From Targeted Promotions to Tailored Packs: Colgate-Palmolive, P&G, and PepsiCo Respond to Consumer Shifts

Colgate-Palmolive has centered on promotions and a couponing strategy, P&G gets more targeted with communications, and PepsiCo is investing directly in packaging reformatting.

Consumers are largely prioritizing value in today’s CPG landscape, but how can companies deliver differentiated products and services when the definition of value keeps changing? As Sally Lyons Wyatt, Circana global EVP and chief CPG and foodservice advisor, told CGT earlier this year, “Price and value can mean different things to different people.” 

Colgate-Palmolive, P&G, and PepsiCo have all recently pointed to heightened consumer awareness of value in the U.S. market, according to recent earnings calls, responding with analytics-driven promotion strategies, adjusted price pack architecture, and new ways of communicating differentiated value.

Colgate-Palmolive

The North American consumer is still price-challenged, per the company, and so a focus on promotions has been key to delivering the value shoppers are looking for. CEO Noel Wallace said it is “making sure that you are very thoughtfully thinking about your promotional cadence and how you promote your digital coupon strategy, your paper coupon strategy, your promotions, on-pack promotions, your price pack architectures.”

Behind this effort is an analytics strategy that taps AI to determine promotion ROI, better inform investment decisions, and drive category growth for retail partners. Wallace said consumer spending has normalized some, and there’s a slightly higher promotional redemption rate behind coupons. 

Related: Read more about Colgate-Palmolive’s AI-fueled promotion schedule