Delivering the Goods Technology Investments that Boost Consumer Packaged Goods'''' (CPG) Performance pot

Delivering the Goods
Technology Investments that Boost
Consumer Packaged Goods' (CPG) Performance
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This Accenture Point of View
explores three specific technology
investments that can help consumer
goods companies satisfy today’s
discerning, demanding and
always-connected consumer:
I. Building on advanced analytics
to address all dimensions of data
(quality, security, semantics,
integration, etc.) so that data is
viewed as a platform to improve
market performance and increase
enterprise operating efficiency.
II. Deepening digital marketing
capabilities that provide faster, more
cost effective ways for companies
to provide differentiated, more
personalized experiences to engage,
acquire and retain customers than
traditional marketing channels.
III. Adopting more open, flexible
enterprise architecture to more
easily integrate innovations
in consumer technology (e.g.,
mobile, social media) and enable
more efficient multi-channel

commerce to improve organization
responsiveness and market impact.
These investments may require a
new kind of collaboration among
business executives, marketing and
technology, a partnership forged
from a shared understanding that the
right technology investment can yield
strategic advantage and help companies
achieve a higher level of performance.
Having weathered the downturn by streamlining operations and reducing
costs, most consumer goods companies are only too happy to shift
their focus to growth strategies. This re-orientation includes a fresh
look at how technology can enable sales and marketing capabilities that
contribute to top-line growth. More specifically, companies are evaluating
investments in consumer-facing and enterprise technology capabilities
that can help them connect with, understand and provide what
consumers need when and where they need it.
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I. Build on advanced data
analytics and address
all dimensions of data
to improve market
performance and enterprise
operating efficiency
It is a universal truth that data can
be a consumer goods company’s most
strategic asset. Indeed, the past decade
saw many companies invest in data
quality and analytic efforts focused on

evaluating trade promotions, segmenting
customers more narrowly, or dissecting
aspects of functions such as inventory
management or supply chains in order
to identify the source of problems.
Yet, even the best ex post facto analysis
by definition generates limited value
for the enterprise. Accenture believes
that companies need to extend these
initial efforts to execute enterprise
data management strategies as well
as deepen analytic capability. A
coherent data strategy that includes
cross-functional analytics will provide
managers with one, integrated, secure,
credible version of the truth, rather
than fragmented scenarios. With
that vision in hand, sophisticated
modeling and extrapolations can help
companies evolve from relying on
descriptive analytics to figure out what
happened and why, to more predictive
analytics that generate insights
that can both guide future growth
strategies and avoid costly product
or process experiments supported
by "gut" instinct rather than data.
Indeed, Accenture’s research and client
experience identified several benefits of
moving up the analytic curve, the most

salient of which is that companies that
rely on data analysis outperform those
who do not (see sidebar, The Analytics-
High Performance Connection). How?
Because they are better able to:
•Drive growth by identifying untapped
opportunities in markets or consumer
segments, and transforming processes
such as new product development and
marketing.
•Enhance cost and cash advantage
by increasing balance sheet efficiency,
better management of working capital,
and higher returns on investment.
•Know what really works to improve
operations through reengineering key
processes to be more effective.
•Restructure the business at
scale by higher impact M&A,
divestitures, alliances and value chain
restructuring.
•Manage risk by using more precise
metrics and models to monitor
changing business.
Accenture has helped diverse consumer-
oriented companies capture the benefits
of customer and marketing analytics.
• For a health and beauty manufacturer, a
portfolio optimization analysis identified
correlations between purchasing

behavior and product attributes related
to 150,000 SKUs. Through simulations
and modeling, the company was able
to rationalize products and eliminate
more than 30,000 items, resulting in
incremental sales gains as well as a far
more simplified supply chain.
The Connection between Analytics and High Performance
Accenture’s research of high-performance businesses found that high performers—those
companies that consistently outperform their competitors on a variety of dimensions
across business cycles—are five times more likely to make extensive use of analytics than
their lower-performing competitors. Not surprisingly, the importance of business analytics
has spawned a healthy, data-centric industry all of its own, with analytic software posting
with a compound annual growth rate topping 20 percent for the last four years.
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Figure 1. Analytics framework and potential allocation of responsibilities
•A consumer electronics and
entertainment chain used transaction
analytics to study what customers
bought after making a major product
purchase in order to improve product
assortment and in-store placement,
create unique bundles and increase
replenishment and in-stock levels.
The result: customers were offered
more of what they are likely to need
upfront, decreasing returns.
•A world renowned theater group used

