Situation / Challenge
Past acquisitions and continuous innovations at all levels (packages, flavors, sub-categories, etc.) resulted in a huge portfolio of overlapping brands and SKUs. The challenge was to build a “future state” portfolio that better aligned with market trends and that would reduce redundancies and complexity, driving both operational synergies and improved marketing resource allocation.
Approach
Developed a comprehensive assessment at 3 levels to map and prioritize categories, brands and SKUs — including category size, growth, profitability and company portfolio performance. Mapped brands based on their role in the overall portfolio and identified synergies at a brand-geography level. Leveraged financial and market information to prioritize SKUs from a profitability and point-of-sale competitive perspective.
Results
Over 20 brands and sub-brands were discontinued or transitioned out, 2 brands were identified for acquisition, and the SKU rationalization program (~200 discontinued) resulted in increased focus for the sales team and initial operational synergies of over $5M.