacturers and re-
tailers gives us insight into which strategic
priorities business leaders are investing
their resources, and Category Leadership
is near the top. Success today is driven by
strong foresight at a holistic category lev-
el—one that focuses on growth for both
one’s own organization and its important
external partners.
Take innovation, for example. Shrink-
ing margins are increasing the pressure
to innovate, but line extensions are ex-
hausted, and niche competitors are soak-
ing up demand before larger, less-agile
firms can take action. But through Cat-
egory Leadership, companies can estab-
lish a vivid, insights-led vision for the
future that the whole company can rally
behind. This cross-functional alignment
creates an integrative arena for teams to
collaborate for success.
We hope this paper helps you better un-
derstand the opportunity for Category
Leadership to impact your business re-
sults, and that it arms you with the key
components to begin building this capa-
bility. And since Fall also happens to be
college football season, I’ll close by simple
saying: Go Gators!
A Word From Our Founder Anne Chambers
Sincerely,
Anne Chambers
3. 3 The Category Leadership Imperative
Headline here
About the Authors
Caprē Group would like to extend a special thanks to our esteemed industry colleagues who
shared their time and expertise in the creation of this white paper:
Chris Almeida · Senior Director of Marketing and Store Experience | CVS Health
Geoff Betrus · Senior Director of Shopper Solutions | Johnson & Johnson
Greg Brewer · Managing Director of Category Leadership | Nestlé Purina Petcare
Dale Clark · Senior Director of Sales Strategy and Shopper Engagement | The Hershey Company
Authors & Contributors
Acknowledgements
Anne’s expertise includes driving growth
through customer-centric strategies in shop-
per and consumer marketing, strategic plan-
ning, large-scale change initiatives, interactive
marketing, CRM and technology innovation.
Anne Chambers · CEO & Founder
Juan brings a wealth of knowledge and ex-
pertise in brand and shopper marketing and
a deep understanding of retailer collabora-
tion. Juan also applies his global CPG expe-
rience to enhance the scope and perspective
of client solutions.
Juan Lora · Director
Kristi is an industry pioneer in Shopper
Marketing, with experience designing and
deploying shopper marketing capabilities, in-
tegrating consumer and shopper disciplines,
and building shopper engagement models for
leading CPG clients.
Kristi Ross · Managing Principal
Kyle’s expertise includes providing cutting-
edge insights and strategy to drive innova-
tive solutions for global consumer brands.
He is also a pioneer in Habit Marketing, an
approach for driving automatic, unconscious
shopper loyalty.
Kyle Morich · Consultant
Scott’s expertise includes strategic catego-
ry planning, shopper marketing excellence,
shaping strategies into winning sales plan,
and collaborating with his clients to solve
complex business problems that drive results.
Scott Daughdril · Director
Coco is a strategic marketing professional
with demonstrated expertise building reve-
nue-generating programs & strategies with
a specialty in bringing innovative, tailored
solutions to life.
Coco Owens · Consultant
4. 4 The Category Leadership Imperative
Contents
Executive Summary Page 5
The Leadership Dilemma Page 6
Seeking collaboration with partners is better than going alone
Why Category Leadership is Needed Now More Than Ever Page 7
The changing market demands a Category Leadership approach
A New Model of Category Leadership Page 8
A framework for understanding Category Leadership
Insights & Trends Page 8
The fuel for creating a category-first viewpoint
Category Vision and Growth Drivers Page 9
The backbone of strong Category Leadership
Case Study: Tide PODS Page 10
Igniting growth where there’s none to be found
Internal Strategies Page 11
Alignment to the category vision sparks innovation
External Strategies and Planning Page 12
Dedication to mutual growth drives mutual success
Why Category Leadership? Page 13
The internal and external benefits to be realized
What Impedes Category Leadership? Page 14
What happens when Category Leadership falters
Case Study: Kodak Page 15
Lead or Be Led (to Bankruptcy)
A Category Leadership Capability: What’s Needed to Lead the Way Page 16
The fundamental components of a Category Leadership capability
Case Study: Never Too Late Page 19
A Major CPG Changes Its Destiny Through Category Leadership
The Path to Category Leadership: 5 Steps to Get Started Page 20
How to quickly bring Category Leadership to your organization
The Look of Success Page 21
How Caprē Group has delivered client results via Category Leadership
Declare for Category Leadership with Caprē Group Page 22
5. 5 The Category Leadership Imperative
Collaboration between CPGs & Retailers can lead to big wins for both, but more often than not
our structures, incentives, and inertia inhibit working together. Now more than ever, companies
must create a leadership voice, and Category Leadership is the best approach for identifying the
insights, driving the innovation, and creating the market impact that is so necessary to succeed in
this uncertain and changing marketplace.
