310. Why Most CPG Advice Fails (And What Works)

0:00Why most CPG advice fails and what actually works. You're not failing. The advice is. If you're an emerging CPG founder right now, you've probably felt this. You're doing everything people tell you to do. You're running promotions, posting on social media, working with brokers, pitching retailers, investing in trade, hiring help, and chasing deductions. And yet, your growth feels inconsistent. Your cash flow feels tight. Your strategy feels reactive. And nothing quite seems to click. Your sales aren't moving. Your SKUs look like they're underperforming. Your retails will lose in confidence. And suddenly you're staring at the one thing every founder dreads, the threat of discontinuation.

0:41Here's the uncomfortable truth most founders never hear. Most brands are not discontinued because they aren't loved. They're not discontinued because they didn't promote enough. They're not discontinued because their velocity was poor. No, most brands are discontinued for far simpler, more frustrating reasons. Shoppers couldn't find the product. That's it. Not strategy, not marketing, not demand. execution. Specifically, inconsistent merchandising, incorrect placement, missing shelf tags, out of stocks, broken schematics. Your merchandising is the first impression shoppers have of your brand. Make it a good one.

1:18Because in retail, you rarely get a second chance. So you start asking, what am I missing? Why isn't this working? Why does this feel harder than it should? Here's the bigger truth. Most CPG advice doesn't fail because it's wrong. It fails because it's incomplete. It's fragmented, it's tactical, and it ignores how business actually works as a system. No one teaches founders how to connect the dots. That's exactly why I built a retail operating system. But we'll save that for another episode. Today we're focused on something far more immediate. How merchandising and the lack of systems behind it silently destroys brands, and how to fix it so shoppers can actually find and buy and come back for your product.

2:01The story, when good advice almost cost everything. Years ago, when I was building and preparing to launch a brand, I did what most founders do. I became a sponge. I joined incubators, attended industry events, listened to the experts, followed best practices, studied successful brands, and I learned a lot. But something didn't sit right because when I looked around, I kept seeing the same pattern. Great brands, great products, great missions, all struggling. Not because they weren't working hard, but because the advice they were following was disconnected from execution, disconnected from retail reality, disconnected from profitability, disconnected from how shoppers actually buy.

2:42And most importantly, it lacked strategy, purpose, and intention. I remember sitting in conversations where founders were being told, just drive velocity, just run more promotions, just get more distribution, just hire a broker. And I kept thinking, that sounds right, but it's not complete. Because I'd also sat on the other side of the table. I had worked for big CPG companies, been classically trained in category management, managed retail stores, including being grocery manager, worked directly with buyers, worked with clients of every size, mentored brands, and seen how decisions actually get made.

3:19And I knew something that most founders weren't being told. Retail doesn't reward activity. Retail rewards alignment. And that's when it clicked. Merging brands don't need more advice. They need better strategy for people to understand how the entire system works. Why this matters? Advice versus system. Most advice in this industry lives in isolation. Marketing advice, retail advice, trade advice, broker advice, pricing advice. Each one sounds good on its own, but your business doesn't operate in silos. Everything is connected. Pricing impacts promotion. Promotions impact margin. Margin impacts runway.

3:58Merchandising impacts velocity. Messaging impacts conversion. Execution impacts everything. If you don't see the system, you can't fix the outcome. So let's break down the five biggest reasons most CBG advice fails and what to do instead. Strategy number one, chasing tactics instead of building a system. Most CPG advice doesn't fail because it's wrong. It fails because it's incomplete. The trap. Founders are taught to chase tactics, run a promotion, launch a campaign, post more content, get more doors, advertise more. But tactics without a system creates chaos. The reality, tactics only work when they're connected to pricing, promotion, positioning, merchandising on shelf, retail strategy, execution.

4:44Without that, you're reacting. You're not leading. The better way, build a simple operating system. What drives your growth? What drives your margin? What drives repeat purchase? Then align everything to that. This alone can dramatically improve your promotion ROI. Action step, write this down. Our growth strategy is driven by, if you can't answer that clearly, start here. Strategy number two, confusing velocity with value. Velocity isn't your problem, it's what you're sacrificing to get it. The trap, velocity is everything, so brands discount aggressively, promote consistently, and chase spikes.

