Beyond transactions building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships
in consumer goods
An Economist Intelligence Unit white paper
Sponsored by SAP


Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Preface

Beyond transactions: Building customer partnerships in consumer goods is an Economist Intelligence Unit
report sponsored by SAP. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole responsibility for this report. The
Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial team conducted the interviews and wrote the report. The findings
and views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor. Dan Armstrong
was the editor of the report and Sylvia Helm was the author. Mike Kenny was responsible for layout and
design. Our thanks are due to all of the executives who responded to the survey.
October 2009

1

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Contents

2

Introduction

3

Key findings

4

Conclusion

7

Appendix 1: Overall survey results

8

Appendix 2: Americas survey results

13

Appendix 3: Asia-Pacific survey results

18

Appendix 4: EMEA survey results

23

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Introduction

The global recession and falling demand have hit the consumer goods sector harder than other industries.
Except in China and a handful of smaller economies, retail sales fell dramatically in 2009 throughout
the Americas, Europe and most of Asia. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit survey of the sales,
marketing and customer service practices of consumer goods companies, respondents cite the global
economic downturn as the biggest issue facing their industry.
The economy is one of several factors—including changing consumer needs, emerging new competitors
and evolving requirements among retailers and distributors—that is beyond the control of consumer
goods companies. Despite these challenges, survey respondents say they have strengthened customer
relationships during the past year. They also say they are more engaged in developing products and
services collaboratively with retailers and distributors.
Consumer goods manufacturers need to satisfy two tiers of customers in order to succeed. The first is
the retailer or product distributor; the second is the consumer who ultimately buys the product from the
retailer or distributor. Manufacturers have to play to both audiences successfully. The majority of survey
respondents say they are doing better than ever managing the first relationship, ie, with retailers and
distributors. The second one, with consumers, is more problematic.

About the survey
In September 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit
surveyed 84 executives of consumer goods companies
on the challenges of getting customer-facing
departments to work together more consistently and
3

effectively. Survey respondents spanned the globe,
with 31% from the Asia-Pacific region, 33% from the
Americas and 36% from EMEA. Respondents’ annual
revenue ranged from less than US$500m to more than
US$10bn. The level of seniority of respondents was
high: 32% were C-level or board members and another
20% were vice-presidents or heads of business units.
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Key findings

Evaluating retailers and distributors
Respondents give themselves high marks for providing high-quality service to retailers and distributors.
But this self-assessment appears to be based on anecdotal evidence. Because manufacturers believe
they already enjoy strong long-term relationships with their retailer/distributor customers, measuring
the strength or value of the relationships is not a priority. In fact, most consumer goods respondents
admit that they could not estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors, even if they chose to do
so. Since they do not have this information, they cannot prioritise investments in service campaigns and
customer-specific relationships.
Measuring the value of customers
(% of respondents who agree minus % who disagree)
Disagree

Agree

My company has an accurate way to

estimate the lifetime value of retailers
or distributors
My company prioritises sales and
marketing resources based on lifetime
value of retailers or distributors

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, September 2009.

Gathering customer feedback
The second-tier relationship—with consumers—has always been problematic for manufacturers. It is hard
for these companies to get information about consumers without going through their retailers and other
distributors. Most survey respondents say they rely on point-of-sale data or second-hand feedback from
store retail sales staff to secure information about their customers, followed by targeted focus groups and
direct response feedback.
4

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Manufacturers admit that they are not good at using newer tools such as proprietary or third-party
websites and online social media, although there have been some successes. Consuming branded goods
is a universal experience in modern market economies, and social media allows consumers from all walks
of life to share that experience. Twitter and Facebook provide ways to connect over the purchase and
ownership of goods. Nike, Ikea, Guess, PlayStation, Adidas, Apple—all are widely mentioned across a
variety of social networking, blogging, photo- and video-sharing sites.

Priorities for improvement
By a small margin, the top priority among survey respondents is reducing the cost of sales. As
manufacturing becomes a commodity business and distribution channels multiply, more resources are
required to maintain the power of the brand. This pressures margins. Moreover, as revenue growth levels
off, the temptation increases to supply private-labelled goods for big retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and
Costco. In the short term, private-label extensions may boost revenues, but they can also erode brand
equity, exacerbating the problems caused by creeping commoditisation.

