Putting the brakes on trade spend escalation

Who was our client?

A major food manufacturer of well known goods, based in the UK.

Why did they get in touch?

As the business had grown, trade terms & pricing structures had evolved organically, resulting in a great deal of inconsistency between channels and customers. There were no pricing framework or trade terms guidelines in place, and trade spend as a % of sales was creeping up year after year. They needed to create a pricing structure that would be a foundation for future growth.

The Acumen answer:

Seeing clearly

Our analysis revealed historic pricing differences by customer and by brand that were compounded by the lack of a clear investment structure. Few FMCG companies have consistent pricing and terms structures – we saw an opportunity to change that.
Thinking differently

We worked together to build a new list price and trade terms structure. We assessed the scale of change from old world to the new, and the impact by customer. We then presented this for executive sign off.

Working smarter

Successful implementation would depend on the amount of change this meant for customers. We phased the change and supported the team every step of the way from planning to implementation workshops and one-on-one role plays. It was clear that a robust selling story was required; our implementation toolkit left no question unanswered.