The CPG Marketing Guide
Discover the insights and strategies used behind the most successful brands
In-depth guides to the concepts, strategies, and best practices that drive CPG marketing and trade marketing — written for brand professionals who want real insight, not just definitions.
Fundamentals
AI in CPG
AI in CPG is the application of artificial intelligence across the consumer packaged goods value chain, from demand forecasting and supply chain optimization to marketing creative and retail execution.
Brand Manager
A brand manager in CPG is the business owner for a brand, responsible for strategy, P&L levers, retail execution, creative development, consumer insight, and cross-functional leadership.
Co-Packing
Co-packing (short for co-packing, also called co-manufacturing or contract manufacturing) is the practice of outsourcing the production of your product to a third-party manufacturer, so your brand can stay asset-light and focus on branding, sales, and distribution.
FMCG
FMCG stands for fast-moving consumer goods: low-cost, everyday products that sell quickly and get repurchased constantly, like snacks, beverages, toothpaste, and laundry detergent.
Trade Marketing & Retail
Co-op Advertising
Co-op advertising (cooperative advertising) is a cost-sharing arrangement where a CPG manufacturer reimburses a retailer or distributor for part of the cost of advertising the brand's products.
In-Store Demo
An in-store demo (in-store demonstration) is a live sampling event inside a retail store, where a rep offers shoppers a taste or trial of a product, talks through the brand story, and drives purchase on the spot.
Merchandising
Merchandising is the practice of strategically selecting, presenting, pricing, and promoting CPG products within retail environments to maximize visibility and drive consumer purchases at the point of sale.
Private Label
Private label is a product manufactured by one company but sold under a retailer's own brand name — such as Costco's Kirkland Signature, Target's Good & Gather, or Walmart's Great Value.
Retail Buyer
A retail buyer represents a retailer and decides which products a store or group of stores should carry, evaluating shelf space, pricing, margin, velocity, shopper demand, and supplier reliability.
Retail Sign Making
Retail sign making is the process of creating printed in-store signs that help retailers promote a CPG product, brand, price, offer, or seasonal moment.
Shelf Talker
A shelf talker is a small printed sign attached to a retail shelf edge that draws shopper attention to a specific product by communicating a promotional offer, benefit, or call to action at the point of purchase.
Shopper Marketing
Shopper marketing is a marketing discipline focused on influencing consumer behavior at the point of purchase, bridging the gap between brand strategy and retail execution to drive trial and sales.
Slotting Fee
A slotting fee is a one-time payment a CPG brand pays to a retailer for placing a new product on store shelves, typically ranging from $250 to $250,000 depending on the retailer, category, and number of stores.
Trade Spend
Trade spend is the money a CPG manufacturer invests to promote and sell products through retail and distribution partners—covering discounts, in-store displays, circular features, slotting fees, distributor incentives, and co-op advertising to drive sales and shelf presence.
Retail & Distribution
Category Captain
A category captain is a market-leading manufacturer that a retailer designates to help manage and optimize a specific product category, advising on shelf sets, planograms, assortment, and data-driven decisions to grow the overall category.
Category Management
Category management is the shared process between a retailer and its suppliers of managing a product category, like salty snacks or pasta sauce, as a single strategic business unit rather than as a pile of individual brands.
Distributor
A distributor is a company that buys product from a brand, warehouses it, and sells and delivers it to retail stores. In food and beverage, distributors are the freight layer of the industry.
Food Broker
A food broker is an outsourced sales representative that sells your product into retailers and distributors on commission, without ever taking ownership of the inventory.
Planogram
A planogram is a visual diagram that specifies how products should be arranged on a retail shelf, including product placement, facings, and shelf organization to maximize revenue per square foot.
Retail Media Network
A retail media network (RMN) is an advertising platform owned and operated by a retailer that allows brands to purchase ad placements on the retailer's digital properties, physical stores, or partner channels.
Warehouse Club
A warehouse club (also called a wholesale club) is a membership-based retail store that sells a limited assortment of products in bulk at low prices, inside a no-frills warehouse setting.
Brand & Marketing Strategy
Brand Architecture
Brand architecture is the strategic framework that defines how a company organizes its brands, products, and SKUs, and how they relate to each other. It determines whether consumers see one unified brand or a portfolio of independent brands.
Brand Audit
A brand audit is a systematic review of how your brand performs across customer-facing touchpoints, designed to identify inconsistencies and develop an action plan to strengthen brand health.
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is the degree to which consumers recognize and recall a specific brand within a product category, measured through aided awareness (recognition when prompted) and unaided awareness (spontaneous recall without prompts).
Brand Equity
Brand equity is the value a brand adds to a product beyond the product itself, measured by the price premium (or discount) consumers are willing to pay compared to an unbranded or generic alternative.
Brand Positioning
Brand positioning is the strategic process of defining how your brand occupies a distinct place in the minds of target consumers relative to competitors, guiding every creative and marketing decision.
Creative Brief
A creative brief is a short strategic document that outlines the objective of a marketing campaign and provides the essential context that anyone producing creative work needs to do it well.
Analytics & Measurement
Incremental Lift
Incremental lift is the increase in sales caused by a specific marketing or promotional activity, above what you would have sold anyway.
Price Elasticity
Price elasticity measures how much unit volume changes when price changes, helping CPG brands forecast whether pricing, promotions, coupons, or trade programs will improve revenue and profit.
Sales Velocity
Sales velocity is how fast a product sells off the shelf, measured as units sold per store per week. Retailers use it to decide whether your CPG brand earns its shelf space, deserves more distribution, or gets discontinued.
Digital Marketing & Content
AI in Marketing
AI in marketing is the use of artificial intelligence to improve how brands plan, execute, and optimize marketing activities, from pricing and promotions to content creation and customer targeting.
Ad Creative
Ad creative is the complete visual and written asset used in an advertisement—image or video, headline, sub-headline, body copy, CTA, and overall design. In CPG, it’s where brand strategy becomes visible and is the single biggest driver of advertising effectiveness.
Call to Action
A call to action (CTA) is the short instruction at the end of an advertisement that tells the viewer what to do next, usually a two-word phrase like "Shop now," "Learn more," or "Buy now."
Product Detail Page
A product detail page (PDP) is the e-commerce page dedicated to a single product, where shoppers see its images, title, price, description, and reviews, and decide whether to buy.
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