Areas in need of improvement
(% respondents)

Reducing the cost of sales

Measuring the effectiveness of marketing/promotional campaigns

Maximizing repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty

Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns

0

10

20

30

40

50

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, September 2009.

5

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

How the three regions differ
Respondents from all regions have differing perceptions of the global recession and the trend towards
commoditisation. Companies in some regions are working more collaboratively with their retailer/
distributor base to develop new products; others are not. And the use of newer marketing media tracks
differently in different parts of the globe.
Americas. The economic recession has had a disproportionately larger impact on consumer goods
companies in the Americas than in Asia-Pacific. More respondents also agree than disagree that over
the last five years, their products and services are increasingly seen as commodities. And the Americas

region—particularly North America—is the centre of social media: Consumer goods companies there use
online social media for gathering consumer and retailer feedback far more frequently than their peers in
Asia-Pacific and EMEA.
Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific respondents are the least likely to cite the global recession as their biggest
problem in the past year, reflecting the healthier economy of that region. In keeping with the “export or
die” mantra, Asia-Pacific is focused on creating consumer goods to order for markets in the West. Perhaps
as a result, the region scores higher than the other two in terms of working with retailers and distributors
to develop products collaboratively. Respondents do cite “commoditisation” as a problem in their
industry, however. Their use of online social media is much lower than in the Americas.
EMEA. EMEA consumer goods respondents are most likely to say the economic downturn is the major
hurdle facing their business, with 80% citing it as the factor with the biggest impact. With regard to
commoditisation, most respondents (53%) see no increasing trend, perhaps because EMEA-based firms
have had to contend with the threat of private-label competition far longer than those in other regions.
As a result, 53% disagree with the statement “We are more engaged in developing products or services
collaboratively with retailers and distributors than we were 12 months ago.” Companies in EMEA, like
those in Asia-Pacific, use the newer online social media less frequently than older feedback channels.

6

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Conclusion

Consumer goods manufacturers are faced with the need to retain market share in a recession while
fending off global competitors. Commoditisation makes their goods indistinguishable from their
competitors. Their margins are squeezed and they must reduce the cost of sales. Lessons from the survey

include the following:
l Use online and social networking media to build brand loyalty, attract influential buyers and gain
ground-level feedback. Use online services to get as much information as possible from the consumer
rather than relying on retail store-level pass-back.
l Develop internal procedures to analyse and segment the retail/distributor customer base.
l Manage the retailer/distributor relationships based on profitability; prioritise marketing expenditures
based on the value of the individual retailer/distributor.

7

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Appendix 1: Overall survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers
(retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category

42

Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling,

relevant marketing

25

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

14

Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services

14

Other

5

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Planning and executing promotional activity
1

15

15

46

19 2

Developing and launching new products
2

12

19

38

27 1

Planning and executing marketing campaigns
5

12

27

36

20

Analysing and segmenting customers
8

14

29

32

14 2

30

14 2

Analysing and segmenting consumers

12

10

32

Gauging customer satisfaction
12

19

25

33

10 1

Measuring effectiveness of processes
11

16

36

23

11

4

25

4

Responding to customer demands or complaints
6

7

19

39

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
5

23

19

36

14 2

Other
8

8

4

12

4

73

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

0


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
24

73

4

If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service,
convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
73

19

8

My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
63

26

11

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
24

57

19

45

19

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor

36

We are currently developing a social media strategy
29

46

25

My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
46

48

6

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
65

26

8

43

8

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
49

My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
58

31

11

Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
46

40

13

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
35

50

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

15

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
43

Reducing the cost of sales

Helping each function within your organisation find and
act on ways to support the others
43

43

Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
33

36

Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
31

Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
30

Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve
sales volume and revenue objectives
25

Cross-selling or upselling consumers
25

Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service

24

Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
23

Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
20

Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
17

Segmenting and profiling consumers
13

Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
12

Other
2

Don’t know

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of
consumer behaviors and preferences
Measuring the probability that planned promotions
will result in achieving sales and volume targets
32

Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual
planning through promotions to claims management

29

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
27

Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others
have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
26

Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent
picture of the organisation
25

Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors
by total value over the life of the relationship
23

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
5

Other
2

Don’t know/Not applicable
2

1

9

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower consumers? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Global economic downturn
65

Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service,
merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
63

Evolving consumer needs
Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites

38

35

Emergence of new competitors

Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content, in-store
content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)

32

Changing requirements among retailers and distributors

32

32

Building or supporting online communities of consumers

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

31

24

Other

Focusing on sustainability efforts

0

13

Don’t know/Not applicable

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

11

12

Finding access to credit/capital
11

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your
organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve
the experience of both types of customers?
Select up to three from each column.