The Caprē Group model of
Category Leadership has
four distinct parts:
Organizations that build a Category Leadership capability improve their innovation success rate, they
increase productivity, they boost differentiation, and they drive shopper conversion & loyalty. Most
importantly, Category Leaders elevate their relationships with external stakeholders; by adopting a
category-first mindset, a Category Leadership organization declares its intent to drive mutual success.
Category Leadership goes beyond a simple vision for the future—it is a foundational change in how
organizations go to market. And in an increasingly complex and challenging world, it is becoming
the new standard for how successful organizations operate and create sustainable growth for them-
selves and their partners.
The Category Leadership
Imperative
3.First, it is fueled by comprehensive Insights &
Trends. These are robust ideas that drive ac-
tion and provide foresight into what dynamics
are influencing the marketplace.
Next, it is anchored by a strong Category
Vision and impactful Growth Drivers. The
vision provides an aspirational viewpoint on
how the category will evolve in the coming
years, and the drivers define what will influ-
ence growth in that future state.
The vision is an inspirational beacon to align
Internal Strategies. When centered on a
guiding vision for the future, internal strate-
gies can ignite innovation across the organi-
zation to unlock new levels of growth.
Finally, having a defined category viewpoint
creates cohesive External Strategies. These
strategies improve collaboration by uniting
CPGs & retailers around a common platform
for growth and driving joint benefits.
1.
2.
4.
Why Category Leadership is Critical to CPG & Retail Success
Executive Summary
6. 6 The Category Leadership Imperative
The Leadership Dilemma
Collaboration
We know collaboration
can lead to bigger wins, but time
and time again we work only in our
own self-interests.
is critical to suc-
cess, but when opportunities for collabo-
ration arise in the real world, we tend to
only look out for ourselves. Many of us
learned this from the old Psychology 101
mainstay “the Prisoner’s Dilemma.” The
Prisoner’s Dilemma experiment illus-
trates that promoting one’s own rational
self-interest will ultimately lead to worse
outcomes than working cooperatively for
total mutual gain. If everyone is looking
out for themselves alone, everyone loses.
We remember this experiment and ap-
preciate its lessons, and yet we forget its
teachings when encountered in reality.
We operate in an interconnected world,
and yet our structures inhibit these con-
nections. We are “manufacturer” or “re-
tailer,” not “partners.” We are “marketing”
or “sales,” not “teammates.” The organiza-
tional silos we create to bring order and
focus to daily operations can stand in the
way of collaboration toward shared goals.
We know, objectively, that collaboration
can lead to bigger wins for all parties in-
volved, but whether it’s because of incen-
tives, tradition, or just not enough hours in
the day, time and time again we work only
in our own self-interests.
But we aren’t prisoners in these towers
we have built for ourselves; we have the
ability to communicate and co-
operate to maximize our
combined outcomes.
It requires flexibility,
it requires patience,
and most importantly,
it requires leadership.
Someone must stand up
and establish a vision for what
success looks like. Someone must align
their team to work together in a single
direction. Someone must reach across
the table and declare their intentions to
create mutual, sustainable growth. This
is Category Leadership, and this leader-
ship is increasingly imperative to CPG
and Retail success.
6 The Category Leadership Imperative
7. 7 The Category Leadership Imperative
Anticipating Change
is Critical
It has never been more difficult to
predict where the market is head-
ing—investing in the right areas for
growth cannot be left to chance.
Consumer preferences
rapidly evolving
Retail landscape
increasingly fragmented
Explosion of shopper choice
Amorphous and personalized
paths-to-purchase
Technology
Accelerates Change
Technology is rapidly evolving how
companies go to market. “Today is
the slowest pace of change we will
ever experience in our lives,” says
Chris Almeida, Senior Director of
Marketing and Store Experience at
CVS Health. “Mobile went from an
afterthought to creating heads-down
shoppers with access to anything,
anytime, anywhere.”
24/7access to information&commerce
Real-time behavioral data
Micro-targeting of shoppers
AI-enabled 4P automation
Imposing Marketplace
Challenges
Amidst this unpredictable march to
the future are the very real demands
of modern life challenging CPGs and
Retailers to sustain competitive ad-
vantage and growth.
