Retail is won at the shelf, not in PowerPoint.

A selling plan only becomes powerful when it’s executed through deep, cross‑functional customer understanding, because retail is won at the shelf, not in PowerPoint.

Trends don’t create growth. Commercial decisions do.

Thousands of trend reports tell businesses what is changing. Few explain what to do about it. The Unfolding Future bridges that gap, transforming six major market Forces into actionable commercial opportunities. From strategy and innovation to pricing and portfolio decisions, it provides a practical framework for identifying where growth will come from next.

The hidden multiplier in commercial influence: IQ × EQ.

Truly effective selling happens when IQ and EQ work in harmony, combining sharp logic with emotional intelligence to tell a story that builds trust, inspires confidence, and makes customers feel as convinced as they are persuaded.

Is your customer team fit for the future?

Customer teams are delivering the basics, but retailers now expect true business partners who bring ideas, anticipate change and create joint value. Quantic’s Customer Accelerator embeds experts into your team to build deeper insight, multi‑year growth plans and clear execution drivers that strengthen partnerships and deliver measurable growth.

Winning brand share by closing the sustainability expectation gap

Most consumers care about sustainability, but barriers like price, access, and confusion stop them from acting, creating a costly expectation gap for brands. The companies winning market share are those that close this gap by removing friction, tailoring strategies to different consumer segments, and making sustainable choices accessible, affordable, and easy. Growth comes not from messaging alone, but from enabling real behaviour change.

If everything is a priority, nothing drives growth

When everything is treated as a priority, real growth stalls. True performance in H2 comes from pairing clarity with focus—making firm choices, protecting priorities, and saying no to the work that dilutes momentum. Leaders who commit to fewer, sharper priorities create the discipline, space, and progress needed to turn strategy into results.

Data parity is here. Insight is the new battleground.

In a world where data is universal, the real competitive edge lies in using human intelligence to interpret, elevate, and fuse multiple sources into powerful insight that gives customers clarity they can’t create on their own and unlocks meaningful commercial growth.

The most overlooked advantage in selling: the strength of your organisation.

Great sellers win by showcasing not just what their organisation delivers, but how they deliver it, through superior capabilities, deeper expertise, stronger collaboration, and values that build trust and elevate them from suppliers to true strategic partners.

Understand my business. No, REALLY understand my business.

A cornerstone of great selling is the ability to deeply and broadly understand your customer’s business.

May is the moment: stop managing. Start multiplying.

Many teams lose momentum in May. Energy dips, focus fragments, attentions turn to much needed vacations and the second half starts to drift before it begins. So here’s the question: are you setting up H2 results or quietly slowing them down? Right now, many leaders are still managing, which won’t get you where you need to be at the year end.

The real power in negotiation starts with how you sell

Negotiations become far more collaborative when strong selling creates value early and builds trust long before anyone reaches the table.

How future-fit brands are leading with sustainability

Sustainability is a strategic imperative for brands that want to lead, grow, and remain relevant. Today’s future-fit brands are distinguished not by slogans, but by how they embed responsible practices into their identity, operations and stakeholder engagement. They demonstrate that sustainability done well is not an add-on but a source of competitive advantage.

Why learning faster than competitors unlocks advantage

Prioritisation is a growth superpower

Prioritisation is a business growth superpower. Rather than doing more, successful leaders focus on doing less, better, directing time, energy and investment towards activities that drive meaningful results. By prioritising what truly matters, teams gain clarity, avoid distraction and create stronger momentum for sustainable growth.

Sustainability: A competitive advantage for commercial teams

How sustainability can become every commercial team’s competitive advantage. Sustainability is no longer a compliance exercise - it’s becoming one of the strongest commercial growth levers available. Brands that embed sustainability into their value proposition build trust, pricing power and long‑term resilience, while those that retreat risk falling behind.

Growth loves action: why movement beats perfection every time

Growth doesn’t come from perfect plans, it comes from action. Businesses that commit to progress, learn from real-world feedback and keep moving forward are better positioned to build momentum, gain clarity and achieve sustainable growth. In fast-changing markets, movement beats perfection every time.

The future of customer teams

The FMCG landscape is evolving rapidly, requiring customer teams to adapt, collaborate and embrace new capabilities. Success depends on building strong supplier-retailer partnerships, leveraging data and AI, and developing agile, commercially focused teams that can create joint value and drive sustainable growth in an increasingly complex market.

Momentum is a growth multiplier – celebrate the early wins and carry the energy forward

Momentum is a powerful driver of sustainable business growth. By focusing on consistent progress, prioritising execution, and celebrating small wins, organisations can build confidence, create opportunities, and accelerate performance. In 2026, businesses that generate and maintain momentum will be best positioned to adapt, grow, and stay ahead of the competition.