customer segmentation and marketing
analytics to devise a growth strategy
focused on both deepening "core"
customer attendance and broadening
its overall reach. The results informed
more targeted mailings and initiatives,
ultimately increasing the company’s
core audience base by 30 percent, and
a critical customer segment by more
than 50 percent.
Achieving growth is a primary concern,
yet so too are operational efficiency,
process excellence and cost control.
In these areas also industrial-strength
analytic capability combined with
a coherent enterprise data strategy
proves a smart investment. For example,
analytics conducted across multiple
legacy data warehouses helped beverage
leader Diageo identify and extract the
most relevant data and expedite its use
by executives, enabling faster, more
informed decisions. Similarly, Unilever
used analytics to identify the behaviors,
methods and tools used by its best
sales team members, then designed
a capability development program
around them—one that boosted sales
within three months and improved
morale among sales representatives.

Both these examples show the power
of analytics to improve processes,
whether in the hard-wired area of IT or
less technical functions such as staff
capability-building. Yet, despite top-
line and operational benefits of using
analytics, many companies face hurdles
in deploying analytic capabilities.
A fundamental challenge: many
companies’ analytics capabilities are
stretched to the breaking point trying
to handle masses of non-transactional
data that actually feed enterprise
insight. The "data explosion" ushered in
with the YouTube and social media era
has greatly expanded both the types
and quantity of relevant data; one
estimate is that business-related data
doubles every 1.2 years. Thus, achieving
enterprise-wide or cross-functional
data analysis is just the beginning;
companies will need to integrate that
internal data with all types of external
data—unstructured, visual, voice,
geospatial—in order to gain the insights
that will lead to competitive advantage.
Such value creating data integration
implies a data strategy that addresses
data quality, security, semantics and
governance issues. A solid analytics

capability must take all these sources
into account (see Figure 1), and allow
companies to distill insights with enough
granularity to make improvements
at the function or process level.
External Data Integration
Business Functions
(Sales, Marketing, Innovation, Supply Chain, Finance, RQT)
Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics Tools
Consumer
Insight
Customer
Insight
Operational
Insight
Competition
Insight
Data Analysis
Services
Reporting and
Analytics Services
Data Integration
Services
Data Governance
Consumer
Data
Syndicated
Data
Retail
Data

Enterprise Consumer and Demand Data
Repository
Shipment
Data
Line depletion
Invoice
Operational
Data
ERP
WMS
Legacy
Business
Warehouse
Transactional
Data
Internal Data Integration
Loyalty Data
Segmentation
POS
Transaction Log
MROI
C28
TPO
Accenture Manufacturer
Third Party TBD
IRI
Nielsen
Source: Accenture
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Can all this disparate data be

harnessed and understood with
emerging technology to result in
improved performance? It can, as
analytic-powered leading companies
like Google, Facebook, Amazon and
Netflix show. Traditional consumer
products companies, however, may face
additional challenges; some will need
to acquire and expand analytic and
data strategy talent and capabilities.
To do so, companies could consider:
•Augmenting internal and partner
communications to emphasize that
accurate, timely, consistent data is a
strategic priority and a strategic asset.
Many companies struggle to develop
master data management approaches
that reflect the complexity of today’s
data landscape and, more important,
ensure a consistently high level of data
utility, as opposed to just management
or quality.
•Identifying and integrating the
analytic initiatives going on across
the enterprise. Some clients we have
assisted are surprised at the number
of efforts underway that are not
well integrated. This fragmentation
can result in the company buying or
accessing the same data (or subsets