Growth deflated by declining
trips and loyalty
Margin pressures shift focus to
costs & productivity
New competition across
platforms & channels
Designing & executing strategy
more complex
Why Category Leadership is Needed
Now More Than Ever
CPGs and Retailers may not face such overt threats as Machiavellian prison wardens
playing games with their futures, but the uncertain and evolving marketplace is
forcing them to take action:
The world is too big now to maintain a narrow viewpoint. It is vital that organizations
have a cohesive understanding and perspective of the world. “Manufacturers need to deliver
value beyond the transaction of goods and services,” explains Greg Brewer, Managing
Director of Category Leadership at Nestlé Purina Petcare. “Whether it’s aligning busi-
ness strategies, translating trends into future growth opportunities, or providing customized,
unique solutions, bringing this value to retailers will be a significant point of differentiation.”
Manufacturers have an opportunity to lead in the Category Leadership space. They
can leverage technology and big data to create powerful insights. They can harness rap-
id change to drive game-changing innovation. They can transform market challenges into
market impact. They can do all of this by committing to Category Leadership.
8. 8 The Category Leadership Imperative
A New Model of
Category Leadership
Category Leadership delivers multiple important benefits. It establishes a
shared vision for suppliers and their retail partners, it elevates transactional relationships
to strategic partnerships, and it drives mutual success. Category Leadership is built on
three core tenets: Insights, Innovation, and Impact. These are the forces that drive com-
petitive advantage, unlock growth, and form the foundational elements that shape the
Category Leadership Framework.
Successful Category Leadership is universally fueled by insights and trends. The infor-
mation available today is overwhelming, from consumer insights and shopper behaviors to
market performance and technological data. Making sense of that information and distill-
ing it into insights—robust ideas that drive action—is the first task in Category Leadership.
Actionable insights are only half of the equation. Insights must be synthesized into for-
ward-looking trends that predict what will be relevant in the next few years. Trends should
draw conclusions from a reasonable set of assumptions and, most importantly, represent a
company’s willingness to plant a flag in the ground and declare “this is what the shopper
will want in five years,” or “that is what retail will look like in 5 years.” This bravery is
invigorating to retailers awash in a sea of their own shopper card data and with visibility
to little else; they seek this foresight from their supplier partners.
Category Leadership is built
on three core tenets:
Insights, Innovation, and Impact
Insights and Trends
9. 9 The Category Leadership Imperative
Category Vision and
Growth Drivers
insights and trends help create
the category vision and supporting growth
drivers. Imagine that data is sunlight—the
first job of Category Leadership is to hold up
a lens and focus that light into something tar-
geted and useful. Build insights, then trends,
and, finally, focus so clearly that all that is left
is a single, white hot beam. This focused light
is the category vision: a rallying point for
the organization.
The vision is an objective story about the future
of the category. It is important that the vision be
objective because data can be manipulated to
tell any story the user wants to tell. This is not a
vision for what best serves brands, but a vision
for where the category can and will likely be in
the future. Further, this is not a narrow vision
only for the areas in which the organization
competes—it is a vision for the whole category.
This also means inputs have to be category-lev-
el: category-level insights and category-level
trends will shape the category vision.
is bolstered by category
growth drivers. Caprē Group defines growth
drivers as the big forces that will determine
the choices of retailers and manufacturers in
the future; the core factors that will influence
growth in the category whether or not the
supplier or retailer chooses to acti-
vate against them. In other
words, the Health &
Wellness movement
will be shaping con-
sumer preferences
over the next few
years, whether or not
a supplier adapts its ingre-
dient profile to meet those prefer-
ences. The trend toward Personalization
will change shopper behavior over the next
few years, whether or not a retailer leverages
its dataset to provide customized experiences
in the store. Category Growth Drivers guide
the organization and its partners toward the
vision and demonstrate how to ignite growth
in the future state.
It is critical to get the vision and growth
drivers right, because the vision is the back-
bone of Category Leadership. As the beacon
of light for the entire organization to rally
behind, this unified point of view will guide
strategy both internally and externally for
years to come.
Focused The vision
The category vision
should be a rallying point—
aspirational and inspiring
to the organization
and its partners
Defining a Category
Companies have leeway to define their category,
and give themselves permission to activate in
new areas.