Resetting for growth after a tough year – the move from surviving to scaling

When business growth stalls, a strategic reset can reignite momentum. By letting go of past setbacks, creating space for new opportunities, realigning around purpose, and focusing on future growth, organisations can move from survival mode to sustainable success. Growth starts with clarity, confidence, and the decision to build forward.

Why sustainability belongs in every joint business plan

Integrating sustainability into Joint Business Plans (JBPs) helps suppliers and customers create shared value while driving long-term growth. From reducing costs and strengthening supply chain resilience to building consumer trust and accelerating innovation, sustainability-focused JBPs enable stronger partnerships, strategic alignment, and measurable commercial success.

How to finish a tough year strong

A strong year-end finish isn’t about dramatic last-minute wins—it’s about ending with clarity, purpose, and momentum. By celebrating progress, closing loose ends, recognising team contributions, and focusing on future opportunities, businesses can build confidence and create a stronger foundation for growth in the year ahead.

Customers need help achieving their sustainability targets – suppliers can step up

Retailers face growing pressure to reduce emissions, cut plastic waste, and build more sustainable supply chains, but progress depends on strong supplier partnerships. By collaborating on measurable sustainability initiatives, suppliers and retailers can reduce costs, strengthen resilience, meet consumer expectations, and unlock long-term, sustainable growth through shared value creation.

Why integrating Sustainability is good for brands and business

Getting after growth – the behaviours that actually move the needle

The key questions every FMCG sales leader must answer for 2026

Growth doesn’t just happen – it must be intentional as you get ready for 2026

Are you looking for growth in unusual places?

Growth isn’t a hobby – why serious leaders bet on it

How to get after growth – when investment is tight

A growth mindset when growth is tough – why it matters most now

Why Joint Value Creation is the new superpower in Supplier-Customer Partnerships

Using sustainability as a commercial currency with customers

There’s more to RGM than price

As retailers pivot from ‘last’ and ‘least’ on CPIs to ‘first’ and ‘most’ on cost price decreases, you could be forgiven for thinking that price is the only RGM show...

Quantic’s approach to developing eCategory leadership

The Hare and the Tortoise Revisited, a previous article we’ve discussed, highlights that for CPG companies to prosper in an ever-evolving retail market requires adopting an eCategory strategy anchored in...

The Hare and the Tortoise — an eCategory strategy for eCommerce success

Once upon a time, there was a hare and a tortoise who were part of the same CPG company. The hare’s team was fast paced where technology defined its rules....

Don’t get blown off course, use category as your compass

Context You’ve completed your Category Strategy. You know where you are heading. You have plotted your timed course to get there because you’ve created a quantified set of prioritised Growth...

Legacy is your gift to others who follow you as a customer manager

Navigating price in unprecedented times

HFSS potentially has implications for EVERY category

In 2022 (was April, now October) the UK government will introduce new rules for High Fat, Sugar and Salt (actually Sodium levels not Salt!). The new rules impact three areas...

Getting in shape to navigate the commercial adventure of 2021

If your year looks commercially daunting, strip it back to the fundamental challenge and try reframing it to an adventure. Critical to successful navigation is knowing your current location on...

Is your trade spend burning money?

Retailers across all sectors are under greater pressure now than ever before. Store or outlet closures signal either the final end of famous retail and restaurant names or the last...

Will your portfolio weather the storm?

Retailers have slashed product ranges during the Covid-19 crisis to improve both product availability and operational efficiency. There are now over 13,000 fewer SKUs in the top six UK grocers....

Is your brand and pack price architecture right for these times?

In Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), stockpiling and unavailability have forced consumer trial of alternative options. 30 to 40 percent of consumers in the USA and 65 to 75 percent in...

Will you be match fit for the ‘Golden Quarter’?

Context Covid-19 came quickly and will depart slowly. Global leaders are walking a tightrope between health and economics. Whilst the situation is fluid and unpredictable, business leaders must quickly shift...

Innovation versus the Core

The role and benefits of innovation in a category has been a roller coaster journey for many suppliers and retailers. In light of CV19, the question of ‘to go ahead...

Transforming learning starts with a transformation of L&D

CEOs highlighting that their organisations are not developing skills fast enough should be a rallying cry to L&D to take a look at itself. Here are five thoughts to help...

Creating replay value — a lesson from gaming

It’s very fair to say that I can’t add ‘gaming’ to my list of interests or hobbies unless you count the occasional venture into BubbleXplode or Two Dots as a...

Are you leaving money on the screen?

A lack of co-ordinated approach can lead to chaos and missed opportunities leaving money on the screen. eCommerce has been on the agenda of companies for many years now, and...

What should we do next in eCommerce?

eCommerce is here to stay, but within FMCG eCommerce is still quite low in terms of market share at circa 6% in 2019 (source: GfK, Intage, Kantar). However, with eCommerce...

Is my team really good enough?

Growth is ultimately about asking the consumer, shopper and/or customer to do something differently in the future than they have done in the past. And doing something differently moving forward...

