Newman’s Own Leans into TPO for Promo Analysis
“We needed to get smarter about our trade spend. That’s what led us on this journey,” Sarah Golding explains when I asked why Newman’s Own implemented Blacksmith TPO. Sarah is the senior director of commercial finance at the popular, not-for-profit CPG. You know them for their dressings, sauces, snacks, spices, and more.
When it came to understanding promo metrics and identifying promotional performance trends, the team at Newman’s Own needed more visibility… they needed a trade promotion optimization solution.
After exploring various TPO software vendors, Blacksmith TPO “rose to the top because it really is a very intuitive tool”, Sarah continues. “I didn’t foresee issues with onboarding or its ability to integrate with our TPM tool.”
Using a tool like Blacksmith TPO has a lot of upsides, says Walt Zola, head of sales at Newman’s Own. He adds, “now, we can look at our promo metrics and determine how we should invest in our business. Plus, there’s a high-level of engagement from the Blacksmith team and our broker counterparts, who load marketing and syndicated data with zero problems.”
Newman’s Own selected Blacksmith TPO as its promo analysis tool because…
- It’s easy to use and cloud based
- It seamlessly integrates with their TPM system
- Implementation requires no internal IT involvement
- The master calendar has powerful insights
- It supports strategic trade investments
Through trade optimization technology, Newman’s Own gets the data needed to have more robust conversations with retailers.
It can be a challenge to articulate a clear story of why you’ve suggested XYZ promotions year over year. With TPO, you can use the data to make a business case. For example, tell the retailer that if you tweak the promotion, they’ll get more category dollars and profit dollars. Not to mention, it’ll be better for your own profitability.
Walt says that one TPO feature that really stood out to him is the what-if scenario planning. He explains that with what-if scenario planning, “you’re able to show the retailer true financial impact, you can explain why you want to invest in a different way, and the retailer will still see profit.”
Post-promo analytics is another great feature of Blacksmith TPO.
With promotion performance data, “you can determine whether money is being spent efficiently or not,” Sarah points out. Before TPO, Newman’s Own would have to review Nielsen bump charts, look at price points, then marry that data to the promotion calendar. That process takes a lot of time. “If you invest money to run a program, you want to know that it’s executed in-market,” Sarah says. Blacksmith TPO has a “graphic master calendar that shows you all of this data in one spot.”
For many CPGs, making sure trade spend works effectively and efficiently is mission critical. And that’s true for Newman’s Own. “Investing in TPO made a lot of sense because it’ll pay for itself,” Sarah says.
The team recently finished implementation and training, so today they’re using the optimization functionality in an ad hoc capacity; tweaking promotional strategies, and laying out promotional plans for product innovations.
“The team at Newman’s Own is top-notch. With optimization at their fingertips, they’ll build promotional plans that drive profit and volume. They’ll easily be able to evaluate promotional performance and see competitor actions,” says Wayne Spencer, VP of TPX at Blacksmith Applications. “We’re thrilled to welcome Newman’s Own to the Blacksmith family. We’re glad that we’re the technology partner that will enhance their visibility and deliver real results.”
