Overall Objective
TPG has been at the leading edge of Category Management for 30 years.
Effective retailers and their trade partners gain competitive advantage by relentlessly focusing the total value they provide to shoppers and consumers. Best practitioners know that highly effective and capable collaboration – at the interface – is how to best enable this goal.
The Category Management process is a proven enabler of effective collaborative planning and value creation. Best practitioners have well-honed Category Management competencies. Companies seek credible Industry benchmarks to drive their leadership performance and identify gaps to train upon. TPG has built a set of Category Management benchmarks to enable assessment tool and certification based on nearly 30 years Category Management experience.
The Category Management Leadership Academy (CMLA) provides clients with a comprehensive solution to build their Category Management capability. CMLA is based upon TPG’s unparalleled credentials honed from decades of experience, best practice authorship and a competency-based certifiable approach. CMLA is a flexible tool that will fit any company’s Talent Development Plan at an affordable cost.
TPG has identified nine competency areas that drive success in Category Management. They provide our clients an objective way to set development goals and benchmark their people. This competency-based Talent Development approach provides the skills & knowledge for your personnel to be Industry Certified at 3 Levels as part of our affiliation with the Category Management Association.
Two approaches to assess opportunities:
- Category Management Benchmark and Development Assessment – Use TPG’s proprietary on-line assessment tool to test proficiency versus Industry Benchmarks. The benchmarks are based on hundreds of other Industry category management practitioners’ results. This provides a reliable way on knowing where you and your people stand versus your competitors.
- Category Management Certification – Go all the way to certify your people. TPG has contributed its Intellectual Property to the CMA Industry Standards Board. TPG is part of CMA’s Category Management Training Standards & Certification Advisory Board. TPG endorses CMA Certification approach for the Industry at their 3 proficiency levels.
CMLA Curriculum and Blended Delivery – including e-learning!
TPG’s curriculum includes 40+ courses across 3 proficiency levels. This competency-based curriculum offers clients a clear roadmap to addressing gaps or building new Category Management capability.
Each course is designed to build the knowledge and skills to address your Category Management competency needs. Each course focuses on pragmatic applications to stretch your organization anywhere between basic Practitioner and Mastery.
The courses are delivered virtually in a cost and time effective e-learning course suite. Or, TPG can provide customized blended training programs including instructor-led classroom, on the job and practicums for your company.
How can the Category Management Leadership Academy (CMLA) work for me?
CMLA is easy to use for individuals or entire organizations. It can help you assess current capability, identify strengths and gaps or create a personalized training roadmap to best in class performance.
Three steps to getting started:
1) Benchmark your capability with competency and online testing
An easy way to determine where you stand in Category Management knowledge and skill with TPG’s proprietary online diagnostic tool. Available 24/7. An individual or entire organization can benchmark their proficiency vs. hundreds of Industry CM practitioners. TPG will provide results for each competency area and a score with both gaps and strengths.
2) Create a customized training roadmap
This allows maximum flexibility with highly interactive on line courses available 27/7. All courses are designed for maximum adult learning. They provide numerous exercises, case studies, online quizzes and testing to engage the learner. Advanced and Mastery courses have added rigor with pre/post work and practicum assignments. Of course, Certification is available across all proficiency levels.
Users receive a personal password allowing course participation with a set number of return visits. Contact our TPG CMLA team.
3) Leverage TPG’s experience at no cost
TPG will provide a consultation, free of charge. Our training and Category Management experts will address your questions and provide helpful advice based on years of practical experience. Click here to set up a call Training@tpg-mail.com
TPG’s online curriculum
1) Strategic Business Planning – Learn how to develop clear, logical and comprehensive business plans that drive category action and results.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
2) Analysis & Insights – Learn the data types, research methodologies, analytical techniques and modeling tools that industry leaders drive breakthrough category plans and results.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
3) Financial & Business Acumen – Learn how to apply financial concepts, measures and tools to validate and measure category results.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
4) Product Development & Assortment – Learn how to plan and develop an assortment that optimizes consumer variety and minimizes costly duplication.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
5) Retail Pricing & Promotion – Learn how to determine develop effective and efficient pricing and promotion strategies and action plans.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course
6) Retail Merchandising & Service – Learn the secrets to designing retail merchandising that capture shoppers at the “moment of truth”.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
7) Shopper Marketing/Target Marketing – Learn how to demystify shopper marketing and turn it into a practical way of building consumer/shopper loyalty with effective targeted marketing programs.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
8. Demand Planning & Total Order Management< – Learn how the invisible side of Category Management can help you gain a sustained competitive edge. Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
9) Retailer & Manufacturer Relationship Development – Retailer & Manufacturer Relationship Development – Learn how to understand and leverage your trading partner’s capabilities to drive category revenue and profit.