7

Disruptive technology developments
7

Other

(% respondents)

8

We are best at collecting and using
We are worst at collecting and using

Don’t know
0

Point of sale feedback
39
25

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.

Feedback from in-store sales staff

(% respondents)

Our own e-commerce site(s)

36
21
18

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability

29
48

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
33

Third-party e-commerce sites
4
39

Phone order interaction
26

Improving online or self-service product support tools
25

Improving usability, search and navigation of
retailer- and distributor-facing websites
19

Other

12

Direct response feedback
33
8

Call center customer service interactions
21
7

1

Don’t know/Not applicable

Targeted focus groups
33

14

13

Online social media efforts
11
26

Other
0
0

Don’t know
7
15

10

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?
(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically

2

3

4

5 Not at all

Don’t know

Empower salespeople
18

33

34

7

4

5

15 2

4

Empower customer service staff
11

42

26

Create effective marketing campaigns
18

38

26

17 1 0

Refine product development process
15

30

15

30

35

17 2 1

Forecast demand
34

16

5

Improve customer service
18

37

29

11 2 2

Improve retail offerings and selections
10

45

26

10

5

5

Adjust pricing
10

42

My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information
from retailers and consumers to improve the customer
experience are:
Select up to three.

34

6

5

4

In which region are you personally based?
(% respondents)
Asia-Pacific

(% respondents)

31

North America

Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
39

Monitoring the results of actions in terms of consumer
behavior and marketing metrics

30

Western Europe
20

Eastern Europe
35

Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative

8

Middle East and Africa

31

Putting recommendations into action

7

Latin America
31

4

Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that their
comments are being addressed
24

Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers,
both positive and negative
23

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?
(% respondents)

Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information
20

Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
20

Synthesising information from online channels into
coherent recommendations
15

Synthesising information from customer service into
coherent recommendations

Individuals
(eg, retail)

48

Businesses or other
organisations (eg,
business-to-business) 38
An equal mix of both

14

14

Other
1

Don’t know
4

11

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

0


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Board member
General management

2

40

CEO/President/Managing director
Strategy and business development

15

24

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
Marketing

8

24

CIO/Technology director
Finance

2

21

Other C-level executive
Sales

4

20

SVP/VP/Director
Operations and production

15

15

Head of Business Unit
IT

5

10

Head of Department
Procurement

15

10

Manager
27

Supply-chain management
7

Other

Customer service

5

6

R&D
5

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

Information and research

(% respondents)

Risk

4
2

Legal
$500m or less

12

45

$500m to $1bn

8

$1bn to $5bn

6

$5bn to $10bn

8

$10bn or more

32

2

Human resources
2

Other
6

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Appendix 2: Americas survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers
(retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category

32

Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services

29

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

21

Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling,
relevant marketing

14

Other

4

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes
below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Planning and executing promotional activity
4

11

21

43

14

7

Developing and launching new products
4

14

21

39

18

4

Planning and executing marketing campaigns
7

11

39

29

14

Analysing and segmenting customers
7

14

29

29

14

7

18

7

Analysing and segmenting consumers
7

11

39

18

Gauging customer satisfaction
18

11

18

32

18

4

Measuring effectiveness of processes
15

4

37

15

19

11

Responding to customer demands or complaints
7

4

21

46

18

4

14

4

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
11

14

21

36

Other
7

13

7

14

7

64

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

0


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider

25

68

7

If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category
based on service, convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
68

29

4

My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
64

29

7

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
33

48

19

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
32

54

14

We are currently developing a social media strategy
32

39

29

My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
50

46

4

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
57

32

11

43

11

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
46

My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
50

36

14

39

14

Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
46

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
36

39

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

25

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service

activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Reducing the cost of sales
39

Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns

Helping each function within your organisation find
and act on ways to support the others
46

32

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of
consumer behaviors and preferences

Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve
sales volume and revenue objectives

32

29

Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
29

29

Cross-selling or upselling consumers
29

Measuring the probability that planned promotions
will result in achieving sales and volume targets
29

Segmenting and profiling consumers
25

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
21

Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
21

Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
18

Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
11

Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
11

Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
11

Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors

Presenting retailers and distributors with a
consistent picture of the organisation
21

Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual
planning through promotions to claims management
21

Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and
distributors by total value over the life of the relationship
18

Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others
have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
14

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
7

7

Other

7

Don’t know/Not applicable

Other

4

Don’t know

4

4

14

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower consumers? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Global economic downturn
68

Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service,
merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
54

Evolving consumer needs
Building or supporting online communities of consumers

29

36

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites

25

36

Emergence of new competitors

Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content,
in-store content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)

21

Changing requirements among retailers and distributors

36

21

Other

Finding access to credit/capital

0

11

Don’t know/Not applicable

Disruptive technology developments

14

11

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain
11

Focusing on sustainability efforts

What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your
organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve
the experience of both types of customers?
Select up to three from each column.

11

Emergence of new markets for our products and services
4

Other

(% respondents)

11

We are best at collecting and using
We are worst at collecting and using

Don’t know
0

Point of sale feedback
43
14

Feedback from in-store sales staff

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.

36
14

(% respondents)

Our own e-commerce site(s)
25

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability

18

29

Third-party e-commerce sites

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)

4
29

Phone order interaction

25

Improving usability, search and navigation of
retailer- and distributor-facing websites

29
14

Direct response feedback

21

32

Improving online or self-service product support tools

4

18

Call center customer service interactions

Other

21

4

7

Don’t know/Not applicable

Targeted focus groups
36

32
21

Online social media efforts

18
32

Other
0
0

Don’t know
7
25

15

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?.
(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically

2

3

4

5 Not at all

Don’t know

Empower salespeople
14

29

36

7

7

7

Empower customer service staff
11

46

18

14

11

Create effective marketing campaigns
11

39

36

14

Refine product development process
14

29

29

25

4

Forecast demand
8

27

38

19

8

Improve customer service
11

36

29

14

4

7

11

4

7

Improve retail offerings and selections
4

46

29

Adjust pricing
4

30

56

My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information
from retailers and consumers to improve the customer
experience are:
Select up to three.

4

4

4

In which region are you personally based?
(% respondents)
North America

(% respondents)

89

Latin America
Putting recommendations into action

11
36

Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative

29

Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
29

Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
29

Monitoring the results of actions in terms of
consumer behavior and marketing metrics

Asia-Pacific
0

Eastern Europe
0

Western Europe
0

Middle East and Africa
0

29

Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that
their comments are being addressed
25

Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?
(% respondents)

21

Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers,
both positive and negative
18

Synthesising information from customer service
into coherent recommendations
7

Synthesising information from online channels
into coherent recommendations

Individuals
(eg, retail)

39

Businesses or other
organisations (eg,
business-to-business) 39
An equal mix of both

21

7

Other
4

Don’t know
7

16

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Board member
General management

0

29

CEO/President/Managing director
Marketing

7

29

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
Sales

7

29

CIO/Technology director
Strategy and business development

0

21

Other C-level executive
Operations and production

4

18

SVP/VP/Director
Finance

18

14

Head of Business Unit
R&D

0

11

Head of Department
Information and research

14

7

Manager
43

Supply-chain management
7

Other
IT

7

4

Procurement
4

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

Legal

(% respondents)

Human resources

4
4

Risk
$500m or less

50

$500m to $1bn 11

17

$1bn to $5bn

7

$5bn to $10bn

4

$10bn or more

29

0

Customer service
0

Other
14

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Appendix 3: Asia-Pacific survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers
(retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category

46

Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling,
relevant marketing

27

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

12

Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services

8

Other

8

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes
below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely

separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Planning and executing promotional activity
19

