grasp category vantage point 2017

© grasp business development ltd 2017
Category Vantage Point
2017
executive
summary

Category Vantage Point 2017 - Methodology
At the turn of 2016/2017, grasp surveyed 36 UK Fast Moving
Consumer Goods professionals. Our survey aimed to help
participants (and other category-focussed professionals) understand
how to drive maximum value from UK FMCGs’ investment in
category data. Participants were asked to benchmark the
performance of different category data & insight suppliers. This is
an executive summary for participants and key stakeholders.

SOURCES OF DATA & INSIGHT
Category Vantage Point 2017

Focus groups remain most popular ad-hoc research
focus / discussion groups
at-fixture intercepts
observation in-store
online surveys
taste panels
“vox pops”
omnibus surveys
hall tests
telephone surveys
… back to 2015 levels

Kantar Retail most common category consultancy

Kantar still penetration of UK Cat Man in 2017
1. 86%
2. 64%
3. 47%
4. 47%
5. 44%
6. 37%
7. 32%
8. 25%
9. 22%
10. 22%
11. 22%
… was 90% in 2016
dunnhumby & Tesco Link seeing use grow YoY
as Tesco business recovers. i2C also fares well
and IRI’s Infoscan market read grows from
31% penetration last year …
infoscan
sales web
scantrack
… nielsen Homescan Answers used by 8% of
participants, 5one/Laser Ocado data by 5% ,
M&S CIU credit card data by 3% and nielsen
Homescan CASE by just one participant.

Data Quality is the most important attribute
quality: coverage, trend,  
consistency & reliability
speed & timeliness of data deliver
value for money
ease of access to data (software etc)
people who will offer you day-to-day support
support functions: people who you contact  
occasionally on ad hoc issues

Most feel they are within 2-3% of market trend
31.4% (11)
last year …
you asked

… & read accurate to 2-5% of market value
last year …
you asked

Data quality & delivery challenges …
dunnhumby “The dunnhumby SKPI report is very time consuming to get anything out of”
“introduced new Shop Lab in May … was quickly apparent that insufficient testing had been
carried out on Lab which resulted in long data delivery times (up to 18 hours for some reports);
frequent system failings; incomplete reports … not helped by a poor response from Client Service”
“good except for waiting time”
IRI “Appropriate coding aligned to database structures needs to be right first time,  
IRI often get this on 3rd attempt”
Kantar “Constant data reconciliations as trends do not mirror EPoS” “a few issues raised over the
reliability of the Kantar discounter trends but in the absence of any epos data it's hard to verify”
“panel trends vs epos (discounters a big issue)” “frustrating that Kantar won't now let us have
Powerview and aren't then always able to turn more ad hoc detailed requests around quickly  
which could have been done using Powerview.”
Nielsen “Still confusion in Nielsen on whether their date includes and excludes the discounters”
“categorisation is way under average”

Data quality & delivery positives …
dunnhumby “very good”
IRI “good quality in general”
Kantar “always deliver to schedule”  
“WorldPanel Online is a good tool”
Nielsen “deliver on or, more frequently, ahead of schedule.”

dh edge Quality lead on i2C … Kantar win overall
2.2
2.8
3.3
3.9
4.4
QUALITY
SPEED&TIMELINESS
VALUEFORMONEY
EASEOFACCESS
CLIENTSERVICE
SUPPORTFUNCTIONS
Kantar
i2C
IRI
dunnhumby
Nielsen
most important least important
lowest  
aggregate
score
highest  
aggregate
score
Average Scores /5 - 5 being “very good” Base: 11 to 29
scores highest
on all measures
beyond data
quality

Generic customer service issues …
“service levels and integrity of database”
“neither IRI nor Kantar are able to support  
short customer driven requirements”
“Not enough pace when getting to the bottom of issues”
“Level of knowledge and insight outside  
of the data about the category”
“some [people/agencies] stand out in this field as exceptional,  
others are not bothered about you as clients.”

IMPROVING DATA & INSIGHT

Challenges “… feels as though there is a leaning towards involving  
the Expert Solutions team more without fully exploring the brief  
through what we have available within contract.”
“client service team proactive when chasing commercial proposals  
but totally reactive when dealing with coding issues  
and failure to chase through with back office.”
“very rigid in interpretation of contractual data entitlement  
and hard work to get anything contextual”
Positives “lead the way in terms of customer service, pro-actively provide
market insights and regularly contact us to ask if we need any help.”
Customer service feedback …

“still not as strong as Kantar as a data provider,  
and are not as well resourced.”
“Migration to IRI's Advantage platform for EPOS data is
disappointing. Industry limitations on sharing EPOS data
with third parties (for say econometrics) creates a virtual
monopoly for IRI on certain key types of analysis.”

“response times”
“Dunnhumby 'shop' is a good step forward,  
however performance is still lacking”
“didn't seem to be bothered by the problems  
being caused by introduction of Lab”
“desire to ‘understand your objectives’ motivated by
opportunities to cross sell Clubcard marketing.”

Challenges “Coding issues”  
“Spending lots of time to help Nielsen categorise,  
resulting in an even higher rate for the data.”
Positives “The Nielsen Client Service Online (CSO) team is
efficient and a useful support function to have access to but
the experience levels within the team are varied,  
which impacts how queries are handled.”

