Kantar, the world’s leading data-driven analytics and brand consulting company, today celebrates another outstanding performance in the Promotion Optimization Institute’s (POI) 2021 Enterprise Planning Vendor Panorama (formerly TPx Vendor Panorama).
Kantar received best-in-class distinctions in five product categories, positioning it as one of the most awarded vendors. Revenue management and promotion optimisation are core underlying capabilities in accelerating FMCG/CPG brands’ post-pandemic recovery. For the fifth consecutive year, Kantar’s Sales Performance Platform, an end-to-end suite of revenue management, enterprise planning and digital transformation tools for FMCGs, received a positive assessment from POI, and distinctions including:
- Desktop UX: Drives engagement from users, increases total business visibility, reduces administrative burden and drives the next best action.
- Analytics Visualization: Intuitive and meaningful analytics visualised in a way that drives user insights and action.
- Trade Promotion Optimization (TPO) Ergonomics: Eases complexity of constraints, objectives and simulation involved with TPO with intuitive process that lead to greater insights and actionable results.
- IBP/S&OP Capabilities: Sales volume planning inputs that flow into the demand planning/forecast/Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process. Ability to incorporate building blocks and assumptions into the plan to seamlessly flow HQ inputs into the sales plan and sales insights back to HQ and into the IBP process. May include demand signals and provide visibility to risks & opportunities.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Capabilities that can learn and predict based on a set of objectives and constraints. Provides answers to questions or options the user hasn't thought to ask. CPG applications are in pricing, GTMS, promotions and claims/deductions.
“The breadth of the offering around promoting and executing is stellar,” writes Pam Brown, Chief Commercial Officer at the Promotion Optimization Institute, highlighting Kantar’s ability to transform insights into action by enabling the end-to-end revenue management journey. “[Kantar offers] strategic-level insights to inform the right market and trade spending levels through the Marketing Mix Modelling tool; Promotion Funds Optimizer to best allocate promotion funds across retail partners and brands; Revenue Growth Management (RGM) suite to uncover efficiency and growth opportunities, TPO to generate optimal promotion strategy and tactics; and planning and execution capabilities to deliver the right mix of activities and investments in a collaborative and effective manner.”
Within the report, analysis on how Kantar enables the full trade promotion transformation journey states, “When combined with Kantar’s proprietary shopper and retail insights, end-to-end category management, and retail execution solutions, it has the potential to enable full transformation programs across the enterprise to drive both revenue and margin growth.”
In response to a growing focus on revenue growth management from the manufacturer base, POI included an expanded RGM section in this year’s report. “As Kantar socialises the RGM suite, which includes assortment, pricing, promotions, and trade terms, it will add increasing depth and enterprise effectiveness to historical Kantar capabilities.” The report highlighted the importance of acting on growth opportunities and uncovering efficiencies through RGM, stating, “It integrates internal and external data sources, AI- and ML- enabled modelling and a native connection to the Kantar transactional solutions. Insight generation, iterative review, performance and trend evaluation supports the RGM and commercial teams through the commercial cycle from strategic planning and AOP through to execution, enabling fact-based decision making.”
The report additionally covers Kantar’s strong roadmap and its ability to support Tier 1-3 FMCG’s and their various markets as they scale. “Kantar’s solution model is an insightful way to go to market based on data availability to drive the forecasting and optimisation processes for Tiers 1-3.” It continues, “Industry expertise, strong product functionality and usability, excellent vision, and strong client references. A very strong roadmap for innovation to support revenue growth management.” In terms of evaluation, the report recommends clients evaluate Kantar when “you favour a strong Enterprise Planning and TPx user experience, excellent analytics, data management services, RGM suite and industry expertise around the globe.”
“Our goal is to help FMCGs create value and drive growth at speed and scale across their entire organizations by enabling the right revenue management capabilities, from insights to action.” states Suzana Dias, Group Solutions Director of Kantar’s Consulting practice. “We love to see our customers navigate the market with clarity and confidence and harness transformational results. Being recognised as leaders in revenue growth management and digital transformation for FMCGs worldwide is an encouraging confirmation that our vision of commercial excellence is positively received by the industry.”
To access the full POI 2021 Enterprise Planning EPx Vendor Panorama report, please visit the POI website.
For more information, or to schedule a session with our experts to drive digital transformation in your commercial organisation, contact us at salesperformance@kantar.com.