15

50

15

0

Developing and launching new products
12

23

27

38

0

27

0

15

0

19

0

38

8

0

23

8

0

Planning and executing marketing campaigns
8

4

23

38

Analysing and segmenting customers
12

12

19

42

Analysing and segmenting consumers
15

8

19

38

Gauging customer satisfaction
15

19

19

Measuring effectiveness of processes
15

27

27

Responding to customer demands or complaints
8

12

19

23

35

4

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
4

31

4

42

19

Other
17

18

17

67

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

0


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions

Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)

Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
23

73

4

If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service,
convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
69

19

12

23

12

My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
65

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
15

62

23

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
31

42

27

We are currently developing a social media strategy
12

50

38

My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
50

46

4

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
69

23

8

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
62

27

12

31

12

My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
58

Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
54

27

19

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors

38

54

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

8

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
54

Reducing the cost of sales

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of consumer
behaviors and preferences
46

46

Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
42

Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)

38

Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
35

Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve sales
volume and revenue objectives
27

Cross-selling or upselling consumers
27

Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
27

Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
23

Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty
23

Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
23

Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
15

Segmenting and profiling consumers
4

Other
0

Don’t know

Helping each function within your organisation find and
act on ways to support the others
46

Measuring the probability that planned promotions will result
in achieving sales and volume targets
42

Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others have
interacted with a given retailer or distributor
35

Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual planning
through promotions to claims management
31

Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors
by total value over the life of the relationship
27

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
23

Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent
picture of the organisation

19

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
4

Other
0

Don’t know/Not applicable
0

0

19

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.

In which of the following ways does your organisation

empower consumers? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Evolving consumer needs
58

Offering additional value along with products (ie, in-store service,
merchandising improvements, sustainable packaging, etc)
69

Global economic downturn
46

Improving usability, search and navigation of consumer-facing websites

46

Building or supporting online communities of consumers

38

Changing requirements among retailers and distributors
31

Emergence of new competitors
35

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

Creating educational forums for consumers (eg, online content,
in-store content, communities of interest, direct-to-consumer outreach, etc)
27

23

Significant demand shifts for our products/services
23

Focusing on sustainability efforts

Other
0

Don't know/Not applicable
8

19

Emergence of new markets for our products and services
12

Finding access to credit/capital
8

Disruptive technology developments
0

Other
4

What avenues of retailer and consumer feedback is your
organisation best and worst at collecting and using to improve
the experience of both types of customers?
Select up to three from each column.
(% respondents)
We are best at collecting and using
We are worst at collecting and using

Don’t know
0

Point of sale feedback
27
35

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower retailers and distributors? Select all that apply.
(% respondents)

Feedback from in-store sales staff
35
23

Our own e-commerce site(s)
12

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability

62

Improving online or self-service product support tools

42

Third-party e-commerce sites
4

35

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
31

Improving usability, search and navigation of retailerand distributor-facing websites
23

Other

54

Phone order interaction
31
12

Direct response feedback
38
8

Call center customer service interactions
31

0

Don’t know/Not applicable

4

Targeted focus groups

0

27
4

Online social media efforts
8
23

Other
0
0

Don’t know
8
8

20

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

How well is customer and consumer information from all sources used to accomplish the following goals?.
(% respondents)
1 Consistently and systematically

2

3

4

5 Not at all

Don’t know

Empower salespeople
27

38

35

Empower customer service staff
12

54

15

15

4

Create effective marketing campaigns
19

42

27

12

Refine product development process
19

27

46

4

4

Forecast demand
8

38

35

12

8

Improve customer service
19

42

19

15

4

Improve retail offerings and selections
23

27

27

8

8

8

Adjust pricing
8

50

My organisation’s greatest challenges in using information
from retailers and consumers to improve the customer
experience are:
Select up to three.