What changes would you like to see amongst agencies?
1. Deeper understanding of client businesses (6 participants)
“our objectives and challenges” “Category dynamics … time
taken away from desk to demonstrate” “understand our market
and the challenges facing our customers and consumers”
2. More context (5) “Situation analysis” “Topline insight into
macro trends & retailer agendas” “Other data to enrich their
offer” “General market & consumer insight” “Free of charge!”
3. More proactive (3) “Beyond the brief”
4. More pace (2) “More timely” / More insight (2) “less data”.

What changes would you like to see … (1 participant ea.)
“Tableau” (2 participants)
“Scanmar”
“internal data warehouse”
“IRI's Advantage system allows us to access Kantar data on
their platform. We are still to fully capitalise on this ability …”
Prioritise accuracy  
“Kantar trying to build their accuracy for M&S”
Don't cost Key Account Data on Supplier Share  
“Ridiculous … makes IRI data for Tesco way too expensive, out of proportion”
Be our agent in their business  
“So coding changes don't have to be chased by the client”
Earn the right “get the basics right before trying to sell in other services”
“More resource.”

DATA INTEGRATION

Less than 1/5 of us have invested in data integration
last year …
you asked

… who have you looked at / invested in?
“Tableau” (2 participants)
“Scanmar”
“internal data warehouse”
“IRI's Advantage system allows us to  
access Kantar data on their platform.  
We are still to fully capitalise on this ability …”
last year …
you asked

SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS

Sources of data & insight - 2017 Summary
• Kantar maintain their role as the key currency in the market but
dunnhumby, i2C & Tesco are all up year on year.
• Data Quality remains the most important attribute (94% v.
important) with most of us expecting our lead data supplier to be within
2-3% of actual category growth and within 2-5% of market size.
• dunnhumby were felt to offer the best quality of data BUT Kantar
win on every other measure.
• There are plenty of challenges for all our agencies, most commonly the
need to develop a better understanding of their clients & their markets.
• Fewer than 1 in 5 of us have invested in integrating data sources,
but a further 1 in 5 have looked into such an investment.

Recommendations
• We hope this feedback is useful context for the challenges you & your business
face in accurately reading & developing your categories. Know that you are
not alone in the challenges you face!
• We will share these insights with agencies in the next few months, to
the most senior levels we can. In the meantime, please use these results
to inform your discussions internally and with agency account teams.
• Receive a category-oriented take on FMCG news, discuss of category topics
from this survey and network with your peers … join our LinkedIn group
graspFMCG.

Topics for further investigation
These topics will be on our LinkedIn group “graspFMCG” during 2017:
• Best practice in creation & use of shopper insights LIVE now
• Retail environment: developing context from agencies, identifying
challenges & growth opportunities
• How to build relationships with retailers
• Category vision: best practice in development & execution
• Optimal management of agency consultancy days
• A cross-industry forum with each agency?
this year …
you asked

Robin Norton
Principal Director
inf
grasp business development ltd
The Corner House, Harlow Oval,
Harrogate HG2 0DR
United Kingdom
robin@grasp.org.uk
www.grasp.org.uk
@robinatgrasp
+44 794 112 9025© grasp business development ltd 2017

grasp Management Consultancy
Aside from the hands-on application of our expertise in primary research, category management and
commercial activity … grasp has a wealth of experience in the following:
• business strategy - reviewing organisations’ positions in their marketspace then collaboratively
developing a renewed vision, mission & values
• category vision - examining brand / product range / service propositions through the eyes of B2B
customers, shoppers & consumers to generate a compelling category story
• innovation workshops - facilitated free-thinking, prioritisation and planning for process, product &
experiential development (including brand licensing & partnerships)
• business development - supporting sales channel development by meshing organisations’ existing
intellectual property with grasp’s business development database and new insights
… we also offer consultancy in internal reporting, category structure, commercial team
development and category data negotiation.
Please contact Robin Norton (Dip Mgt Studies) to discuss your specific requirements:  
0794 112 9025 robin@grasp.org.uk

grasp Primary Research
Aside from the hands-on application of our expertise in using continuous data … grasp has a
wealth of experience in the following ad hoc qualitative & quantitative research methods:
• fluffy stuff - observation, shopper intercepts, depth-interviews, cupboard audits & vox pops
• focus / discussion groups - we cover the full range of group work incl. hard-to-reach profiles,
taking in-store groups “mobile” to fixture, .com focus groups and larger “workshop” formats
• hall tests - using our network of home economists to deliver taste panels to your specification
• face-to-face / telephone / online surveys - quantitative-focussed surveys that can also
include a variety of stimulus and open-ended questions
… we regularly deliver “blended” projects that combine the most effective & efficient
qualitative/quantitative research methods for your requirements and budget. We have many
partners that help with specialist categories, international projects & with eye-tracking technology.
Please contact Robin Norton (MSc Social Research) to discuss your requirements: 

grasp Category Interims
Aside from our hands-on, integrated approach to management consultancy and primary research, grasp has a
dynamic network of category interims:
• category managers - at any one time we have at least two Category Controllers / Senior Category Managers
available for placement, or in the field
• insight managers - we also typically have one or two people in our network who can help you manage qualitative
& quantitative insight work
• category analyst - we have a regular associate who can undertake category analysis off-site and associates who
can provide on-site support
• shopper marketing - we have a number of associates who apply category management principles to shopper
marketing / trade marketing projects
• qualitative consultancy - we have several associates who can work with you planning qualitative activity and
project managing actions resulting from qualitative programmes.
… whether you need short/long-term resource, at any level, or with any specific expertise:
our existing associates and network of contacts can help.
Please contact Robin Norton to discuss your specific requirements:  

grasp category vantage point 2017

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