For example, a chocolate company can de-
fine its category as confection (the majority
of their portfolio today), or it can define their
category as snacking (allowing for innovation
and experimentation all across the store).
The category vision should be grounded in reali-
ty,but it should also be aspirational and inspiring
to the organization and its partners.
10. 10 The Category Leadership Imperative
Who could have anticipated a shake-up in laundry detergents?
By 2012, sales growth, volume, and price had been flat for years. With
household penetration already high and most users already converted
to the liquid form, what shopper would pay more or add more loads of
laundry to their weekly routine?
Tide foresaw this opportunity and, more importantly, took action upon
it. The market leader in laundry detergent and a flagship brand for Procter & Gamble,
Tide created a revolutionary new product innovation to disrupt its own category and
change the way households could do laundry forever.
Tide PODS, a single-dose laundry detergent solution, were born from a core insight:
today’s shoppers needed more help in the laundry room. Lives were busier and
liquid detergents were a hassle (and who ever knew the right amount to use,
anyway?). Tide built a product that brought convenience and efficiency to
laundry routines, and advertised it as “the ultimate perfect dose.”
In a category that did not outwardly appear in need of innovation,
PODS would push category growth beyond expectation. Shopper
conversion was high, and according to P&G, 97% of Tide PODS users
were satisfied with their experience. A robust consumer study revealed
the product appealed to a wide variety of shopper segments—from conve-
nience-seekers attracted to its simplicity to cost-conscious shoppers attracted to its
promise of less waste—and that these shoppers were willing to pay more for this
value. And because the lightweight product dramatically reduced shipping costs, Tide
PODS could proudly boast a significantly higher margin than competitor solutions.
Category Leadership had direct impact on Tide’s performance. According to Advertising
Age, within just a few months of the PODS launch Tide sales were up 9% and the brand
held a dominant 73% share of what was then a $300
million “laundry pod market” across Walmart, club,
and dollar stores. That was just the beginning: esti-
mates predict laundry pods will represent $32 bil-
lion in global sales by 2020.
Tide transformed insights into a vision for its catego-
ry, used that vision to drive internal innovation, and
created a “triple win”: Tide won market share, retail-
ers saw growth and margin in a historically flat cate-
gory, and consumers gained a better laundry experi-
ence. It seems big things do come in small packages.
Igniting New Growth Where There’s None to be Found
Case Study: Tide PODS
Source 1: “Tide Pods Winning $7 Billion Detergent Wars By Redefining Value” by Jack Neff. Source 2: “Concentrated Liquid Laundry Detergent Market Amount
to Reach 32 $Billion by 2020” by Gos International Inc. Tide Pods Logo is a registered trademark of The Procter and Gamble Company used for editorial purposes.
Tide PODS Shelf Image by Mike Mozart.
11. 11 The Category Leadership Imperative
Internal Strategies
of Category Leadership
emerges when internal strategies align around
the vision and inspire product and non-prod-
uct innovation throughout the organization.
This innovation leads to new opportunities,
new ways of thinking, and, ultimately, new
pathways to growth.
Internally, organizations must make stra-
tegic choices, and it is essential that these
strategies are in lockstep with the catego-
ry vision and the factors driving future
growth. This strategic alignment ignites in-
novation in everything from product devel-
opment to operations.
Marketing will innovate to align its approach-
es with the vision, from brand positioning to
implementing new communication vehicles.
Finance will build new forecasts that incor-
porate growth drivers to better predict the
category’s future performance. The vision can
even spotlight new M&A opportunities, as the
company looks to jumpstart competitive ad-
vantage in the future state.
“As the world’s largest healthcare company,
we need to leverage our expertise and in-
sights to innovate new patient and shopper
experiences,” says Geoff Betrus, Senior
Director of Shopper Solutions at Johnson
& Johnson. “We now operate differently as
an enterprise; because patients, shoppers,
and consumers are one and the same, we
have to collaborate internally to build co-
hesive strategies that result in totally new
experiences for patients and shoppers.”
The value
Internally, failures to execute Category Leadership
are often systemic to siloed corporate structures
or short-term thinking.
