Case Study: Finding the Next Pathways to Growth
- 2024-12-16
- 9:55 am
- Posted By: Tellusant
In 2024, Tellusant engaged with a company that began to see a slowdown in its extended periods of growth. The company worried its growth levers had reached their limit, so this effort aimed to adjust strategy to reach the next stage of growth.
Issue and Project Motivation
The primary goal focused on enhancing the company’s market position and driving growth in several packaged food product segments in 10 countries across the Americas.
This resulted in a multi-faceted set of objectives:
- Forecast category, competitive, and company development
- Assess the impact of unexpected changes and consumer need shifts
- Strategically prioritize the company development and necessary resource allocations
- Systematize the process of applying strategy to strategic planning
Steps and Approach
To address these goals, we applied the following structured approach:
1. Market Assessment
We began with a deep dive of each market, focusing on economic, industry, and consumer factors.
We examined the economic status and trends in subnational sales regions leveraging the TelluBase database. This analysis revealed the diverse impacts of targeting the seven different income brackets. Each bracket possessed distinct purchasing power and product preferences, signaling the need to customize marketing and product strategies.
2. Competitive Assessment
We conducted a detailed assessment of the competitive landscape. This included addressing how the company compared against key competitors in terms of market share, pricing strategies, and brand strength across different price tiers.
3. Market Forecasting
Based on the market and competitive assessments, we were able to fully identify what drives demand.
Using the PoluSim tool to incorporate these drivers, we used a comprehensive forecasting model to predict how each relevant category and sub-segment will evolve over the next 10 years. The factors influencing demand included analyzing macroeconomic factors, competitive shifts, and consumer behavior patterns.
4. Opportunity Identification
We worked with the client to build a list of more than 100 ideas for growth to be explored. From this selection, we were able to combine, identify, and quantify 10 key opportunities that merited further exploration.
Each opportunity was understood through at least 2 of 3 different methods: statistical analysis, case studies, and expert insights. Each opportunity was further assessed in terms of capabilities to capture and what steps would need to be taken.
5. Strategic Prioritization
Through discussion and alignment on the opportunities and capabilities, we narrowed down a set of 5 clear strategic priorities. This plan included a roadmap for resource allocation to support growth initiatives and KPIs to track the success of the initiatives.
6. Repeatability
The client wanted to continue to build forecasts, scenarios, and impacts of capturing growth opportunities we planned. We conducted multiple trainings for a key team of 10 and implemented the PoluSim tool to be the hub for strategic forecasting.
The client continues to use the tool to see the effects of new changes in the market, adjust priorities for growth opportunities, and prepare for future strategic plan cycles.
Outcomes
The initiative yielded several significant outcomes:
- A clear understanding of the growth potential in the company’s categories, with robust forecasts indicating a slowdown expected growth with clear drivers why without change.
- Identified key markets and segments where the organization has a strong competitive advantage and should focus its efforts.
- Development of a strategic growth mindset across the organization, supported by a cross-functional task force dedicated to driving initiatives forward.
- A detailed action plan outlining the financial investments required to support significant shifts in strategy and growth.
- A repeatable model and tool to empower the client to run strategic planning cycles on their own
Key Takeaways
This project provided several critical lessons:
- Importance of Strategic Forecasting: Accurate forecasting is essential for anticipating market trends and making informed strategic decisions.
- Market and Competitive Assessments: Understanding what is driving the categories and why, including the competitive landscape, is crucial for identifying strengths and opportunities for differentiation.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: A dedicated task force can effectively coordinate initiatives and ensure alignment across the organization.
- Repeatability: Companies can drive strategic changes when empowered with the right tools and mindsets