CPG Summit: The Hotel
We’re staying at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. The exterior of the hotel is built in classic, grand Florida style and reminiscent of the Breakers. The interior of the hotel consists of a very large atrium and two smaller atriums. The main atrium is large enough to house a ballpark, while the two smaller atriums are still large enough to host a lake and a jungle. The quality of the hotel is very nice. It’s not the same level as the Wynn, but very few hotels are. I was a bit surprised to learn there are 4-5 foot alligators in the atrium. I’m not fond of reptiles. The conference facility is adjacent to the hotel, and connected by a walkway. The conference facility is immense. The main speaking hall was divided into...
CPG Summit: Day 1 Afternoon & Evening
During Summit, the mornings are the general sessions and the afternoons are the breakouts. Most of the breakouts are sales pitches, but you do learn about the methodology people are using to get their results. If you understand the methodology and the output, you can reverse engineer the tool and determine the critical deficiencies. Attended the session on “Generating Actionable Consumer and Brand Insights from Blogs, Boards, and Internet Newsgroups.” This is an IBM partner solution, where they use an enhanced search to identify, group, and report on mentions in viral communities like blogs and boards. I’ve seen this technology before and it looks like they’ve improved the text grouping capabilities. They still haven’t...
CPG Summit: Day 1 Morning
I’ve been looking forward to this summit for a while. My primary objective in attending the summit this year is to learn more about how we can potentially move to a more integrated use of IRI data. There are many technical and business processes that need to be identified and resolved prior to any advanced usage of information.I’ll be looking at the predictive analytics, consumer tracking and targeting, and pricing breakouts. These are the issues that are facing the CPG industry right now. Morning Session Tuesday morning saw the obligatory introductory speeches and advertisements by IRI bigwigs. IRI may be in contention with InfoUSA in their ad quality. Made it through the new president of IRI’s presentation disappointed. For a...
CPG Summit: Warm-up
We had the welcoming reception Monday night. In the middle of the hotel atrium is a replica of Ft. Augustine, the original fort and settlement in North America. To put this in context, the central atrium of the Gaylord appears large enough to house a major league baseball field. IRI needs this large of a venue as there were 1,500 attendees to this year’s summit. Advanced analytics are needed even more in a difficult times (let alone stagflation). I ran into several people I knew from previous conferences, and many IRI people introduced themselves with the, “Oh, you’re Rob Saker.” Not sure if that’s infamy, but I’ll assume positive intent and thank Menucha for encouraging people to say hi. Joined Cannon and Art at the...
The World of Fruit
Despite what the title implies, this isn’t about the residents of Orlando (well, maybe a little). To the Northwest of Orlando (near Clermont) is the Showcase of Citrus, or what I affectionately call the World of Fruit (WoF). WoF is from the same heritage as Dinosaur World, Waltzing Waters, Cypress Gardens and others. It’s what provided Florida with its charm before the Disney’s of the world changed the game. I don’t have a problem with Disney, but I do appreciate these small roadside attractions. When I worked in Florida, I drove by this stand twice daily. That was in the extremely difficult consulting environment following 9/11, and my commute was not something to which I looked forward. It was only on the last day working in...
Saturday: American Airlines vs. Starbucks
Years ago, 4:30 AM was the mark of a long night. As much as I liked the nights where 4:30 AM was the result of great parties, more often than not it was the result of projects or working the graveyard while attending class during day. Regardless of how it was achieved, 4:30 AM was the end of a long day. A badge of honor for having the fortitude to last until just before dawn. 4:30 AM should never be the beginning of a long day, but that’s where I found myself on Saturday. Thinking I’d have the airport and red-eye flights to myself, I booked the first flight out on Saturday. Imagine my surprise when I found the airport full with several hundred people in lines for nearly all airlines. I nervously scanned the lines to see if they led to my...