• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, August 14, 2020

MediaPost's first virtual Brand Insider CPG Summit will welcome representatives from several major brands, including Pepsi, McCormick, Colgate-Palmolive and Peet's Coffee, to talk about the disrupted consumer path to purchase and how they are adjusting to new consumer behavior.

On Tuesday, Aug. 18, it will open with a keynote speech from Scott Finlow, Global CMO at Pepsi Foodservice, who will discuss the ways in which empathy drove the brand's decision-making and directed support for people, not just a supply chain. How can marketers learn from this crisis about identifying with their customers?

Finlow will be tapping into the overall theme of the summit, which is about listening to consumers more than ever before, said Lisa Singer, event editorial manager for MediaPost. "Brands are mindful of what their customers are going through, including job losses, financial difficulties, having to stay home, social injustice. They want to make sure they are available to help people cope.

Our first panel discussion — on brand building for the next normal — will tackle the steps companies need to take to move forward after learning more about what they are, how they relate to their customers' lives and the real depth of brand loyalty.

The final panel will discuss the ways in which e-commerce has been a huge success for their direct-to-consumer lines; one that sells cleaning products and another that sells personal care products. As consumers remain at home, they're not spending money on vacations, travel or restaurants and instead have funds to tackle home and personal improvement. 

Representatives from Truman's and Colgate-Palmolive's D2C division will share how they gather first-party data to optimize product experience and offer more personalized service to their customers.

On Wednesday, Aug. 19, we will look at new revenue and distribution models. Mahisha Dellinger, CEO & Founder of CURLS Beauty Brands, will speak in a keynote about starting her brand 18 years ago, long before social media, by promoting it though niche-targeted chat sites and a grassroots marketing strategy. After Target brought her in, CURLS skyrocketed and is now sold in Walmart, Sally's and CVS, among other stores.

During COVID, her sales increased as she was making masks for first responders and, therefore, declared essential. Now, Dellinger is doing virtual giveaways, home shopping and tutorials and is able to collect a lot more data.

And Laura Kind, VP of Brand Strategy at Wakefern Foods, will present a case study on Paperbird, Shop Rite's private label for paper products that was launched last fall. "The premise is you walk down the aisle and it's anxiety producing," said Singer, with so much messaging and clutter. The idea is to bring calm to the product. The packaging is calming, like something you would find at a spa."

In practicing consumer-facing marketing, the brand hopes to bring peace to the paper aisle.

There will also be a competitive trivia contest on the final day. To register, go right here!