of it) multiple times—duplicating time
and effort.
•Assessing options to acquire
capability, including hiring personnel
with more advanced analytics
expertise, renting short-term from
a third-party, or outsourcing to
a trusted vendor many of which,
including Accenture, offer industry-
and function-specific tested analytic
engines. Eli Lilly & Co. took the
rental route to analyze large data
sets related to a new drug. The bill
for using Amazon’s EC2 platform:
$89, compared to the estimated $1
billion cost of delaying the drug to
get company servers up and running
(estimated to require 6 to 8 weeks).
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However acquired, advanced
analytics give executives insight
into the dynamics of their business
and how shifts could influence both
enterprise and market performance
so that they can make better
decisions, faster. Indeed, some
commentators see analytics as the
driver of a third industrial revolution,
increasing productivity in a way that

railroads, electricity and internal
combustion engines did previously.
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Revolutionary or evolutionary, it
is clear that analytics is and will
continue to be a major differentiator
and value creator for companies in
the consumer goods industry.
For further reading:
Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions,
Better Results, T. Davenport, J. Harris, and
R. Morison (Harvard Business Press, 2010)
The analytics advantage, by
B. Duganier and M.J. Salvino,
Outlook, October 2010.
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II. Digital marketing allows
companies to optimize
both new and traditional
marketing channels
“Think digital at the
inception, not as an
afterthought.”
- Alexis Nasard,
Chief Commercial Officer,
Heineken International

It could be a game played on a
dedicated product website, a mobile

e-coupon or recipe idea delivered to a
smartphone when a consumer nears a
retailer or product display, or a location-
based sweepstakes facilitated by social
media. Whatever the platform, there is
no denying that digital channels have
injected tremendous innovation and
enhanced the impact of marketing in a
few short years. Not surprisingly, global
companies from AB InBev to Zappos
have substantially increased their
investments in digital marketing and
assets even as budgets for traditional
marketing initiatives have shrunk.
Yet, despite the hype and attention
showered on innovative tactics,
digital marketing should be judged on
the same criteria companies use to
evaluate traditional marketing channels:
Does the spend justify the return?
Has our market share or mindshare
increased? How do we know? How
many more consumers are converted
or more motivated to buy as a result
of our digital efforts? To answer these
questions, companies first need clarity
on the advantages of evolving their
marketing mix to include digital, as
well as the capabilities they need to
support a productive digital effort.

The Digital Advantage: A
Direct, Dynamic Relationship
with Consumers
In our experience, the market and
operational benefits from digital
marketing are real and accelerating,
and frequently form the foundation of
campaigns rather than an add-on. For
example, Heineken launched a global
effort online months before related
advertising hit TVs. The Web videos
at the core of the campaign debuted
on YouTube and Facebook, introduced
characters written to appeal to a
younger digital consumer base, and
allowed visitors to customize video
clips.
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In general, digital marketing
provides companies with a more
flexible and efficient means to engage,
acquire, retain and grow customers
than many traditional channels.
Significant advantages include:
•The ability to gather and deploy
analytic insights to respond directly
to consumers with personalized
experiences
•More scientific and faster
measurement of campaign impact

•Creation of more agile, yet cost
effective marketing assets by re-using
proven vehicles and approaches
•Increased speed of automation and
standardization to support global
marketing initiatives in real-time
•The ongoing innovation possible in the
more dynamic digital marketplace
An end-to-end digital platform includes
a broad range of capabilities, beginning
with a full-scale digital strategy, and
including underlying architecture
application development, advanced
media auditing and Web analytics
(e.g., SEO), and robust data management
capabilities (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Integrated Digital Marketing Capabilities
Digital Marketing Strategy and Management
Web
Development
iMedia
Solutions
(SEO/SEM/
Display)
Marketing &
Retail
Analytics
Industry &
Economic
Modeling

