Circana Unpacked

IRI’s Growth Insights C-Suite Conversations feature insights and best practices from CPG and retail industry leaders. The experiences of these executives and their companies demonstrate the agility and foresight that keeps our industry dynamic. This episode features Fabian Garcia, president of Unilever North America.

Andrew Appel, president and CEO of IRI and Jenn Hetrick, who leads IRI’s Unilever team, spoke with Garcia about how his 40 years of business experience shaped his quick response to the pandemic. They also discuss how Unilever is developing its United for America initiative, strengthening a strong corporate culture that makes a difference in the communities it serves, partnering with IRI and more. 

IRI’s Ryan Toenies, Consultant, Client Insights, makes a guest appearance on The Good Beer Matters podcast and explains how the beer industry can interpret and utilize data to make better business decisions. Data including household profiles and point-of-sale data are just two inputs that deliver insights that can help beer – and other – businesses make smarter decisions.

Snacking saw king-sized growth in 2020, but matching that growth in 2021 is possible! Sally Lyons Wyatt, EVP & Practice Leader, Client Insights, at IRI, talks with SNAC Cast about the snacking trends that emerged from the pandemic and explains why consumer mobility will be the most significant theme in 2021.

Conagra Brands’ focus on innovation and collaboration helped the CPG giant successfully navigate a turbulent 2020. Tom McGough, executive vice president and co-chief operating officer for Conagra Brands and IRI’s President and CEO Andrew Appel predict that many pandemic strategies, including adhering to fundamental principles, agility, a culture of connectedness and strong retail partnerships will work their magic in the future as well. 

Learn about these topics:

[1:51] Adjusting to the challenges of 2020
[10:38] Innovation and success with millennials
[18:01] Sustaining growth in 2021
[24:40] Driving innovation with retail partners
[33:45] Collaborating in a virtual world 
[40:22] Key takeaways

Fresh foods were on board with the e-commerce ride of 2020. And fresh departments were agile in responding to the varying needs of American households on lockdown. But retailers need to work now – ahead of increased social mobility – to promote fresh foods’ role in solutions that span the grocery store. Listen to the latest episode of Fresh Perspectives with Sally Lyons Wyatt, IRI’s EVP, Center-of-Store and Produce Vertical, and Jonna Parker is Principal of IRI’s Fresh Center of Excellence for more on how to position fresh foods for 2021 and beyond.

2020 saw home kitchen activity increase dramatically, with households cooking most meals at home. From YouTube tutorials and  shoppable recipes to targeted marketing and investments in e-commerce and searchability, Chris Dubois, Senior Vice President of the Protein Practice at IRI talks about positive ways the CPG retail industry supported home cooks and provides strategies for retaining a significant share of the food dollar in 2021 and beyond. 

The CPG Guys Sri Rajagopalan and Peter V.S. Bond are joined by Michael Ellgass, EVP of Technology & Retail Media Platforms at IRI. Michael speaks about the growth in retail media capabilities that brands can leverage to win search and efficiently target messaging to the ideal shoppers.

Seth Kaufman, president and CEO of Moët Hennessy, North America, maker of upscale wine and spirits brands, talks with IRI’s KK Davey, president of strategic analytics, about game-changing virtual strategies that encouraged consumers to celebrate small milestones during a pandemic and stay connected to their favorite brands. Kaufman also shares his perspective on servant leadership, supply chain, pricing strategies, the importance of data and analytics, and much more.

This episode of IRI’s C-Suite Conversations features Scott Howe, CEO LiveRamp, an IRI partner. LiveRamp is a behind-the-scenes company in CPG committed to building and nurturing the most trusted offline and digital identity resolution technologies. Howe talks with Nishat Mehta, chief product officer and president of the IRI Media Center of Excellence, about connecting with shoppers in an online world, new restrictions on how we collect and use data, the power of collaboration and more.

Our latest installment of the IRI Growth Insights C-Suite Conversation series features an in-depth discussion with Mark Clouse, president and CEO of Campbell Soup Company. He talked with IRI CEO Andrew Appel about working arm-in-arm with retailer partners to serve the unique needs of consumers in a pandemic and beyond. With a shift to at-home consumption, Campbell Soup is well positioned to support multitudes of new cooks, and Clouse shares the importance of media in building relevance with different consumers.