Click on Contact Us below for more information on each course.
More Detail on Individual CMLA Courses Provided Below:
| Practitioner Courses |
| Shopper &Category Development – The Evolution of Category Management Review the purpose, rationale and evolution of the industry’s Best Practices in category management. Participants will build awareness and experience by creating a realistic, category plan, adhering to the best practice approach. |
| General CPG Industry Terminology & Data Definitions This course addresses the two components of the “CPG language” that everyone must understand – basic customer management and buying/merchandising terms, along with key syndicated data definitions and how to use these data points to evaluate business opportunities. |
| Fundamental CPG Data Sources,Research & Analytical Techniques A basic overview of key CPG industry data sources, while providing a few research & analytical techniques used to leverage this data into better insights and decision making. The course will also provide a basic overview of key measures used across the Industry to help ensure more effective communication between manufacturers & retailers. |
| Understanding Brand Equity& Positioning (Product & Retailer) The essence of brand equity and positioning. What they are, how they are created and how they can be leveraged or destroyed. The course will address loyalty to a brand or retail banner. What it is, the various ways of defining it and the linkage to brand or banner equity and positioning. Participants will learn how brand and banner merchandising decisions and their execution can build/erode equity, positioning and loyalty. |
| Fundamentals of Assortment Planning How to apply the Best Practice Efficient Assortment planning 6-step model. Participants will learn how to apply the Efficient Assortment process to minimize consumer duplication and maximize variety as well as ensure effective retail execution. |
| Retail New Item Decision Making The key steps and considerations needed in determining whether to add a new item to the assortment of a category. Topics addressed will include the foundational role of Best Practice Efficient Assortment, financial and operational considerations, lead time and new item deployment factors, as well as the implications of discontinuing existing products to make room for the new items. |
| Effective Shelf Management The fundamentals of effective shelf management. Participants learn the basics of creating shelving plans that can effectively convert a store shopper into a category buyer. Unlike simple shelf management training, this seminar starts with the psychology of consumer shopping behavior, and then addresses all of the shelving elements that generate sales. The course introduces a shelf management process that can be applied across all categories within the store. |
| Promotion Event Planning & Post-Promo Analysis The fundamental knowledge to create effective promotion events for a given category and to avoid the costly pitfalls typically experienced in the industry. Participants will be introduced to the key criteria for effective category promotional event decision making. |
| Fundamentals of Retail Price Planning The evolution, rationales and key tools / techniques in setting retail prices. Participants will build experience by working with realistic case studies that trace understanding of competitive prices, evaluating various potential corporate pricing strategies and their consequences to a particular category, and plan for the implementation and evaluation of price change execution. |
| Retail & Manufacturer Finance The financial scorecard measures and analyses most commonly utilized by retailers and manufacturers within the industry. This includes emerging and advance financial measures that are becoming more accepted and are having a significant impact on retail and manufacturer category business planning and implementation. |
| Fundamentals of Forecasting & Inventory Mgmt The critical Supply Chain knowledge and to analyze forecasting and inventory management results for strengths and opportunities. The training positions participants to recognize business building and cost reduction ideas and to effectively work with Supply Chain professionals to deliver improved results. |
| Influence – Leveraging Effective Communication Deliver superior results by maximizing your influence internally and externally. Participants will learn to apply a proven, highly effective 6-step influence process, in a collaborative way, for mutual benefit. |
| Negotiation Strategies & Implementation The key building blocks of the industry’s best practices of negotiation. Participants will build awareness and experience by learning how to develop negotiation platforms that deliver wins to both sides in a negotiation session. Each step in the planning and implementation process will be illuminated through real-life industry examples, underscoring the most effective way to achieve win-win outcomes. |
| Advanced Courses | |
| Shopper & Category Development – Planning Process A step-by-step description of how top industry practitioners are approaching the next generation of category management – “Shopper & Category Development”. Particular focus will be placed on the key steps and inputs that generate actionable, break through category strategies and tactical initiatives. Participants will learn how successful practitioners have leveraged technology, innovative data sources, vendor collaboration and analytical techniques to create category differentiation while enhancing shopper loyalty. |
