Marketing leaders from Hovis and Bio&Me suggest the key to succeeding in today’s low-growth environment is to focus on the core while finding ways to drive incremental growth that will set the brand up for the future.
FMCG brands face mounting challenges, from stagnant volume growth following price hikes to the ongoing pressures of sustainability, health concerns, and looming restrictions on HFSS advertising.
Navigating this complex landscape is no easy feat and for marketers, there’s certainly a lot to contend with.
“We’re now at a point in time, certainly within the food industry, where volumes are pretty static. Consumers aren’t eating more food. So, for organisations to grow, they need to develop incremental opportunities outside of the core to drive incremental volume,” said Mark Brown, CMO at Hovis, speaking at Oystercatchers’ quarterly Club event last night (19 September).
Discussing new product development and its importance in contributing to growth, Brown said 1% of core growth is “always going to outstrip any contribution from innovation” over the course of a two- to three-year launch period, “unless innovation knocks it out of the park”.