Application
Management
Web
Migration
Services
Data Mgmt
& Data
Warehousing
Media
Auditing
Intelligent
Digital
SEO / SEM Agile
Marketing
Analytics
Portfolio
Optimization
Partnerships (e.g., comScore)
Agile
Intelligent
Marketing
Source: Accenture
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With these in place, companies are
able target and engage consumers
in a fundamentally different
way—continuously, dynamically and
directly. Company-sponsored websites,
brand or product fan pages on social
networks, and mobile communications

can all launch and sustain dialogues
with consumers, generating data and
gathering insights continuously not just
offering information passively. Insights
can be gleaned directly from a digital
platform such as online focus groups
for example, or by detecting latent
consumer demand by synthesizing
transactional data and consumer
information gleaned from "SoMoLo"
(social/mobile/local) digital channels with
advanced Web analytics. Companies are
able to develop a concrete picture of
the digital consumer and interact with
each in a more personal way rather than
rely on more general segmentation.
Many companies are combining truly
digital components—not just digital
versions of traditional campaigns or
collateral—to deliver a multi-layered,
interactive, personalized experience to
consumers. These frequently launch
with a Web-based ad campaign (echoed
offline), with online-only video shorts
that introduce characters, themes and,
of course, new products or in market
products in a new way. The next layer
might offer a contest of some sort, or
perhaps an opportunity to collaborate
on new products, such as Starbucks did

with its mystarbucks.com blog and Ford
Motor Company’s offer of Web-based
tools to customers to design products.
A further layer could offer prizes or
premiums for purchases or in-store
visits. The 7-Eleven chain adopted a
location-based game played on the
SCVNGR mobile platform tied to the
opening of "The Hangover, Part 2".
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Although launched to promote new
drinks, it accomplished the more general
objective of driving traffic to stores
because participants were required to
check-in using their phone to qualify
for prizes—perfect synergy between the
target consumer (young males), the tools
they use, the products they consume
and the movies they are likely to watch.
As the Heineken and 7-eleven
campaigns demonstrate, digital channels
are uniquely engaging, tapping into
consumers’ simultaneous desires to be
entertained, contribute their own ideas
and design the product they want. Of
course, consumers leave a digital trail
or fingerprint that can be analyzed to
finetune marketing efforts further—so
the effort is mutually beneficial.

In fact, our research shows that creating
active user experiences, particularly if
they invite ideas for new products, is a
clear trend in digital marketing, one that
may sound the death knell for conference
room-based focus groups. For consumer
goods companies, launching collaborative
product development initiatives, or
"crowdsourcing" input on products, are
more important than ever given the lack
of breakthrough products in recent years.
These multi-dimensional efforts deliver a
number of unique benefits for companies:
•The agility of the digital marketing
platform allows for easier distribution
and consumption of a wider variety
of marketing messages and collateral,
increasing awareness and eventual
purchases.
• The digital fingerprint left by Web
access, mobile phone use, etc. provides
accurate and immediate data on
consumer engagement levels, the
analysis of which can help companies
better predict what will resonate
with consumers.
•The data extracted from such
engagement can be easily shared
across brands, thus reducing
duplicative research efforts, increasing

consistency and quality of consumer
data to develop a more precise picture
of consumers, and driving down the
overall cost of marketing.
Our work with clients shows that
companies may not undertake all the
upfront planning and strategizing
necessary to ensure efficient execution
and impact of digital marketing and
their integration with non-digital
channels. The following handful of
leading practices will lay a solid
foundation for digital efforts:
Accenture Research
Aims to Identify Cross
Channel Links for CPG
Manufacturers
In 2010 Accenture,
comScore and dunnhumby
launched an initiative
to evaluate if consumer
goods manufacturers brand
websites and consumers’
online activities drive
purchases in stores. The
cross-channel research
draws upon participating
manufacturers’ sales data,
as well as comScore’s
panel of nearly two

million consumers as well
as dunnhumby’s loyalty
card scanner data from
sixty million household.
Taken together, this allows
the research team to
draw conclusions about
correlations among brand
websites, in-store behavior
and purchases for 300,000
households. Preliminary
findings are expected in
late 2011.
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1. Develop a digital vision that
anticipates using a range of digital
assets and channels, including Web
publishing, mobile, social media,
location-based screens and signage,
search, analytics and eCommerce/
mCommerce. While companies
may not use all of these channels
and capabilities all the time, the
platform should be open and flexible
enough to support innovation.
2. Focus on assessing Web presence
first. Many companies no longer
recognize the power that their
websites have, and give this mature
digital channel short shrift. Yet Web