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| Tactical Blueprint & Initiative Development A deep understanding of the importance of translating business plans into specific Tactics and Initiatives which can deliver against selective strategies. A major opportunity that trade partners face is how to develop, validate and jointly implement winning Tactics with differentiated initiatives to allow for a “Glo-cal” approach. |
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| Category Definition & Structure – Research & Analysis The Best Practice Process for Category Definition. Participants will review the types of research and other sources of insights that are leveraged to indicate the various item inter-relationships and/or product substitutability. Participants will gain a solid understanding of the available resources, methodologies, and key considerations they should use as they develop, or work with their supplier partners to define the categories. |
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| Consumer / Shopper Analytics & Actionable Insights The application of consumer/shopper research and advanced analytics. It includes the best practices in identifying research and/or analytical needs, utilizing various research methodologies and analytical techniques and converting data and analysis into actionable insights. |
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| Category Roles & Prioritization The Best Practice Process for the development of a Category Role assignments and prioritization. Participants will review how an effective cross-category assessment as well as shopper insights can be leveraged to best determine the assignment of resources allocated to various categories. Participants will gain a solid understanding of the available resources, methodologies, and key considerations they should use as they develop, or work with their supplier partners to recommend a category Role designation. |
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| Shopper Behavior & Loyalty Building The key methods and criteria by which shoppers can be segmented. It will provide an understanding of shopper behavior and segmentation – why one does it – and how insights can be leveraged effectively to enhance the shopping experience and improve shopper loyalty. How different retail practices influence these various shopper segments and their behavior. In addition, this course will explore retail loyalty marketing programs – how the best are dependent on good segmentation – and how they can attract, maintain and enhance the shopper/retailer relationship. |
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| Understanding the Consumer Purchase & Consumption Cycle The 3 ‘Moments of Truth’ in the Purchase Consumption Cycle. Participants will learn about each of the elements and will also explore the importance of approaching the Purchase Consumption Cycle in an integrated way across their business. The session will look at the insights into how consumers/shoppers behave through the cycle and will discuss the opportunities that are available to positively influence the behavior and choices that are made. |
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| Managing Complex Assortment (including Store Clusters) How to solve the complexities of ensuring efficient and effective assortment of products and/or services across various store clusters. Such an approach recognizes that, perhaps more than any other aspect of retail management, assortment can express the strategic differentiation of the store. Participants will be taught to recognize the inherent complexities within categories and the resultant value chain impacts of their decisions; resulting in plans that can enable the total business system to work faster, better and more efficiently. |
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| Effective New Product Innovation The essence of innovation and the steps to take to foster greater innovation within the organizations and with trading partners. Also, participants will look at new item introductions from the consumer/shopper’s, manufacturer’s and retailer’s perspective. They will identify opportunities to improve new item implementation and results. |
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| Department Aisle Merchandising How Best Practice retailers manage their space to sales ratios in order to present their most critical and differentiating categories to their target shoppers, sized right and located in a logical flow. The course will introduce several technologies in place today to assist in making proper merchandising decisions across aisles and departments. This course studies the accordion effect that must occur when one department space is increased at the expense of another. Questions involving how store presentation supports a go to market strategy, does space allocation properly represent the category role, do presentation principles accentuate the variety and aid store differentiation, and what are the proper score carding metrics will be addressed. This course will also study proper secondary display locations and flow of traffic. It considers the challenges presented store operations in executing the in department/ aisle merchandising strategy. |
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| Re-thinking Promotion – Demand Shaping The art of generating lasting consumer demand through the development and execution of effective promotion programs. Participants will be challenged to think about promotion differently, learning how to create the optimal mix of promotional activities to deliver volume & share-building results, while stimulating consumer purchase and usage. |
