Latest / Retail Media Breakfast Club / Are retail media specialists involved in product development? [Panel Episode]
Transcript
- Are you part of the product development process? === [00:00:00] Here's a question that might sting a little. When your brand launches a new product, are you finding out about it at the same time as everyone else? [00:00:08] Or worse? Are you getting a heads up just days before launch with a cheerful, Hey, can you build a [00:00:15] forecast? Today I'm exploring whether e-commerce and retail media teams are getting their seat at the product development table. [00:00:23] And what happens when they do. You'll hear from leaders who've transformed packaging based on [00:00:30] search data, others still fighting to be included beyond just execution and why one team calls their marketplace insights integral to product success. If you've ever wondered whether your search trends and customer data could shape [00:00:45] what gets developed next, this episode has some compelling arguments for your next leadership meeting. [00:00:50] Let's dive in. [00:00:51] [00:00:53] Kiri Masters: Now let's hear from Alicia Ponza, e-Commerce Manager at Premier Nutrition. [00:00:58] Alicia Ponzani: my answer unfortunately [00:01:00] is we're not really part of that process. Oftentimes, we get an item that's launching and they're like, Hey, build a forecast and tell us what you're gonna sell, and then. Like go to market execution strategy, which obviously that's a huge [00:01:15] portion of our job, but I do wish we would get brought in earlier in the product development phase because I think when you're working in the world of e-commerce, we're able to see stuff that maybe sometimes the brand and innovation teams might miss. [00:01:28] For example, um, when you [00:01:30] think about packaging, something might show up really great on shelf in person, but when you're in the e-commerce space, like trying to create ads for. Items that are very product level content, it does not show up the same way. [00:01:45] Also, you know, we have access to an unlimited digital shelf, so we just have a lot more competition and competitors. [00:01:50] There's a lot more nuances in terms of the data that we can get from different, um, competitive, you know, data that we subscribe to. So I would love to be brought in more. I [00:02:00] just think it's sometimes an afterthought because we're just like the execution team. [00:02:04] [00:02:05] [00:02:05] Kiri Masters: Now let's hear from Brie Keating, director of e-Commerce at Wilton. [00:02:09] Brea Keating: Get to your broader question, do e-commerce leaders or should they play a part in, in [00:02:15] NPD or innovation in the future? Absolutely, and I've played that role in the past as well. Uh, you know, the data that we're sitting on is data that's being used by these third party sellers and these marketplace sellers of like, what is the public interested in [00:02:30] next? [00:02:30] And the people that have that their. The tighter reigns on the data and that are really understanding what consumers are buying and why are the ones at the best in the best position to, to design what's next. And so I hope that my team will play a big, a bigger role in [00:02:45] that in the future. And it's definitely, uh, of interest to me. [00:02:48] [00:02:49] Kiri Masters: And now let's hear from Jamie Roll, director of Marketplaces at Dr. Squat. [00:02:54] [00:02:54] Jamie Roller: Yes, at Dr. Squash, the marketplaces team is a pretty big part of the mar the [00:03:00] product development process. [00:03:01] We are involved in both idea vetting and proposal as well as, um, uh, testing the idea to see if it will work on marketplaces. And I think it's been integral to our, um, success in product is having that view [00:03:15] from what's working on. Marketplaces because of course you have a lot of data in a huge addressable market. [00:03:21] So it's been super helpful for us to be part of that process, um, to figure out what products are gonna work for our customers. [00:03:27] Sure you're [00:03:30] crushing it. Sure. You're crushing Sure. You're crushing it on Amazon and Walmart. But what about Kroger, Instacart, and the fast growing regional grocers? [00:03:41] A Costa Group builds holistic media plans on [00:03:45] real shopper behavior across all the US retailers that your brand cares about. from digital shelf to retail media to data analytics, Acosta Group offers end-to-end connected commerce all under one roof. Learn [00:04:00] more at ACOA Group and tell them Retail Media Breakfast Club sent you. [00:04:05] That's a C OS T group. [00:04:11] Kiri: Now let's hear from Neha Malik, head of [00:04:15] Connected Commerce at Mizkan America, the parent company of CPG brands, including Ragu, Bati, and Holland House. [00:04:23] Neha Malik: So we do a lot of social listening, um, to understand what is the consumer sentiments out there, uh, [00:04:30] what is that they're trying to tell us, um, about our product, good, um, better otherwise that we can learn from, and then, uh, make those enhancements accordingly. [00:04:39] So it's a very collaborative approach, um, internally within different departments. [00:04:45] And then the second aspect of that I think you asked is, uh, specific benefit. Um, I think it really supports the, um, from the collaboration that we do, it really supports that we make the right decision, whether it's for the product or the [00:05:00] packaging, uh, which supports then ultimately from our competitive intelligence and the growth. [00:05:05] Um, so we don't have to spend too much time going back and forth and make more intelligent decisions right up front. [00:05:11] [00:05:12] Kiri: Now let's hear from Kelsey Knight, [00:05:15] chief Commercial Officer at the Toy Brand Slumberkins. [00:05:18] Kelsey Knight: Yes. So I think product development, when you think about pd, it feels very creative. But in direct to consumer, whenever there's inventory purchasing in play, it's also [00:05:30] very much a numbers game. So one of our founders, Kaylee, is actually the head of product, and in my role as Chief Commercial Officer, I really support her with historical sales data, future revenue forecasting. [00:05:41] Pricing and margin analysis, which obviously isn't much more important right now as we're [00:05:45] looking at all the different tariff scenarios impacting our industry. And then any other de development that might be helpful in narrowing down what new product to develop, as well as what inventory to replenish. [00:05:56] So, uh, other. Data that I'm pulling [00:06:00] in are things like search trends, consumer customer survey data. Um, we, we we're revamping our process actually this year to marry all of that data and information with the strategic and creative processes to help get us to a better place with forecasting. [00:06:14] [00:06:15] Kiri: Now let's hear from Chris Lowry, the brand director at our Home, which is the parent of CPG brands, including pop secret, good health and pop chips. [00:06:26] Chris Lowrey: I, I am brand, brand focused and, uh, I fortunately get to play a, [00:06:30] a lead role in kind of shaping how, how our products come to life. Um, so a big advantage. [00:06:36] I guess I've seen of working so closely with retail media is that, you know, you're able to see what consumers are searching for clicking on and [00:06:45] actually buying. And then those signals can really become early indicators for like how we should position our products in the market. So just as an example, when I worked on a plant-based brand, we noticed protein was driving way more sales than expected through, [00:07:00] um, search keywords. [00:07:01] And so we were able to like pair that insight with some other PAC research. And basically decided to redesign our entire artwork to better highlight protein on pack. Um, and so that like single change gave us like a really noticeable [00:07:15] lift and showed honestly how powerful it is when brand and product development work are hand in hand with some things that we can learn from retail media. [00:07:23]