landing pages are among a prospect’s
first encounter with many companies,
and it takes only eight seconds of
viewing a page (on average) for
someone to decide to stay on or
move off a site. In our experience,
conversions from consumer to buyer
can increase by 200 percent by
optimizing and personalizing the
landing page experience, making
these tasks critical. (See sidebar)
3. Make sure the digital strategy
is governed globally to ensure
consistency and efficient leverage
of assets, but includes localization
and regional strategies to ensure
targeted, relevant consumer
experiences (see Figure 3).
4. Tightly integrate online and
offline marketing channels, data,
measurement and metrics. Only
with a consistent approach and
comprehensive view of results
can companies make rational
allocation decisions that optimize the
traditional and digital media mix.
5. Finally, streamline the number of
people involved in setting, developing
and executing digital strategy. A
"too many cooks" problem can lead

to fragmented, inconsistent, delayed
creative and delivery. Assessing the
contributions of and streamlining
personnel in lead digital agencies,
niche technical and creative agencies,
and (yes) even traditional IT consulting
firms can clarify creative development
and speed execution—speed and
relevance being primary drivers
of digital marketing success.
Executing a digital strategy that
reflects these best practices will require
many companies to enhance core
enterprise technology and analytics
capabilities, as well as acquire more
specialized capabilities. As shown
in Figure 3, a range of capabilities
and alliances needs to be brought
together to develop, deliver, measure
and evolve digital strategies and
manage digital channels to best effect.
Many companies mix internal and
outsourced capabilities throughout their
journey toward the agile, intelligent
marketing digital represents.

Figure 3: Driving digital strategy with global governance and local control
Constituent-
ready
Assets

Optimization
Content and
Functionality
Global Content Repository
Global teams produce core
product content and
functionality
Global
Repository
Regions
Regional teams produce tailored/adapted
content relevant to local segments
Constituents
Personalized
experience
Local
Local teams manage
interactions
Global
Teams
Global
Teams
Local
Teams
Continuous automated feedback and learning system to improve content quality and targeting
Regional
Repositories
Constituent-
ready assets
User generated contentGlobally relevant

local content
Constituents
Constituents
Constituents
and channels
Regional
Teams
Regional
Teams
Source: Accenture
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Laying a solid foundation for digital
strategies requires companies to
think holistically about their entire
marketing strategy and incorporate
digital solutions and capabilities to
enhance overall returns on marketing
investments. While digital channels have
the ability to offer a wide variety of
creative and rich consumer experiences,
companies need to ensure that every
touchpoint—digital or not—has a
purpose and adds value. A holistic
marketing strategy that integrates all
platforms from conception through the
end of campaigns will allow companies
to extract the most from each platform.
For further reading:
Are you ready for the digital
revolution?, Tim Breene and Brian

Whipple, Outlook, No. 1, 2011
Engagement to Go: Using Digital
out of home to drive customer
relevance, Accenture Interactive
Point of View Series, 2011
Achieving High Performance in the
Digital World, Accenture Interactive:
Insight Enabled Interactions, 2010
/>insight-achieving-high-performance-
in-the-digital-world-summary.aspx
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III.Evolve enterprise
architecture to efficiently
integrate and support
mobile and multi-channel
capabilities
The ever-expanding universe of
consumer technology, mobile solutions
(such as e-coupons) and sales channels
(e.g., vending) bodes well for consumer
goods companies and delivers both
enterprise and market advantages.
Indeed, consumers have come to expect
that companies will leverage the latest
technology and facilitate Web access
in cars, appliances and other products
such as wearable health monitors. The
ubiquity, convergence and integration
of technology and channels will make
consumers’ lives easier (such as the

washing machine that reports its
own status and schedules servicing,
or auto systems such as SYNC and
OnStar that incorporate diagnostic,
location and communication features.
Nonetheless integrating and supporting
a more complex array of technology
solutions and channels—and keeping
both the infrastructure supporting
them and the data captured by
them secure—can tax enterprise
systems built on rigid, mostly closed
backbones. What’s more incorporating
consumer-oriented technologies also
means planning for their eventual
disposal or obsolescence given the
pace of innovation; the replacement
or obsolescence rate are factors to
consider in designing, manufacturing
and implementing these options.
To gain the advantages of integrating
consumer technology, mobile solutions
and multi-channel networks without
breaking the bank, companies need
more flexibility in their enterprise
systems. We are already seeing
many gravitate toward a more open
architecture capable of seamlessly
integrating new applications and
providing sufficient support for new

