Today, many Manufacturers are spending more dollars than ever before on data, technology and Shopper understanding. While the complexity of the data and technology increases, resources are being cut, requiring us to do more with less. 

Note: This content is part of our new eBook on Category Management with Limited Data. Feel free to read and share.

Which Opportunities Match Your Priorities for the Year? With change comes opportunity. And there are tons of changes happening in category management unfolding as you read this post. Most are being driven by CatMan 2.0™, and the commitment of Retailers like Walmart who are demanding more advanced solutions and approaches both internally and from their Vendor community.  So where are the biggest changes and what are the opportunities for YOU? 

In case you haven’t heard … Things have changed! It’s time to face the facts. Our industry and category management have been evolving for awhile (decades, actually). And, although change can be hard to overcome, attendance at our live webinars last week for both Retail and Manufacturing organizations, as well as Solutions Providers confirm that awareness of the changes ahead is growing — and concerning to both practitioners and leaders alike. Here’s why it’s time to face the facts and consider category management mastery …

How are you going to stay relevant in this rapidly changing industry? Category management practitioners, executives and solution providers all need plans to move to more advanced catman approaches to reflect changing data, technology and Shopper in 2017... As an experienced category management professional in Retail, Manufacturing or as a Solution Provider, you’ll need concrete ways to reflect the changes that have happened over the past 30 years. Here’s what you need to understand CatMan 2.0 from your point of view …

Category Management Executives (including Directors, VPs and Managers) Face a Common Dilemma How to get from where you are, to where the industry is going … Here’s what you need to know: 

Category Management has become more sophisticated. It’s now CatMan 2.0™ — Are you adapting to more advanced approaches? Are you keeping up with competitors? the industry? Category management has been evolving and changing since its launch in the late 1980s. The changing Shopper, blurring channels, omni-channel, the Internet & digital media and more advanced data & technology are the key drivers that have continued to change category management. It’s not that all of these changes are necessarily NEW, but all of these changes have all recently been captured in one place — in a new advanced approach which is creating buzz, questions, and uncertainty. In this blog, I’ll cover: Why CatMan 2.0™ is important (and more importantly, why you should care), Where some of the biggest changes are, and Next steps to help you plan your 2017.

“We don’t practice category management in our company / region / industry.” It might surprise you that I’ve heard a version of this statement several times in the past few weeks. But the bigger surprise is that even in non-category management worlds, the principles of category management are being used, even though they could be improved for the benefit of both Retailers and Manufacturers around the globe. Whether you call it category management or not, you might be missing the boat if you answer YES to any of the following questions:

Category Management and Shopper Insights/Shopper Marketing have parted ways in many organizations. Shopper Marketing reports to Marketing. Category Management reports to Sales. According to new industry standards, this is not the best way to set your organization up for Shopper success.

Many of us “forget” the Shopper in our category reviews, business reviews, assortment reviews, space planning, sales presentations, internal presentations …   So why should we incorporate "Shopper" into just about everything that we do?  According to the CMA’s recent “CatMan 2.0” initiative,