Author Archives: Rick Pensa
Passing A Date Parameter
I recently had an interesting challenge that required the passing of two date parameters from an Excel spreadsheet over to an Access database in order to return data that met the parameters of data between the first date and the … Continue reading
TPM In The Cloud
Trade Promotion Management (TPM) in the cloud! The holy grail of a trade promotion tool that is ubiquitous, easy to use and easy to afford is now here. Salesforce.com has been a driving force in the cloud computing wave that … Continue reading
Sales & Operations Planning
Fox collaboration tool brochure (3) View more documents from Insight, Information & Consulting Services, Inc..
Conditional Average
Have you ever found yourself needing to average 1,000 lines of data on a spreadsheet with a ton of zeros across a number of ranges such as price gap ranges? Maybe you are trying to figure out volume responses based … Continue reading
Location Intelligence – The Power Of Where
I have been talking about the power of seeing data on a mapping tool, and this month I would like to highlight a powerful data visualization tool which can turn your thousand line spreadsheets into powerful data visualization tools. The … Continue reading
Is the Price Right?
In the current economy, everyone is talking about retail price. Many sales people subscribe to the philosophy that if low price sells a lot of goods, then a lower price will sell more. However, that is not always the case. … Continue reading
Pivot Tables to the Rescue: Formula Finesse
One of the biggest frustrations with pivot tables is the notion that your formulas need to be built outside the main body of the pivot table…the good news is you can put formulas in your pivot tables. Excel 2007 supports … Continue reading
The Power of Where – Location Intelligence
Have you ever run a Google map from your location to the nearest Starbucks, and listed the driving directions? Well you just ran some location intelligence. Location Intelligence is the visualization of relationships between facts and data points about a … Continue reading
“Who Moved My Cheese?” Change Management & the Challenges of Implementing a New Trade Promotion System
"Today more than ever business environments are rapidly changing, requiring your company to continuously adapt. If environmental complexities including customer demands, regulatory requirements, and competition are not adequately addressed, businesses run a high risk of failure." Clarkston Consulting, www.clarkstonconsulting.com. … Continue reading
Insights From Malaysia
I was fortunate to be invited to conduct a two day seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Trade Marketing In An Economic Downturn. The group of delegates consisted of 32 consumer goods professionals from a variety of CPG companies. We … Continue reading
Pivot Tables To The Rescue-Part II: Custom Market Shares
Did you know you can produce custom market shares in an Excel pivot table which reflect how you identify the category segment? Last month, we learned what a terrific tool Excel can be for data analysis, by building a pivot … Continue reading
Pivot Tables To The Rescue
Did you know that you can develop a Microsoft Excel template that you can distribute to your extended users such as the field sales force? You can leverage Pivot Tables within Microsoft Excel to develop impactful tools to drive actionable … Continue reading
In Search Of Better Baselines
Why search for better baselines? Brands promote their products — to deliver incremental sales and bring consumers to the brand's franchise. There is no way to understand the impact of a promotion if there is no reliable understanding of the … Continue reading
Trade Vs. Shopper Marketing…Which One Drives Brand Strength?
The buzz word of the day is Shopper Marketing and today's discussion is whether Shopper Marketing is replacing Trade Marketing. Do you know how to optimize both disciplines to drive your brand's strength? A.G. Lafely's (CEO of Proctor & Gamble) latest … Continue reading
Trade Promotion In An Economic Downturn
In the FMCG/CPG industry, one of the last bastions of efficiency is the trade promotion budget. Over the years, trade marketers have been spending more and getting less return on that spending investment. In an economic downturn, every penny counts. You have … Continue reading
