Discover the importance of the country of origin.

As we recover from an underwhelming Black Friday and stay hopeful for a successful holiday sales season, it's time to update holiday lists for 2016. Shifts in shopper behavior, combined with a more global marketplace are leading to new traditions and shopping occasions. It would behoove all brands, retailers and Santas to add these days to their plans or run the risk of an empty stocking by year's end.

Far from firing on all cylinders, most consumer packaged goods innovation engines are sputtering. Successful innovation turns new ideas into measurable value creation opportunities for both companies and their customers. Yet only 26% of CPG companies believe that their innovation efforts deliver sustainable competitive advantage. Despite high levels of R&D investment - home and personal care companies, for example, typically spend as much as 2.3% of revenues on R&D - significant revenue growth from innovation remains elusive.

I met with a few CPG clients recently who are launching or have launched their new e-commerce shops. This is exciting because it's a risk not usually taken by CPG companies, and has the potential to profit handsomely. Of course, one of the biggest opportunities of e-commerce is to build a direct relationship with the consumer, to cut out the middleman, the retailer. It's a big job and brands seem up for the challenge.

You would have to be living on another planet not to know about the new Star Wars movie. Not only has there been substantial buzz on social media and in the news, but Star Wars-themed products are practically spilling out of the aisles in every major retailer in the country.

Blah, blah, blah. We've all heard about personalization for years. In the Nineties, credit card companies launched new products with options and features that you could combine to make your very own "perfect" credit card. So, many of us had credit cards in our wallets with pictures of our dogs or kids and, we even chose our preferred payment date.

Nikhil Arora's and Alejandro Velez' unbridled enthusiasm for their Back To The Roots brand and products is absolutely infectious. Several hundred CPG pros interested in natural and organic food had the pleasure of hearing these talented entrepreneurs tell their start-up story at the Esca Bona symposium in Austin recently.

Throughout the year there are literally thousands of campaigns vying for consumer attention. It's getting harder and harder to breakthrough because there are simply more places and avenues that people can go to interact with a brand than ever before. Therefore it becomes even more important to focus on not just what the experience is and what the right channels are, but also the right cultural insights.

Take a moment to consider the differences between the TV ad experience and the online ad experience. Watching TV is associated with sitting down and kicking back. Viewers may have a phone or a beer in their hand. It's a passive experience and the ads are par for the course. In real-time viewing situations, commercial interruptions are beyond the audience's control.