channels, solutions, or partners.
Enabling an expanding multi-
channel universe. Taking advantage
of new channels, particularly digital
channels, will place new demands on
many companies’ systems. Adding
more channels multiplies touchpoints
and complexity, even as they deliver
convenience to consumers. With
some industry experts projecting
that revenues from digital or virtual
channels will surpass club store
sales by 2015, companies will have
to integrate fulfillment, as well as
pricing and payment, from eCommerce
portals that include click-to-buy
applications on existing brand sites,
aggregator marketplaces such as
Amazon’s, daily deal sites, as well
as a company-sponsored online
marketplaces dedicated to specific
product lines or customer segments.
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Making the most of these channel
opportunities will require companies
to synchronize aspects of finance and
supply chain with a broader network
of partners. This may mean adopting
more open architectures that make
efficient cross channel commerce

easier. In the supply chain area, for
example, companies can anticipate
changes in demand management
as traditional demand cycles fade,
inventory management to better
respond to direct sales, and distribution,
particularly in emerging markets where
distribution is frequently a barrier
to entry in less developed areas.
Mobile solutions will move across
the enterprise. Companies quickly
repurposed personal mobile technology
for enterprise use as employees
craved the same convenience for work
that they had in their personal lives.
Accordingly, mobile solutions are
proliferating to support a wide range of
enterprise functions and operations. Like
multichannel expansion, the availability
of more mobile solutions demand
careful rationalization and integration
in order to avoid leaving companies
with an expensive mix of multi-platform
mobile devices and application.
Initial mobile solutions were business-
to-employee applications, with
many companies using standardized,
transaction-oriented products (such
as salesforce.com’s suite). However
mobile solutions now exist to support

business-to-customer, business-to-
partner and even machine-to-machine
relationships (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Evolution of mobility solution capabilities
Business-to-Employee
(B2E)
Enable Enterprise
Applications to the field
where they are needed
 Sales Force Tools
 Executive Dashboard
Reporting
Business-to-Business
(B2B)
Improve business
functions with wholesale
distributors
 Distributor delivery
 In-retail surveys
 Third parties
 Supply chain
 Factory
 Franchised/licensed
shops
Business-to-Customer
(B2C)
Improve consumer
interaction with our
brands
 Coupons

 Marketing
 Vouchers
 Payments/credit
Machine-to-Machine
(M2M)
Automate intelligent
processes for improved
efficiencies
 Plant process control
 In-plant sensor
networks
 Smart devices
 Telematics
 Manufacturing floor
 Fleet management
 Security
Consequently, companies will need to
develop a coherent mobile strategy that
avoids mobile chaos even as they seek
to leverage more mobile applications
to increase sales, improve services
and increase process efficiency.
Mobile solutions definitely lift the
bottom line, improving a range of
enterprise functions from strategic
planning to sales effectiveness to
lean manufacturing and inventory
management. For example, DIRECTV
reported a 30 percent increase in
the number of accounts that can

be visited in a week by its dealer
reps when most adopted mobile
solutions. Costs can also be reduced
by streamlining workflows through
automation. A medical equipment
manufacturing company decreased
inventory write-offs by almost $2
million, an improvement of 2,680
percent, and a telecom service provider
reduced its billing cycle from a labor
Source: Accenture
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Figure 5: Implications of Mobile Services Models
Integration of Tactical
Applications to Core
Services (Invoicing, Order
to Cash, etc.)
Platform Services
Add Support for
Multiple Device
Types
Heavily Customized
Multiple Service Vendors
High TCO
Little / No Integration to ERP
Security Risk
Awareness to Harvest
Tactical Business
Capabilities to Scale
Custom Applications