• Limiting return on investment by not linking plan-
ning, strategies, or tactics to the category vision
• Making merchandising decisions based on short-
term financial benefits, and not based on relevant
growth drivers
• Maximizing trade dollars and margin at the ex-
pense of implementing true category-expanding
initiatives and innovation
• Leaving all the work to Category Managers, in-
stead of adopting an organization-wide responsi-
bility to be stewards for the category
INTERNAL CATEGORY LEADERSHIP FAILURES
11 The Category Leadership Imperative
12. 12 The Category Leadership Imperative
External Strategies
and Planning
and manufacturers also need
to build external strategies that enable them
to win with their partners in the future
context of the category. This where the final
tenet of Category Leadership—market im-
pact—comes to bear.
How do external strategies create market
impact? By aligning investment choices to
secure shopper acquisition and loyalty. By
determining the when, where, and how prod-
ucts should activate along the path-to-pur-
chase. By understanding the shopper’s path
to purchase, and how that path will change
in the category future state. And most impor-
tantly, by using the vision and growth driv-
ers to set up a collaborative plan for success.
Companies are looking to their partners for
help to understand where the marketplace
is heading—Category Leadership provides
that expertise and lays the groundwork for
delivering mutual growth.
According to Dale Clark, Senior Director
of Sales Strategy and Shopper Engage-
ment at Hershey, “the biggest challenge is to
deliver impactful retail solutions as retailers
continue to differentiate from each other. Ten
years ago, executing national programming
was efficient, because ‘one size fit all.’ Now
that retailers request a great deal of custom-
ization in their programming, merchandis-
ing, and even product packaging, we have to
place much more emphasis on collaboration
and communication with our retail partners.
Driving both sales and resource efficiency
should be our collective goal.”
processes anchored
on the vision and growth drivers connect
across strategies and ensure internal constit-
uents and external stakeholders are united
in their approach to unlocking new growth,
from upstream innovation and brand plan-
ning down to joint business planning.
Retailers Strong planning
12 The Category Leadership Imperative
Externally, Category Leadership strategies fail
when they lose focus on driving mutual growth.
• Defining strategies without clearly understanding
shopper needs within the category and store
• Focusing on metrics that drive immediate gains at
the expense of long-term success
• Manufacturers force retailers to adopt the ‘latest
and greatest’ initiatives without connecting these
platforms to a higher purpose or vision
• Too much focus on the negotiation instead of the
partnership, taking on a ‘how do I win?’ attitude
instead of exploring ‘how do WE win?’
EXTERNAL CATEGORY LEADERSHIP FAILURES
13. 13 The Category Leadership Imperative
that adopts this model of Category Leadership will realize a
number of benefits once internal and external strategies focus on the same goal: leveraging
the category growth drivers to win the in future state of the category.
Why Category Leadership?
An organization
Improve Innovation Success Rate
Innovation has a better chance to succeed
when aligned to the category future state
and internal and external partners are
united behind the concept.
Prioritize Resource Allocation
Gain a clear view of the factors that will
shape the future complexion of the catego-
ry and prioritize investment accordingly.
Increase Organizational Productivity
Not only is work more efficient and effec-
tive when aligned to a shared future vision,
but resources can be stretched further and
make more impact.
Boost Differentiation
A manufacturer fully committed to Cate-
gory Leadership uniquely elevates its voice
among its partners; it also fuels customized
strategies that help retailers differentiate
themselves versus their competition.
Drive Shopper Conversion and Loyalty
Growth drivers often reflect how shop-
pers are changing their attitudes and
behaviors; alignment to these factors en-
sures stronger shopper engagement.
Optimize Space Utilization
The shelf is a finite resource—a multi-
year category vision provides a plan for
evolving the shelf assortment from to-
day to tomorrow’s future state.
Internal Benefits External Benefits
14. 14 The Category Leadership Imperative
can struggle to practice effective Cat-
egory Leadership. What factors impede companies from im-
plementing an impactful Category Leadership program? In-
ternally, failures to execute Category Leadership are often systemic to siloed corporate
structures or short-term thinking. Externally, Category Leadership strategies fail when
they lose focus on driving mutual growth.
The pernicious root of these failings is incentives. Companies often incentivize employees to
focus on growing share versus growing the category. Whatever logic is established to sup-
port a category-first mindset is invalidated when incentives promote the opposite behavior.
In Virgil’s The Aeneid, readers encounter the famous story of the Trojan Horse. “Do not trust
the horse, Trojans!” it was said. “Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bringing gifts.” This
quote exemplifies the biggest impediment to successful Category Leadership: using Catego-
ry Leadership to drive one’s own benefit. Taking on the false veneer of a category-first mind-
set as a means to achieve brand goals is no different than the fabled Grecian ruse during the
Trojan War. Category Leadership opens doors and elevates conversations between suppliers
and retailers, but taking advantage of that good faith to promote one’s own agenda under-
mines all Category Leadership efforts.
