Business for the Environment

Consumer Products

Inside the
Kraft Foods Transformation

Introduced by Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld

Eleven of the top leaders from the largest food and beverage company in the U.S. talk about their three-year turnaround and their campaign to reorganize for growth.

Knockoffs Come
of Age

by Edward Tse, Kevin Ma, and Yu Huang

Once associated with pirated goods, China’s shan zhai companies have become competitive players, even in mature industries.

The Trouble with Brands

by John Gerzema and Ed Lebar

Most consumer brands are not creating value. The exceptions share a set of “energized” attributes that companies can identify and exploit.

Major Media in the Shopping Aisle

by Matthew Egol and Christopher Vollmer

Marketers are using digital and video technology to reach shoppers at the moment that matters most.

The New Consumer Frugality

Retailers must adapt to the enduring shift in U.S. consumer spending and behavior, according to a new Booz & Company survey of buying habits.

Why Shoppers Switch

A new survey reveals that for different types of products, consumers change brands in response to different marketing triggers.

Catering to Nervous Customers

In industries that offer necessary but often undesirable services, managers must strive to understand how their services affect the stress levels of their customers.

The Promise of In-market Innovation

A new strategy recommends putting out new products in large volume and letting the marketplace — not focus groups — separate winners from losers.

Convincing Consumers to Spend Again

In a brutal sales environment, retailers and manufacturers, led by the auto industry, are finding that smarter marketing — not better products — may be the best way to a customer’s heart.

2. Consumer Products: Some Brands Win

A Breakaway Opportunity for “Inferior” Products

As the difficult economy causes consumers to trade down in their purchases, companies need to adjust their offerings to their customers’ new behavior.

The Unique Advantage

To succeed in a mature industry like consumer products, the trick isn’t being first — it’s being hard to copy.

Tracking the Elusive Consumer

Consumer choice modeling can help companies improve their market share by offering a better understanding of consumer preferences.

Survival-of-the-Fittest Innovation

Booz & Company Partner Alexander Kandybin on why consumer products companies should look to the power of natural selection to break out of the incremental innovation trap.

Archive of Consumer Products articles