Data Sync
Device Management
Native Development
Thick Client
Tactical
Stand Alone Apps
Provide SDKs,
Development Guidelines,
Developer Workstations,
Centralized Dev Teams
Improved Security Models
for Mobile Access
Tactical
Global
Interest
Device IndependentDevice Dependant
Capability Enabling Timeline
Integrated – Managed
Business Driving
Service Enabling
Stand Alone – Unmanaged
Reach
and paper-intensive 15-20 days to a
mere three to five days by deploying
a mobile solution. Finally, mobile
solutions can increase productivity and
minimize downtime in companies just
as they have in individuals’ personal
lives. Consider that the field service
organization of a business machine

provider improved response times
by 16 percent, saving service reps
60-90 minutes per day on average.
As new regulations take hold in the
US and elsewhere, consumer products
companies can deploy digital and
mobile capabilities to accurately trace
and track ingredient sources and
the ultimate disposition of finished
product, allowing them to comply with
safety regulations and manage risk.
The expansion of mobile solutions
and channels are opportunities that
consumer goods companies can exploit
to improve enterprise operations
and market performance, though
they require advanced integration
planning and skills to maintain
operating efficiency and optimize
scale effectively (Figure 5). To meet
these twin goals, companies should:
1. Initiate and maintain a dialogue
internally that lays the groundwork
for more open architecture and use of
cloud-based applications to achieve
enterprise flexibility and accommodate
future innovations in mobile.
2. Refine IT security strategy to balance
risk mitigation and business goals.
Infrastructure and data security should

remain unassailable and companies need
to ensure partners that this is possible.
3. Evaluate commercial mobility
providers for industry-specific,
off-the-shelf products to avoid
the costs and time sink of building
mobile apps themselves.
4. Assess enterprise capabilities to
integrate mobile solutions and, if
necessary, identify experts with
consumer goods experience who can
help choose the right applications
and solutions for a mobile platform
designed to meet business goals.
Integration and solution experts
can assist in the provisioning and
maintenance of mobile services that
allow companies to test, launch, refine
and scale their mobile environment
relatively quickly. Given the pace
of innovation in mobile, companies
that need to close their gap in
mobile capabilities may find this
is the quickest route to seizing the
opportunity that mobile presents.
For further reading:
On the edge: IT 2015, by Kishore S.
Swaminathan, Outlook June 2010
Unplugged and Exposed: Rethinking
Cyber Security for a Mobile

World, Accenture April 2011
Source: Accenture
13
Consumers are more choosy and
disciplined than ever, both in purchasing
staples and in their discretionary
spending. Consumer goods companies
are also judicious in their spending and
understandably focus their resources
on areas that have proven effective
in understanding and delivering what
consumers want. Our experience is that
investments in technology-enabled
capabilities play a critical role in meeting
these important goals. Capabilities
such as enterprise-wide analytics
that sense and predict market shifts
and opportunities more accurately, a
comprehensive digital marketing strategy
that augments traditional channels, and
enterprise architecture that supports
efficient cross channel commerce from
the store floor to mobile devices can all
play roles in identifying and serving new
consumers and markets cost effectively.
Fortunately many consumer goods
companies have at least basic
capabilities in each of these areas
already, so extending them further is
more a matter of refining, expanding,

and better integrating and leveraging
what is already there, rather than
launching new, full-scale technology
initiatives. Deepening these and other
technology-enabled business capabilities
can help consumer goods companies
establish more timely and more targeted
connections to consumers, efforts
that will create more value for both
consumers and companies alike.
14
References
1. IDC, 2009
2. Informationweek.com, Q&A: Eli Lilly on
Cloud Computing Reality, Nov. 10, 2010
and accessed July 8, 2011. http://www.
informationweek.com/news/hardware/
data_centers/228200755?pgno=2
3. New York Times, April 24, 2011,
When There’s No Such Thing
as Too Much Information.
4. New York Times, May 26, 2011, Heineken
Aims its Ads at Young Digital Devotees
5. See />om/2011NewsReleases/7ElevenTheHan
goverPartII/tabid/469/Default.aspx
Copyright © 2011 Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.

For more information about this point
of view and Accenture’s Consumer
Products practice, please contact:
Jeff Hartigan
Global Industry Offering Director,
Consumer Goods & Services

Bob Hersch
Industry Technology Officer,
Products Operating Group

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