Shifting the mindset to Category Leadership requires a wholesale cultural change, from
brand to sales to leadership to HR. The expectations and incentives must truly align joint ob-
jectives and mutual growth, or neither side—supplier nor retailer—will meet its full potential.
What Impedes Category
Leadership?
Organizations
The biggest failure of Category Leadership is
when organizations use the approach as
a trick to drive their own self-interests;
shifting the mindset to Category Leadership
requires a wholesale cultural change.
14 The Category Leadership Imperative
15. 15 The Category Leadership Imperative
When Kodak filed for bankruptcy in January 2012, the reason was
clear without reading beyond the headlines: digital photography had
killed Kodak. But few understood just how well positioned Kodak had
once been to lead the digital revolution that eventually toppled it. After
all, a Kodak engineer invented the first digital camera in 1975. He still
recalls his management’s reaction at the time: “that’s cute – but don’t
tell anyone about it.”
In life and business, few are granted second chances, but Kodak was again given the op-
portunity to lead the category. A few years later in 1981, a Kodak study predicted digital
photography would replace film in approximately a decade (it was remarkably accurate).
Kodak had 10 years to innovate and lead its category into the next century, but ig-
nored the call. Instead, Kodak continued to invest in film technology, squandering its
chances to redefine the category before it redefined them instead.
Kodak had valuable insights and the gift of time to act
upon them; why did it wait 20 years to start transform-
ing its business? The photography giant had hoped their
century-old cash cow would live forever, even ignoring
its own history of innovating to stay ahead of the technol-
ogy curve (once with dry plate film and again with color
film). By not embracing digital as a growth driver, Ko-
dak failed to align its internal strategy with external
realities in the shifting photography category landscape,
and in turn never captured that growth once this new
technology proliferated.
Kodak also missed an opportunity to enhance its relationship
with retailers. The Photo Department was once a strong revenue driver for many
Food, Drug, and Mass retailers, and Kodak was a key partner in driving this section’s
growth. Kodak could have leveraged its insights to transition the Photo Department to
be more digital-ready sooner, and ensure that shoppers on the
front end of the adoption curve were rewarded with a posi-
tive experience. Instead, its retail partners had to turn to other
manufacturers for Photography insights or learn harsh lessons
about the digital revolution on their own.
Kodak lacked an insights-led vision to move the category
forward. Or perhaps, the vision was just like its photos,
frozen in time and stuck in the bygone days of film.
Lead or Be Led (to Bankruptcy)
Case Study: Kodak
Source 1: Mui, C. “How Kodak Failed” Forbes Online. http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2012/01/18/how-kodak-failed/ Accessed August 2016.
Source 2: Kodak Annual Revenue. Kodak is a registered trademark and used for editorial purposes. Camera image is by Steve Harwood.
17. 17 The Category Leadership Imperative
INTERNAL
REQUIREMENTS
EXTERNAL
REQUIREMENTS
Defined Vision & Growth Driver Process
The organization needs a process that defines how to, when to, and who will synthesize trends, create growth drivers,
and establish the category vision. Critically, this process must also maintain foresight, continuously evolving the
vision and growth drivers as market dynamics shift and new insights emerge.
Multi-Year JBP Process
With external partners, organizations must build a process for long-term Joint Business Planning that establishes
a shared vision that drives collaboration, prioritizes mutual growth opportunities, and inspires and rewards all stake-
holders. This collaborative partnership is a platform for all future external Category Leadership strategies.
Greg Brewer and Nestlé Purina recognize the need for a Multi-Year JBP Process.
“We have always had a focus on shared value, but have increased our emphasis and discipline
around a comprehensive, joint planning process with the retailer—and scorecarding our suc-
cess along the way. It’s about aligning to growth strategies up front, defining initiatives to
achieve that growth, and then tracking KPIs so we can course correct when necessary.”
Borderless Work Environment
INTERNAL
REQUIREMENTS
Success Measures
The people involved in executing these internal and external strategies will need defined roles and responsi-
bilities in the new Category Leadership ecosystem. It may also be necessary to broaden their competencies to
operate with a category-first mindset.
