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Kroger pulled Red Bull from its shelves. Nobody in that room knows yet whether it was the right call, and the first quarter won’t tell them. I’m not picking a side. A brand with loyal shoppers has good reason to price for that loyalty, and a retailer has good reason to ask what that price is buying. But it reminded me of a story that starts in herbs and spices. Ivo Petroff, a buyer at Walmart Canada, was standing in front of the spice aisle, wondering how black pepper could cost that much. He gave up a known source of supplier funding to back what he believed shoppers needed. Then he waited a full year to find out whether he was right. This month’s Counter Intelligence tells Ivo’s story. It looks at what happens when a decision is risky and the outcome uncertain, and why evidence of what shoppers want can become the currency that lets a buyer act. Subscribe if any of the above strikes a chord with you. #ShopperInsights #CategoryManagement #RetailStrategy #FMCG #ShopperIntelligence

James' cartoon here shows a bit of how I feel about AI and CatMan right now. Well, any data analysis, really. So, tell me - am I wrong? And, yes, I know it's early days.

Marketers have long absorbed the thinking in Byron Sharp's book "How Brands Grow", but I'd bet not so many category managers have realised that this applies to their world too. Helpfully, the team at Ehrenburg-Bass, including my friend Arry Tanusondjaja have taken a close look at the historic performance of thousands of CPG categories and (drum roll) shown that the same dynamics (rules) largely apply. They have assessed which levers do most of the heavy lifting in achieving growth. I have created a layman's summary the learnings from their paper in our latest blog (see link in comments) including the reference to the Paper. I am sure Arry will point out if I made any slips of interpretation! Please note there are interesting differences between smaller and larger categories. But, if TLDR is your concern, here is the headline: Yes, to drive growth you are best to find ways to bring new buyers into your category

Why is category management so fascinating? I got into this space back in 1992, rather reluctantly I have to admit, not knowing anything about it! Well, after all, it was brand new as an idea. I was a marketing manager, and was asked to move into national accounts "because marketers understand data". The first to ever do this in my company. Let's face it, few marketers in those days saw "sales" as a career enhancer. I hope they do now though. 😃 I experienced firsthand the difference inherent in talking to my buyer about what "our" shoppers want (natural for a marketer) rather than simply pitching a new product or a run of the mill promotion. The shift in the relationship opened all sorts of doors. Since then, I have consulted in the field, trained, worked with Dr. Brian Harris and of course developed the Shopper Intelligence* system globally. At the heart of the fascination is how we as supplier category managers have to 'square' not one but three circles. We have to match our company's brand agenda (all consuming, all powerful as we know) with each retailer's agenda (also all consuming and all powerful!), and with our what mutual customer seeks (the shopper). The latter being too often the silent circle 🫢 These three forces don't always simply fall together. They have to be nurtured, cajoled. It requires strong insights and a platform of evidence. Particularly if we need to persuade others to align. It's no good waiting for the right project or initiative to come our way, we have to be champions of "category" and influence our own business to bring forward plans that are category led, or at least category appropriate and at the same time, we need to build a good relationship with our buyer as a "trusted advisor". Hard to create, easy to lose. Tacking on a limp category story onto a woefully non category led proposal rarely works well. I still meet people who don't "get" the cat man agenda. That's OK. There's the alternative route - which normally involves writing retailers big cheques. I can see sometimes that's a faster and more certain route to immediate sales. But let's all remember that growing the cake makes all of our objectives easier to meet, whilst competing on cash alone - because anyone can play that game - is usually a race to the bottom..... Cat Man can be a true source of competitive advantage. That's really why P&G kicked it all off with Walmart back in the 90s. How do you see the role of category management? *it simply seemed to me to be the obvious missing piece of what any of us needed to know to do cat man well.

Whether you’re heading to CMA 2026 or not, we have something worth sharing. We’re co-presenting with Reckitt: Intelligence to Impact: Reckitt’s Path to Category Growth A practical look at how diversifying Category Management capabilities and combining Shopper Intelligence with other tools helps create real triple wins with retail partners. 📅 Feb 17 | 3:35 PM | Breakout Room 4 If you’re at CMA, stop by and enter to win one of 2 free Category Projects (worth $5,000 each). 🧩 Booth #401 If you’re not attending, send us a message, and we’ll share the deck after the event.

CMA | SIMA Elevate Conference 2026 is coming up February 16–18, 2026, and the Shopper Intelligence team will be there. Join us alongside our CEO, Roger Jackson, our US Insights Director, Erika Reid, and myself. We’ll be there to meet category and insights leaders, exchange perspectives, and learn how teams are approaching category decisions in today’s environment. If you’d like to set up a quick, informal conversation while we’re there, feel free to message me. Otherwise, we’d love to have you stop by in person at Booth #401. Plus, we’re giving away a free Category Project (worth $5,000 ) to two lucky attendees who enter our drawing. Looking forward to seeing you in Las Vegas! #CMASIMA #CMASIMA2026 #CategoryManagement #ShopperInsights #CPG #Retail Category Management Association