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| Fundamentals of Retail Price Planning The tools and techniques in setting retail prices. Participants will build awareness and experience by working with realistic case studies that trace understanding of competitive prices, evaluating various potential corporate pricing strategies and their consequences to a particular category, and plan for the implementation and evaluation of price change execution. Each step in the planning and implementation process will be illuminated through real-life industry examples. An overview of the latest available pricing optimization tools is also included. |
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| Financial Analysis of (Shopper & Category) Concepts & Initiatives Designed to review the tools and techniques for evaluating the financial value of concepts and initiatives developed primarily during joint retailer/manufacturer business planning during a Shopper & Category Development (S&CD) Plan. These tools and techniques will also be useful for trading partners individually in evaluating ideas and suggestions for consideration. The course will cover demand, customer service and supply concepts and initiatives. |
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| Advanced Forecasting & Demand Planning The advanced techniques for Forecasting and Demand Planning to deliver desired Business and Supply Chain results. The course explores the various approaches available for demand forecasting and the relative merits and costs of those approaches. This course will touch on the statistical models and methods available but focuses the learning on the benefits to be gained by actively choosing the level and frequencies that forecasting is performed. The participant will also appreciate the time-sensitive nature of forecasting and the effects of the “bullwhip” of demand moving through the Supply Chain. |
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Building Productive Relationships| How to establish and maintain productive relationships with associates, senior management and trading partners. Participants will learn to build productive internal and external relationships at all levels of an organization. They will recognize the importance of reputation & trust, how to identify the people with whom they need to develop productive relationships, and how to cultivate relationships with executives. Also, they will learn to avoid relationship pitfalls and how to mend relationships. |
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| Mastery Courses |
| Corporate to Corporate Planning How to jointly develop highly effective business plans which offer improved strategic and innovative planning amongst trade partners. In today’s complex business environment, it is increasingly important to allow companies (retailers, manufacturers and agents) who manage multiple categories, departments and retail banners/formats to formulate plans which enable them to capitalize on emerging, scaleable opportunities. |
| Department / Portfolio Planning How to develop a business plan across multiple categories at a department (retailer) or portfolio (manufacturer/agent) level. Participants will have hands on application of a best practice approach in weaving together multiple categories into broader scope plans that leverage synergies and provide differentiation opportunities. Participants will identify then capitalize upon consumer/shopper and emerging Industry insights so as to build plans that can sustain strategic positioning and marketplace advantage. Importance of collaborative trade partnership will be emphasized so that the resulting plans have broad support from both sides of the desk. |
| Re-Defining & Re-Segmenting Categories How to recognize, understand and manage changes in consumer and shopper trends as they relate to specific categories and how those changes will impact the definition of existing categories. Participants will gain practical application techniques for using the information and insights required to re-define categories. Additionally, they will work through case studies where the evolution of the market place, product technology, consumer expectations, and total new product solutions change and challenge the current conventional thinking about categories and their segment structures. |
| Shopper (Mind & Behavior)Merchandising Impact Crawl inside the heads, hearts and wallets of Shoppers in order to unearth key motivations and behaviors when Shoppers shop…and buy! From a base foundation of identification of key influencers in a shopper’s mindset we will then explore how a shopping trip is considered and conducted. Importantly, we will lead to the translation of this keen Shopper Mind & Behavior understanding into translation oat retail where browsers can become buyers; and, where loyalty can be built. |
| Next Generation Retailing: Emerging Channels & Technology The evolution to future state of the industry. Where bricks and mortar are heading and should head. The likely approaches to eRetail. How technology (analytical, marketing, social networking, etc.) can be leveraged to achieve and expand upon a multi-channel relationship with today’s customers. Consumers and shoppers have vastly expanded their array of preferred retailer interaction points and retailers must leverage the new and emerging technologies. |