Who is coming after our business?

The big brands are being nibbled to death.  Who is coming after our business? Life used to be so much simpler. TV viewing was limited to four channels. Ordering a...

Which channels and customers are our next big bets?

If you are in a role responsible for deciding your company’s channel and customer investment strategy, the chances are that the landscape that you look upon is a hugely different...

Where is growth coming from?

With today’s environment changing at so fast a pace, thinking about tomorrow can often be a daunting task and one overtaken by the need to manage today’s hectic here and...

Are you really engaging customers with your 2020 plans?

Across the world, we see the trading environment undergoing unprecedented change. Discounters, e-commerce and fluid consumption habits across in home and out of home are placing enormous pressures on traditional...

Do you sometimes need a little nudge?

Like many people, it turns out that consumers also respond well to a little nudge now and then. Whilst Nudge Marketing^ has been around for some time, we still believe...

Delivering your growth agenda: customer marketing’s role

Quantic’s core principle is that connected organisations out-perform their competition. By connected, we mean those businesses whose commercial functional strategies are aligned behind one consistently understood growth agenda. Our previous...

Are you maximising the shopper marketing opportunity?

Delivering your growth agenda: Shopper Marketing – a shared capability Quantic’s core principle is that connected organisations outperform their competition. By connected, we mean those businesses whose commercial functional strategies...

Are you a consumer-led business?

Delivering your growth agenda: Marketing’s critical role In our first post we said that a growth agenda lives and dies by the strength of its under-pinning cross-functional strategies.  In this...

Are you connected for growth?

How connected is your organisation behind a single vision for growth? If nothing else, Brexit is a wonderful example of how dysfunctional an organisation can become when its members can’t...

3.5% vs 1.8% — Are you following the money?

Like many people today, I’ve both bought and consumed my meals out of home.  It’s been good for the chains and independents who’ve had my spend. On the flip side...

Create a culture for people to shine

Well, 2019 has arrived like a flash. Special festive times have come and gone and we have what might feel like a mountain to climb ahead of us. Economies are...

Getting the right promotional mix

With the majority of the Food and Drink category values being at best flat and often actually in decline, it’s all too easy for manufacturers to throw badly-aimed monies at...

Optimising your ROTI (Return on Training Investment)?

L&D teams are busy reaching out to their functional leaders reviewing 2018 programmes and co-creating the shape of their 2019 capability priorities and plans. Our findings show that all too...

Transforming IT from supplier to partner

The value of technology becoming even stronger in the future is unquestioned. Every day it becomes more embedded in the way we live and work and has become a primary...

Winning that all important 1st purchase

Byron Sharp’s well proven law of growth, that both brands and categories grow primarily as a result of penetration gains and not as much via frequency or AWP as previously...

The increasing importance of AQ as a growth driver. What’s your ability to ADAPT?

The late great Stephen Hawking defined intelligence as ‘the ability to adapt to change’ and change dominates all of our landscapes. In the single second it took to read that...

Quantic’s guide to achieving growth in the second half

January seems a long time ago but do you remember starting to plan your personal goals and ambitions for the year ahead – more time with the family, getting super-fit...

Have you ‘executed’ any shoppers recently?

I attended the Executing Shopper Insights conference in London last month, and thought two things; has anyone acted on any of the learnings from the conference yet, and WHAT were...

First purchase research and Quantic strike a chord

In an age of big data and black box algorithms, it made such a refreshing change to hear the joint approach from First Purchase Research and Quantic providing shopper research...

Do the winter Olympics have the answer to winning in new channels?

One of the big questions of today for sales leadership is how do we win in new channels that aren’t our traditional heartland e.g. OOH, discounters and e-commerce. Watching the...

This Valentine’s Day, it’s time to invest in emotional intelligence

Valentine’s is the one time in the year when it’s deemed OK to talk openly about our feelings, yet we all know that it’s emotions that rule every waking second...

Quantic’s guide to achieving your growth ambitions

At this time of year, many of us start to plan our personal goals and ambitions for the year ahead — more time with the family, getting super-fit or finally...

A new look 6P’s

After an amazing ‘Brew Class’ with Dear Green last week I’ve been reflecting on why theirs and other start ups have captured not just my shower time but also my...

Don’t get left behind. Are you leading or are you led?

At Quantic we believe that the best suppliers know where their categories are going. Leaders interpret and shape trends that will dictate their future results. They future-proof their brands by...

Front of house = front of mind

Out of Home (OOH) used to be the poor relation to Retail. The latter commanded disproportionate mind share, investment and the so called best talent whilst the OOH teams plugged...

Extreme reactions or are some suppliers not facing the truth?

When Sainsbury’s recently announced its strategy to address losses to the discounters, the reactions from some suppliers were extreme. On the news that it was assessing both the ‘emotional’ and...