Exclusive content from UpClear’s RGM Summit, London – November 2025 

At UpClear’s RGM Summit in London, senior FMCG leaders came together for an exclusive discussion on how inflation has fundamentally reshaped pricing, promotions and Revenue Growth Management. Hosted by Jules Davies, the panel featured Tino De Oliveira (Head of Net Revenue Management & Commercial Strategy, Compleat Food Group), Naresh Joshi (Head of Commercial Finance, Tata Consumer Products) and Howard Langer (Global Transformation Director – Strategic Revenue Management, Mars Pet Nutrition). 

The shared conclusion was clear: inflation did not simply put pressure on margins; it exposed capability gaps. Winning today requires sharper shopper insight, stronger category understanding, disciplined execution, robust data foundations and faster decision-making. 

Here’s what “good” now looks like. 

1. Pricing: Structured, Shopper-Led and Commercially Disciplined 

Pricing is no longer about reactive cost pass-through. It is about actively managing consumer value and margin through structured, shopper-led decisions. 

Start with segmentation and clarity 

Leading FMCG organisations are: 

• Segmenting consumers by willingness to pay 

• Choosing which segments they will (and will not) serve 

• Aligning portfolio, Price & Pack Architecture (PPA), the role each pack plays and investment  

Mass brands must serve multiple affordability tiers while still delivering against the P&L. That requires clear brand and pack roles within the category. 

Psychological price thresholds are real. When crossed, volume often leaks to own label or substitutes. 

PPA as a strategic lever 

Price & Pack Architecture (PPA) was repeatedly highlighted as the affordability engine. 

Smaller packs can recruit shoppers into the brand. Larger formats can drive value perception and margin. Promotions can support mix  but only if deployed deliberately. 

Without a clear PPA framework, pricing becomes reactive. 

Data, frameworks and speed 

Strong pricing requires: 

• Consistent data platforms across categories and divisions 

• A single version of the truth 

• Clear KPIs (you get what you measure) 

• Trust in subject matter experts 

Agility is critical, particularly where commodity volatility and own label competition leave limited room for manoeuvre. Decisions must be made with clarity on trade-offs and adjusted quickly when conditions shift. Have a test and learn mindset, acting and learning fast. 

Retail collaboration is essential 

Retailers control shelf price and manufacturers must: 

• Demonstrate that pricing actions support long-term category health and will be accepted by shoppers 

• Be transparent around cost drivers 

• Align on shared commercial objectives 

Pricing success is rarely unilateral. It is negotiated, evidence-led and category-focused. 

2. Promotions: Fewer Ineffective Promotions, Greater Discipline 

A consistent theme was the need to reduce ineffective promotional activity.  The goal is not more promotions it is better promotions. 

Clarity of role and objective 

Every promotion should answer: 

• What does the category require? 

• What does this brand or SKU require? 

• Is the objective penetration, repeat, share gain, revenue or profit? 

Without clarity, meaningful measurement is impossible. 

Remove unprofitable activity first 

Before optimising new activity, leading teams are: 

• Ranking promotions by performance 

• Eliminating the lowest-performing mechanics 

• Defining clear promotional guidelines 

• Linking execution standards to investment depth 

Promotional decision-making is inherently trade-off driven. There is no formula success lies in understanding category dynamics, retailer constraints and shopper behaviour. The advice was evolution rather than revolution. Gradually refine mechanics by retailer and category. 

Think holistically across portfolio and time  

Promotions should not be assessed in isolation. The panel stressed: 

• Applying a promoted versus non-promoted baseline thinking 

• Analyse incrementality across the full year 

• Understanding category impact, not just brand impact, in context of the promotional objectives 

• Focusing on the total “shape” of the portfolio and brand 

• Collaboration with customers on longer term direction and plans. 

Scenario planning and test-and-learn 

Scenario modelling is now a core capability. However, speed matters more than perfection. Short feedback loops. Faster pilots. Rapid course correction. In volatile markets, momentum matters. 

3. Data and Analytics: A Clear Maturity Path 

Inflation accelerated the need for stronger analytics capability, but the guidance was pragmatic. Start with fundamentals. Build progressively. 

Establish strong foundations 

• TPM and TPO basics are a must 

• Syndicated, EPOS, shopper, and consumer data must be integrated into the analyses and unified dashboards
• You must establish and enforces one system and one way of working 

Fragmented spreadsheets result in fragmented and slow decision-making. 

Progress up the maturity curve 

The panel described a clear pathway to more advance capabilities: 

• Descriptive analytics – Embed these in your process to explain what happened

• Prescriptive capabilities – New tools define recommendations under defined constraints

• Predictive analytics – Models are used to estimate sales based on conditions and tactics

They noted that optimisation only works when baseline modelling is robust. 

Combine quantitative and qualitative insight 

Performance analysis must go beyond sell-in, sell-out and margin. Display quality, in-store compliance, execution standards and consumer feedback often explain why results occurred not just what occurred. 

4. Operating Principles for Modern FMCG RGM 

Across pricing, promotions and analytics, several themes emerged: 

• Category and shopper insight must drive decisions 

• You have to be selective about the segments you will serve 

• Price Pack Architecture (PPA) is the affordability and margin engine 

• One framework and one set of numbers outperform localised spreadsheets 

• Alignment across Sales, Finance and Commercial teams is critical 

• Build descriptive, predictive and prescriptive capability progressively 

• Remove unprofitable promotions before reinvesting 

• Collaborate with retailers on longer-term plans 

• Invest in scenario modelling 

• Integrate qualitative and quantitative insight 

• Prioritise change management 

Above all: 

Act decisively. 

In volatile conditions, perfection is unattainable  but inertia is costly. Shorter feedback loops. Faster decisions. Continuous learning. 

That, more than any individual tactic, now defines modern FMCG Revenue Growth Management excellence. 

Want to learn how BluePlanner supports pricing and promotions?  

About UpClear

At UpClear, our mission is to empower Consumer Goods brands to maximize revenue performance and trade investment returns through intelligent, collaborative software—providing a single source of truth, streamlined automation, and actionable insights. 

BluePlanner Revenue Management software supports end-to-end processes, from Annual Operating Planning to Account Planning and Execution.