TPO Achievement Award Goes to Land O’Lakes

CPGs are no stranger to the struggle of delivering ROI on trade promotions. To optimize trade investments, CPG companies need a clear view of shipment, consumption and POS data, accurate baseline modeling, effective post-event analysis, and predictive customer planning.

TPO achievement. What does that mean? Well, to Land O’Lakes, implementing a TPO solution has streamlined its business processes and analytical work that was once managed through spreadsheets. It’s the added visibility to its customer’s performance and promotional effectiveness. It’s the ability to collaborate with retailers and build profitable trade investment strategies.

During Smoke Jumpers XVIII, Land O’ Lakes was honored with the customer award for Achievement in Trade Promotion Optimization.

“It is nice to be recognized for the work we have done in the TPO space. We’re proud of what we’ve done over last several years with Blacksmith TPO,” said Scott Johnson, Sr. Manager – Business Solutions, Land O’Lakes.

Blacksmith TPO is formerly known as T-Pro Optimum.

The TPO Decision

To develop optimized trade promotions, Land O’Lakes wanted an intuitive tool that fit their business needs and fit the way they manage trade investment and trade budgets.

Another deciding factor: Ease of implementation and integration. This TPO solution is user-friendly, “and from an integration standpoint, the business can handle almost everything with little or no assistance from IT,” notes Johnson.

“And, our comfort level and confidence level with the people at T-Pro was an important element in selecting a trade optimization solution. We had a strong working relationship with T-Pro in the past, and valued that going forward. We knew we would receive great customer support and valuable business knowledge along with the solution,” adds Johnson.

Advice on Adding a TPO Solution

First, narrow your focus: What can you really impact? Define the process ahead of roll out — even though it will likely evolve over time.

Johnson explains, “Find a tool you are comfortable with and fits your business. Find people you are comfortable working with (the vendor) and also make sure you have the internal resources to get the most out of the tool.”

The Adoption of TPO at Land O’Lakes

With Blacksmith TPO, companies can be confident in their trade planning and analysis. For Land O’Lakes, a trade promotion optimization solution has “given us an ability to impact a greater breadth and depth of customers and promotions, through greater visibility and streamlining analysis. It has laid the groundwork for us to further define score-carding and overall process across the organization,” says Johnson.

The Value of Optimization

Optimizing your trade spend with powerful trade tools are must haves for efficient trade investment management and to navigate today’s challenging CPG climate. “I expect we will continue to use TPO more and more not only to get more efficient with our trade investment, but to further define internal processes and see where we can work collaboratively with our retailers,” adds Johnson.