Making The Case -- Module 1

For the sake of this post, I’ll use General Mills for my example.

Measurement is important to General Mills for a myriad of reasons, ranging from the ability to assess ROI for various projects, to the ability to correlate and coordinate resources, and of course, the ability to assess performance levels of business units and employees. 

Measurement becomes even more important when we turn toward our marketing efforts – by a factor of 10. Since we are a global brand – with operations in over 160 countries – it is of the utmost importance for GMI to ensure that it’s marketing efforts are vast and varied, yet targeted and effective. In order to achieve this goal in short order, I believe that GMI should employ a full-fledged measurement strategy to gauge current market conditions, as well as the overall effectiveness of our product-mix, pricing strategy, and marketing efforts at home and around the world.

Put simply, proper measurement and use of this data will allow us to anticipate and adjust to changes in market conditions faster than we could otherwise. For example, performance of our yogurt division has been down across the board for the past fiscal year. Had we employed a proper measurement strategy for the BU, we would have been able to determine the root causes (higher price point compared to competition, minimal product variation, slow Greek yogurt product roll-out/availability).

By deploying a measurement strategy across the division, we will be able to assess and adjust several variables at once to make sure that our market-leading brand presence doesn't further erode to competitors like Dannon, Chobani, or Greek Gods. After two quarters of consecutive sales declines, it is imperative that we adjust more rapidly.

With a proper measurement strategy in place, I believe we will have the data we need to double our share of the Greek market within the next fiscal year. Leveraging our established brands, introducing new products to our portfolio (i.e. Greek 100 and Liberte), combined with effective utilization of our ability to quickly measure and adjust price-points, capacity, and product-mix, we will be able to turn the BU back to increased profitability for our company and its shareholders.

To avoid getting caught “flat-footed” like this in the future, I believe we should deploy this measurement strategy as soon as possible. The profitability of this segment is vast and growing, and a proper measurement strategy will help to ensure that General Mills isn’t just participating in the segment – but leading it.

References:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/06/27/business/general-mills-greek-yogurt/

http://blog.generalmills.com/2012/06/40-new-yogurt-products/