23

8

8

4

In which region are you personally based?
(% respondents)
Asia-Pacific

(% respondents)

100

Latin America
Synthesising information from retail outlets into coherent recommendations
58

Persuading consumers to share experiences, both positive and negative

0

North America
0

35

Eastern Europe

Demonstrating to retailers and consumers that
their comments are being addressed

Western Europe

35

Putting recommendations into action

0
0

Middle East and Africa
31

0

Monitoring the results of actions in terms of consumer
behavior and marketing metrics
31

Persuading our employees to share feedback from retailers,
both positive and negative

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?
(% respondents)

23

Synthesising information from online channels
into coherent recommendations
23

Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant retailer and consumer information
15

Dealing systematically with extremely high volumes of retailer information
12

Synthesising information from customer service
into coherent recommendations

Individuals
(eg, retail)

54

Businesses or other
organisations (eg,
business-to-business) 35
An equal mix of both

12

12

Other
0

Don't know
0

21

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions

Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Board member
General management

4

CEO/President/Managing director

42

Finance

19

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller

31

Strategy and business development

8

CIO/Technology director

15

Sales

0

Other C-level executive

15

Customer service

4

SVP/VP/Director

15

Procurement

15

Head of Business Unit

15
12

IT

12

Operations and production

Head of Department

12

Manager

12
27

Marketing

Other

12

Supply-chain management

0

8

Risk
4

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues

in US dollars?

Information and research

(% respondents)

R&D

4
4

Legal
$500m or less

46

$500m to $1bn 12

22

$1bn to $5bn

12

$5bn to $10bn

12

$10bn or more

19

0

Human resources
0

Other
4

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 4
EMEA survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Appendix 4: Europe Middle East and Africa
survey results
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Customer service and relationships: Building and managing relationships with key customers
(retailers and distributors) to grow shelf presence and expand share of category

47

Differentiated marketing: Building brand equity by reaching consumers with compelling,

relevant marketing

33

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

10

Product innovation: Being first to market with groundbreaking new products or services

7

Other

3

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the processes
below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Planning and executing promotional activity
17

10

47

27

47

27

Developing and launching new products
3

10

13

0

Planning and executing marketing campaigns
20

20

40

20

Analysing and segmenting customers
7

17

37

27

13

0

7

0

3

0

7

0

Analysing and segmenting consumers
13

10

37

33

Gauging customer satisfaction
3

27

37

30

Measuring effectiveness of processes
3

17

43

30

Responding to customer demands or complaints
3

7

17

47

23

3

10

3

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
24

31

31

Other
100

23

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 4
EMEA survey results

Beyond transactions
Building customer partnerships in consumer goods

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In choosing to do business with my organisation, prices are the single most important factor most customers consider
23

77

If price is not driving factor, my organisation can win shelf space and expand its presence in the category based on service,
convenience, brand reputation or other intangibles
80

10

10

My organisation has stronger relationships with retailers and distributors than do our competitors
60

27

13

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of retailers or distributors
23

60

17

40

17

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on the lifetime value of each retailer or distributor
43

We are currently developing a social media strategy
40

50

10

50

10

My organisation has more flexibility that its competitors in pricing its products
40

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
70

23

7

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with retailers and distributors we were 12 months ago
40

57

3

My organisation has integrated its activities to provide high-quality service to retailers and distributors at all touch points
67

27

7

53

7

Consumers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
40

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
30

57

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

13

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
53

Maximising repeat purchases and building consumer loyalty

Helping each function within your organisation find
and act on ways to support the others
37

47

Reducing the cost of sales
43

33

Creating effective consumer marketing campaigns
37

Involving customers in product/service development (co-creation)
30

Gathering consumer intelligence in the course of providing service
27

Ensuring that service issues with retailers and distributors are resolved quickly
23

Targeting the right consumers in order to achieve
sales volume and revenue objectives
20

Cross-selling or upselling consumers
20

Measuring the satisfaction of retailers and distributors
20

Segmenting and profiling consumers
10

Segmenting and profiling customers (retailers and distributors)
10

Building long-term relationships with customers (retailers and distributors)
10

Other
0

Don’t know

Presenting retailers and distributors with a consistent
picture of the organisation
Integrating tracking of retailer relationships from annual planning
through promotions to claims management
33

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
30

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of consumer
behaviors and preferences
30

Making each part of your organisation aware of how the others
have interacted with a given retailer or distributor
30

Measuring the probability that planned promotions will result
in achieving sales and volume targets
27

Prioritising resources directed towards retailers and distributors
by total value over the life of the relationship
23

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
3

Other
3

Don’t know/Not applicable
3

0

24

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009