The Evolution in Consumer Goods Forecasting

Consumer goods manufacturers and retailers face greater and greater challenges every year. The retail landscape has always been driven by a complicated tangle of factors. Marketing, promotions, and product innovation play an integral part in driving sales: but external factors, such as consumer confidence, gas prices and discretionary income – among many other factors – also heavily shape category demand. As consumers become more connected, and businesses become more global, FMCG businesses cannot rely on historical performance to make sense of the future.

Despite these challenges, business leaders can look beyond their four walls to understand what truly drives demand. Jordan Rost, VP of Consumer Insights at Nielsen, and Danielle Marceau, Sr. Economist at Prevedere, discuss how using category sales data, cognitive computing, and predictive modeling can provide unprecedented insight to future demand. They will provide real-world examples of applying this consumer goods forecasting method to three major categories.

About the Speakers

Jordan Rost is VP of Consumer Insights for Nielsen. He leads a team of thought leaders whose work explores emerging trends, shifting buying behaviors and evolving shopper dynamics. He is often cited in business, trade and consumer press and regularly shares insights via Nielsen reports, industry talks and directly with Nielsen’s partners and clients. Prior to his time at Nielsen, Jordan most recently spent nearly a decade at Google, where he led brand and retail consumer insights, trends and thought leadership.

Danielle Marceau is a Senior Economist for Prevedere. Danielle has deep experience in critically analyzing thousands of domestic and international datasets to evaluate current and future market and company conditions. Prior to her role at Prevedere, Danielle was Senior Economist at ITR Economics. As a prolific writer and public speaker, she is a regular contributor to Forbes and has been featured on NPR, MarketWatch, Customer Magazine and in numerous trade organization publications.