| Department Marketing The components of an effective Retailer department marketing plan. Participants will understand how to ensure your Retailer department marketing plan integrates or reconciles with the Retailer Business Unit plan. Participants will learn how the Department Marketing plan translates the Business Unit direction and Department Plan for a group of related product categories, into a clear plan of marketing actions that communicate to Department-specific target shoppers the benefits of this retailers’ department in meeting their shopping needs. An effective 5-step process will be applied for learning. |
| Advanced Choice Management – Managing Transferable Demand This course builds upon the “Fundamentals of Assortment Planning” by re-enforcing the six-step process and emphasizing the advanced shopper and consumer metrics that enable companies to identify and mange transferable demand – demand that can be migrating from one part of the retail assortment to another. Participants will become familiar with these measures and learn how to apply them expertly to optimize the assortment. |
| Interface Product Development How to develop differentiated products and/or services through improved capability, credibility and confidence at the retailer and manufacturer interface. While there will always remain the constant fulfillment of classic product development from inception of primary consumer and shopper research through “stagegating” to market, there is an increasing necessity to involve trade partners in the development of innovative products through collaboration and co-development. Participants will learn a proven approach that includes the integration of trade partner’s in one another’s upstream product development cycle. Participants will understand the important utilization of trade partner multi-functional resources at the interface in order to provide consumers and shoppers with the product / service solutions they seek. |
| Store Format Design & Layout – The Strategic Approach The principles and approaches to store layout based on strategy. Participants will learn the process by which the Departments & Categories within a store are laid out in a way that makes the shopping experience as rewarding as possible to target shoppers, achieves strategic objectives and maximizes operational efficiency within the constraints of the space available and building layout. Participants will gain knowledge of how to support or constructively challenge the store layout development process. |
| Retail Pricing & Promotion A “hands on” application of retail pricing and promotion strategies and tactics (i.e. Hi-lo, EDLP and hybrid). Various retail practices impact manufacturers, and shoppers, differently. Understanding “why” and “how” a specific retail strategy is executed in pricing and promotion enables trade partners to more effectively compete. Importantly, trade partners strive for differentiation in order to drive more shopper trips to their stores and improve shopper conversion in store. Participants will learn how to ensure application of effective planning methodology in price and promotion in order to ensure sustained competitive advantage across the Value Chain in a manner consistent with their company philosophy, strategy and goals. |
| Value Chain Analysis A holistic and multi-functional process for assessing and identifying manufacturer-retail value chain opportunities. Create new, incremental commercial value for the participating partners and, ultimately the shopper/consumer. Beyond the process, the course will focus on the techniques to analyze, evaluate and review (post implementation) the value creation initiatives. The process reviews those areas that will guide business planning as well as specific functional areas including logistics, store operations, customer service, finance and IT. |
| Availability Optimization How to quantify the impact of availability optimization and financial performance and implement actionable measures. They will understand the role and work of functional disciplines to improve availability and how to engage trading partners in collaboratively improving in-stock performance. Participants will learn a simple 5 step approach to optimize availability and will receive as job aids successful approaches for optimizing availability from the shelf backwards. |
| Establishing Industry Thought Leadership The steps to position an organization as a true CPG industry thought leader. Participants will be exposed to approaches used by companies successful in positioning themselves as thought leaders, and as a consequence, how those companies prospered. They will also learn how to assess their organizational readiness, how to select and collaborate with partner companies, the importance of senior leadership support and how to avoid risks associated with shaping unrealistic expectations. Participants will leave with a draft of a plan to establish industry thought leadership. |
| Influencing Senior People A proven framework to ensure influential communication at senior levels within, and across, trade partners. A highly effective process to properly plan intended communication to maximize its influence with the desired audience. How to follow- up to drive accountability for improved implementation. How to develop a “needs footprint” with senior executives, which helps improve the matching of key benefits to these identified needs. Participants will learn that their effective communication and influence relies upon their understanding and appreciation for the differences inherent within the targeted audience and their own style and approach. |