Defined Roles and Broadened Competencies
KPIs and other success measures create accountability for external strategies. Category Leadership excels when
success measures align to category goals. This means partnering with retailers to identify the best metrics to in-
dicate success, and also linking these category growth metrics to incentives that motivate teams.
Process: Creating the process is the first step every Category Leader must take, setting the
groundwork for planning and aligning efforts across the company and its partners.
People People: The Category Leadership Process sets the groundwork for success, but will be
ineffective if people are not aligned and incentivized to execute it.
Silos must be knocked down to empower Category Leadership. Removing organizational borders enables people
and teams to communicate and function freely in the broader ecosystem.
EXTERNAL
REQUIREMENTS
REQUIREDFOR
BOTH
Shared Vision and Resource Allocation
Both processes must ensure that the Growth Drivers are foundational to any planning and development cycles—
not only vision creation and JBP, but all processes that impact the organization’s internal or external strategies. This
includes everything from brand planning and innovation, to shopper marketing and trade funds.
Additionally, the Category Leadership process must allow the nimble allocation of resources. Innovation and mar-
ket impact can be planned, but compelling category opportunities may also arise sporadically. Processes should
support a flexible flow of resources to these opportunities.
REQUIREDFOR
BOTH
19. 19 The Category Leadership Imperative
Impact, Inc. is a market leader in a growing but rapidly
changing industry. Impact is home to a tremendous portfolio
of brands, and its culture reflects that. There is no inherent
wrong in promoting a strong brand focus, but the side ef-
fects can be damaging. In Impact’s case, retailer partners be-
came frustrated that their market leader’s new ‘innovations’
and platforms only delivered market share, and not category
growth. They had become myopic, missing important cat-
egory trends and undermining objectivity.
Impact learned this firsthand when its Advantage Survey ranking for
“Trustworthiness” fell precipitously in a single year. There had been
a growing niche of innovation in their category, but because none of
Impact’s brands were competing in this space, the innovation was
ignored or downplayed in client conversations. Now, that niche seg-
ment was the fastest growing in the category, and competitors were
touting their ability to grow the category—while Impact remained si-
lent.
The company’s eyes were open, and Impact took action to reestablish their leadership
in the category. The CEO took Category Leadership on as a top mandate and demanded
rapid results in time for customer planning conversations later in the year. Rather than
delay to rebuild a more category-specific insights arsenal, the team leveraged existing in-
sights to build category growth drivers as fast as a possible. These drivers were imperfect,
but helped repair retailer relationships. The team deployed the drivers in less than three
months (then immediately went to work on building stronger and more actionable growth
drivers for the following year).
In less than twelve months, Impact had redesigned its sales and marketing organization,
established strong category leadership processes, built a number of field-ready toolkits, and
augmented its learning plan to incorporate category-level insights questions. The
new capability drove greater internal alignment, and customer teams were ex-
cited about having new category-focused tools to deploy with their accounts.
Most importantly, with trust reestablished, customers were again asking
Impact to serve as Category Captain and provide strategic input on prod-
uct assortment and store layout. Impact, Inc. had regained its leadership, and
proved true the old adage that it is never too late to change.”
Caprē Group frequently has the firsthand opportunity to witness leading organizations undergo radical change. One
such organization identified its struggles to lead its category and took action to adopt a new mindset and implement
a Category Leadership capability; its journey is described below. Out of respect to client confidentiality, identifying
details have been changed or removed. For the purposes of this case, the client will be referred to as “Impact, Inc.”
A Major CPG Changes Its Destiny Through
Category Leadership
Case Study: Never Too Late:
20. 20 The Category Leadership Imperative
Assess Where
You Are
To write a roadmap to
Category Leadership,
know first where you
are. Perform a non-bi-
ased assessment of
the organization’s
Category Leadership
capability (or lack
thereof) to identify
strengths and high-
light opportunities.
Define & Prioritize
Opportunities
For many organi-
zations, the list of
Category Leadership
‘gaps’ will be long.
The team should
define the scope of
these opportunities
for improvement and
map out what it will
take to improve. Iden-
tify where to begin by
prioritizing the oppor-
tunities based on level
of impact and speed of
implementation.
Leverage Momen-
tum and Scale Up
After several small
wins the new Category
Leadership capability
will have momentum.
Leverage this quickly,
before attention and
urgency fades. Recruit
more team members,
garner support for
larger initiatives, and
rapidly scale the
new capability.
is an integrated, seamless capability in
which everyone in the organization commits to a category-first mindset.
