MID-WINTER

ISSUE

2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FROM VULNERBLE TO VALUABLE:

HOW INTEGRITY CAN TRANSFORM A SUPPLY CHAIN .............................................. 18

SHAREHOLDER VALUE PLUMMETS WHEN COMPANIES EXPERIENCE SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION

, a 600-company study shows.

With supply chains now under unprecedented pressure, now more than ever it pays to invest in integrity, the new report finds. This excerpt and a Q&A with an expert advisor tells how smart companies are doing just that.

NEW WEBSITE!

PUTTING TOGETHER STRATEGIC TRADING PARTNERSHIPS

FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE................................................................................... 40

IN 2009, CPG COMPANIES WILL NEED TO MAKE HARD CHOIC- ES ABOUT WHERE THEY INVEST RESOURCES –– ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE RETAIL CUSTOMER

. If you’re not effectively segmenting your trading partners on the basis of potential return and working with them to strategic advantage, it’s time to start. Here’s how.

NEGOTIATING WITH YOUR ASIAN SUPPLIERS:

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR –– & HOW .................................................. 54

A CONFLUENCE OF FACTORS IS PUTTING EXTREME PRESSURE ON SURVIVING FACTORIES IN CHINA AND ELSEWHERE IN ASIA. So despite the recession, if you drive too hard for price concessions, you may well find yourself pushing a supplier on whom you depend over the edge ––or pushing yourself out the door. Here’s how to get what you need today.

TRADE PROMOTION PREDICTIVE MODELING &
OPTIMIZATION: SMOKE ORSUBSTANCE?..................... 70

GO TO GMAFORUM.COM to access this and future issues of the GMA e-FORUM, the individual website pages of key CPG industry solutions and services providers, CPG and retail industry events and more!

SHOULD YOU INVEST IN PREDICTIVE MODELING At the recent Trade Promotion Management Associates conference in Scottsdale, AZ, two trade promotion experts, Gartner’s Dale Hagemeyer and Synectics Group president Alex Ring, donned boxing gloves, and faced off to debate the pros, cons, payoffs and caveats.

2009:

A BRAND MARKETER’S PRESCRIPTION ........................... 82 TRENDS EMERGING TODAY WILL INSPIRE THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT SAVVY CPG COMPANIES WILL BE SELLING when the economy recovers in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Here are nine key consumer needs, desires and directions to consider and factor into your innovation efforts.