Commentary

New Technologies Drive CPG Media Mix Optimization

ANGELA REyNAR yahoo! areynar@yahoo-inc.com JODI PhILLIPS marketShare Partners jphillips@ marketsharepartners. com SIMONA hEUMANN marketShare Partners sheumann@ marketsharepartners. com

This study seeks to optimize media allocation and discuss the role of online in consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing. To this end, the authors explore in depth three CPG subcategories: beauty care, home care, and beverages. By doing so, the authors seek to accomplish the following: • Provide a better understanding of how the various media vehicles available to consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers work together • Demonstrate the need to move beyond traditional views and measurements of marketing • Explore the impacts each marketing driver has on sales and understand how they work together • Illuminate the power of the Internet in an overall marketing campaign.

INTRODUCTION As business line and marketing executives face increased scrutiny and are asked to do more with less, it has become ever more important to have a clear understanding of how marketing dollars are working for brands. The role of marketing has not changed much over the years, and it still plays a critical function in educating consumers, building brand equity, and generating sales. What has changed is the variety of channels, their influence on consumers, and the metrics that are used to measure them. Twenty years ago, a major marketer primarily would use television, print, radio, and out-of-home media to communicate marketing messages. Over the last few years, however, as consumers have changed their mediaconsumption behavior (mainly in response to the benefits of technological innovation), marketers have begun to utilize such online media channels as display, rich media, search, mobile, and social media. In fact, the amount of time that consumers spend online has more than doubled since 2004, whereas their time commitments to other media