But aligning a large organization to build a new capability takes time, and
often requires executive stewardship to foster (and sometimes mandate)
the change. In the meantime, regardless of function and role, change can start today:
In an increasingly complex and challenging world, Category Leadership is becoming the
new standard for how successful organizations operate and create sustainable, mutual
growth for themselves and their partners. By harnessing insights, driving internal align-
ment and innovation, and creating category-focused impact, Category Leadership goes
far beyond a simple vision for the future—it is a foundational change in how organiza-
tions go to market.
The Path to Category Leadership:
5 Steps to Get Started
Category Leadership
Category Leadership
goes far beyond a simple vision
for the future—it is a foundational
change in how organizations
go to market.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Enlist Change
Agents
Every organization
has strong team mem-
bers that influence
decisions and drive
action. Bring these
leaders into the fold!
Recruit these “change
agents” to support
and even participate
in building the new
Category Leadership
capability.
Show Impact with
Small Wins
Creating impact is im-
portant, but proving
the concept quickly
is essential. From
the prioritized list of
opportunities, adopt
those that are more
certain to create im-
mediate improvement.
Once success and
momentum has been
achieved, share the
results far and wide
to bolster Category
Leadership support.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
21. 21 The Category Leadership Imperative
15 years, Caprē Group has helped many leading manufacturers and retailers
build category-focused capabilities and platforms. According to one CPG Sales Leader,
“Caprē Group transformed the planning and sales process for the entire company. Their
impactful process and highly-engaged training helped our organization become partners
with our retailers and drive robust and sustainable category growth. I would highly rec-
ommend Caprē Group to any supplier looking to establish a Category Leadership voice.”
Caprē Group customizes its proven approach to address clients’ unique situations, from
designing visions and identifying growth drivers to applying insights and piloting innova-
tive capabilities with customer teams, and training the organization on the competencies
needed for best-in-class Category Leadership. Regardless of client need, Caprē Group is
always focused on delivering quantifiable results:
Frozen Foods
Leading frozen food manufacturer integrates category
shopper voice into customer planning
• Developed multi-year Category Vision identifying growth
opportunities and challenges by leveraging insights, trends,
and retail & shopper dynamics
• Built best in class Category Stories that estab-
lished leadership voice and enhanced strategic
partnerships with customers
Beverage
Leading beer manufacturer leverages wealth
of insights to identify growth drivers impacting
the category
• Identified Insights-led vision for Beer category, created and
sized Growth Drivers, and linked to occasions in priority
channels
• Leveraged Strategic Blueprint and Activity Calendar to
define and prioritize occasion-specific growth driver strategies
Health
Manufacturer realigns when priority retailer
shifts focus to health & wellness viewpoint
• Developed retailer-defined Best Practices and facilitated
Team Trainings to deepen knowledge of shoppers and shift
category to health
• Transformed relationship with retailer invoking new
Segmentation Strategy to build and deploy wellness-focused
programs
The Look of Success
For over
Pet Care
Pet care manufacturer challenged itself to become a
more prominent voice in a crowded marketplace
• United the organization around an Aspirational Pet Care
Vision that brought new consumer relevancy and reestab-
lished the unique benefits of the category at retail
• Created Customer Team-Ready Toolkits to deploy
vision, trends, new item strategies, and customer-spe-
cific size of prize calculations
22. 22 The Category Leadership Imperative
Caprē Group I 115 Perimeter Center Place I Suite 1120 I Atlanta, GA 30346 I capregroup.com
Declare for Category Leadership
with Caprē Group
The views expressed in this work represent the research and expertise of Caprē Group, Inc. Any quotes used with permission.
No confidential client information was used to create this work.
is ready to partner with you to develop
your organization’s Category Leadership capability.
Our experts specialize in working with manufacturers
and their external partners to develop a compelling,
insights-led vision for unlocking future growth, foster
innovation to drive efficiency and delight consumers
and shoppers, and create impact through actionable
strategies that deliver lasting value across the category.
Our frameworks, tools, and methodologies create scal-
ability across teams and build processes and routines
that are quickly embedded into your company’s DNA.
And because our experts are embedded with customer
teams from design stages all the way through train-
ing and implementation, we ensure the new capability
takes root and evolves in real-time to drive immediate
impact on your business.
To begin your journey to Category
Leadership, please contact Kristi
Ross at kdross@capregroup.com.
You can also reach us by phone
at 678.443.2280.