5:24The reality, Velocity without profitability destroys runway. And worse, it trains your customer to only buy and deal. The better way? Focus on contribution, not just velocity. Profitable dollars, high value shoppers, bigger baskets, sustainable margins. That's what retailers actually take to the bank. A real example. I once worked with a retailer obsessed with contribution. We showed them something simple. Their premium shoppers bought more per trip, spent more per basket, and were driving category growth. We used their own produce section as proof. Everything was easy to find. Everything was merchandised logically, and their premium items were outperforming.

6:06The answers were already in the store. Sometimes the best insights are hidden in plain sight. Action step. Stop asking, what's our velocity? Start asking, what's our contribution to the category? That changes the conversation instantly. Strategy number three, treating retail like a transaction. Retailers don't buy products, they buy confidence. The trap? Founders try to get placement. They pitch their brand, their mission, their story. The reality, retailers aren't buying your product, they're buying confidence. Confidence that you understand their shopper, understand their category, can help them grow profitably and you will support their execution.

6:46The better way? Shift from here's how we're great to here's how we help you win. Action step. Write this. Our brand helps a retailer win by. Build your pitch around that. When you do this consistently, you stop being a vendor and start becoming a trusted advisor. Strategy number four. Ignoring execution where everything breaks. Shoppers can't buy what they can't find. The trap? Founders spend months on strategy, weeks on launch, and days on execution, and then wonder why nothing works. The reality? Execution is where everything breaks. Poor placement, inconsistent merchandising, out of stocks, missing shelf tags.

7:26A podcast listener once told me that she went to support a friend's brand launch. She walked into the store excited and ready to buy. She went to the section her friend told her. It wasn't there. She searched. She asked an associate, still nothing. Eventually, they found it. In the wrong category, on the wrong shelf, nowhere a shopper would ever look. The brand had spent thousands on promotion, driven traffic, built excitement, and it all failed. Not because of demand, because of merchandising. The retailer assumed. The product didn't perform. The promotion failed. The SKU wasn't worth keeping.

8:01That one mistake nearly killed the brand. The better way. Treat execution like a system. Placement, inventory, Merchandising, Replenishment, Store Level Consistency. Action Step. Ask, what must be true in every store for us to win? Then enforce it with scorecards and audits. Strategy number five. Building a brand without alignment. A confused brand doesn't convert. The trap? Ask ten people what your brand stands for. You'll get ten answers. The reality? Inconsistently leads to weak marketing, poor conversion, wasted trade spend, confused shoppers. A confused mind always says no, and inconsistent merchandising makes it worse.

8:43The better way. Create a unified voice. Clear positioning, simple story, repeatable language, consistent execution everywhere. Align merchandising with how shoppers actually shop. Make it frictionless. Action step. Define what you stand for, who's it for, why it matters. Then make sure it shows up everywhere. Recap why most CPG advice fails. Number one, it focuses on tactics, not systems. Number two, it prioritizes velocity over value. Number three, it treats retail like a transaction. Number four, it ignores execution. Number five, it lacks alignment. Fix these and everything changes. Your strategy becomes clearer.

9:28Your execution becomes consistent. Your trade spin becomes efficient. Your retail relationships are proof. Your runway extends. What to do next? you don't need more advice. You need clarity, consistency, and a system that you can run every week. Choose one strategy from today and implement it immediately. Then do that again tomorrow. That's how this becomes your operating system. If this resonated, subscribe and follow the show. Follow RetailSolve.com for tools and resources. Download the free merchandising checklist in the show notes and share this with a founder who's working hard but stuck.

10:04Because you don't need to play the same game as big brands to win. You just need to understand how the game actually works and how to stack the odds in your favor. I'm Dan Lohman, and this is the Bulletproof Your CBG Brand Podcast. Want more sales and loyal shoppers? Here's this week's free downloadable guide. Real shopper loyalty is earned, not found on a plastic card or purchased through promotions. Your brand's real strength is its ability to convert casual customers into loyal brand ambassadors. Learn strategies and tactics to leverage this to grow sustainable sales and profits. Savvy retailers need and want your profitable shoppers.

10:39This can unlock incremental opportunities not available to other brands. Thanks for joining us today. Please reach out and share your most pressing questions, and I'll do my best to get you the answers that you need on future episodes, including expert advice from CEOs and industry thought leaders. Comment, leave your questions, and get this week's free downloadable guide and the show notes at retailsolve.com session 310.