Andrew Shore’s Post

A certain CPG brand just raised more money with a very high valuation. In the same moment they released some new (dope, IMO) collaborations and new product lines. We are living in a time in CPG/Non-Alc/beverage/LIFE when we should celebrate one another on our successes, remember that "rising tides” chestnut, and maybe just think about the old golden rule of not saying anything if we don't have anything nice to say? And yet, we seem very quick to publicly judge. Nothing good comes from hammering our competition. Nothing helpful comes from bashing a brand. You will always see people (on the way up and on the way down.) They will remember how you treated them. You don't always have to say everything you think - especially not on LinkedIn. (Thanks for coming to the things I think, though.)

These events have led to 300+ partnerships across a variety of industries. From Kellogg's and Peanuts, to Minions and Twinkies, impactful CPG partnerships are only the beginning in a long line of success stories! Will yours be next? Join us in Napa, April 3-5 for the #MarketingPartnershipsSummit.     Spend three days trading insights, connecting, and collaborating with marketers from the leading brands, entertainment companies, and non-profit organizations driving the partnerships business forward. With this group of "do-ers", success stories come to life!     Do you have a success story from one of our events? Share your experience in the comments below! Visit https://lnkd.in/gZT5Wppc to learn more, see who’s coming and register! #advertisingandmarketing #entertainmentmarketing #partnershipmarketing #marketingpartnerships #brandpartnerships #brandmarketing #marketing #LAOSummit #marketingevents #brandstrategy #nonprofitmarketing #entertainmentpartnerships #networking #industryinsights #CPG 

This is a powerful story of women leaders in business, via the brilliant Jennifer Stojkovic 🧡 “…the key to success is instilling ambition as the most feminine trait of a woman.” 🙌🏽 - Supermom of the four Sullivan sisters when asked her secret in raising four hugely successful women leaders in business.🥂 I owe my personal and professional growth to powerful women who have inspired me to always raise my standards. 🙏🏽 Highly recommend checking the post out and joining the conversation below! #WomeninBusiness #WomenWhoLead #Leadership

In Market Share and Competitor Obsession, Tom Fishburne writes: “There’s a famous Jeff Bezos quote attributed to an early Amazon shareholder letter: “We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with what the customer needs, and then we work back from there.” In contrast, many companies start with whatever the competition is doing, and use that as their north star.” Lessons for fundraising. The best fundraising is donor-obsessed. How can you make giving easier? More joyful? More HUMAN? #nonprofit #fundraising https://lnkd.in/ePue6zhU

I ended up wearing a tuxedo last Friday. iCLAW sponsored a table for the Hospice Waikato Bucket List Banquet. It was a great night, and Hospice raised $575k for a very worthwhile cause. Well done, Hospice Waikato, Margaret Devlin, and Craig Tamblyn. But back to the tuxedo - it had me thinking about brand and brand alignment. I am unsure if my brand is more black tie or black T-shirt. But from a leadership perspective, when I think brand, it is about doing everything you can to propel the organisation forward towards strategic ambitions. I also know that there is value to be gained, and lost, strategically if you don't invest time to align things internally and externally from an image perspective. There are a lot of contributors to how a firm is perceived, and how a firm is perceived goes a long way to their credibility and ultimately their strategic influence and impact. There have been many firms that have invested heavily in brand development, developed great imagery, adverts, brand logos, etc., but haven't aligned their internal brand, culture, and people. There have been quite a few large firms in the media over the years where bad behaviour of a few completely stalled strategic advancement - in many cases, there was strategic decline. My advice is that before you think brand, think organisation strategy, think about the culture that is needed to achieve that strategy, how your team members need to front every day to be their best in the context of that strategy, how you want ALL key stakeholders to perceive you, and only then what the brand strategy needs to be to further leverage strategic outcomes. It all needs to connect. #brandbuilding #leadership #strategy

Curious where investors are placing their bets in CPG? 👀 💰 Explore our Q1 Fundraising Index to see which brands have investors redirecting their attention (and funds) back to Consumer. Our comprehensive Consumer Fundraising Index covers the latest equity raises across a variety of industries, including but not limited to: ✔ Food ✔ Beverage ✔ Beauty ✔ Fashion + Apparel ✔ Wellness + Personal Care ✔ Outdoor Don't miss our full Q1 Consumer Review for a detailed look at the consumer product trends shaping the industry in 2024. Visit our blog today! Click for more Q1 insights ➡ https://bit.ly/4aIlXvu . . . . . #cpg #consumerpackagedgoods #consumertrends #fundraising #cpglender #dwightfunding #assetbasedlending #markettrends

Walgreen stock didn’t even dip this low in the ‘08 crash. I worked there at the time, it was dismal. That means stock hasn’t been this low since the late ‘90s. I remember my DM just before the housing bubble burst said that whoever was CEO when the run of consecutive growth quarters ended (I think that went on for like 26 years or something) would be out quickly. And he was right. That started a trend of instability at the CEO position that’s continued until now. Unthinkable at the time— there had only been a couple of CEOs in the entire history of the company at that point, most of them named Walgreen. My gut reaction to all the stock pickers is usually to do the opposite. Maybe Cramer is right here…don’t take my stock advice. That game has never been my thing. Walgreens is positioning themselves for changes, and it’s hard to know how the market will react when they roll those out. I think they’re going to go through some more pain before things turn. And I expect it will. They historically have been very disciplined, still have a good name, huge infrastructure, and good people. Walgreens erred by not going all in on the PBM game, but that may be what saves them when the drug pricing shell game gets flipped on its head. I expect they will recover and thrive. Eventually. #walgreens #pharmacy #pharmacist #healthcare #pbm https://lnkd.in/gSgw3P6D

💡 "Don't just tick boxes. Make a tangible commitment to diversify your vendor list, your workforce, and your philanthropic efforts. DEI should be viewed as a business strategy that can yield both social and economic dividends. Move from good intentions to measurable actions." – Kareem Cook, CMO/Owner at Naturade and BRIDGE Board Member In this interview with Kareem, he tells the story of how he and his business partner, Claude Tellis, got their line of plant-based protein shakes into Costco Wholesale and the unprecedented way the relationship built from there. Check out the Q&A below and share your thoughts! #inclusion #wearebridge #dei #retail

Snap, Crackle, and Crumble 🥣🌾📉 #Kellanova fell more than 7% on Monday after the packaged food giant, previously known as Kellogg Company, completed the spinoff of its North American #cereal business into a new standalone entity called #WKKellogg (down more than 11%). Both companies are trading for the first time under their new corporate names. Running Point and I were quoted by Reuters today—in an article by Granth Vanaik, "Kellanova, WK Kellogg Co shares slump on first day after #spinoff"—regarding why #Kellogg shares are down so much!?! "What we are seeing today with the share declines in Kellanova and WK Kellogg is a jigsaw puzzle🧩problem; in other words, the pieces just don't fit in many institutional and strategic portfolios," said Michael Ashley Schulman, CFA, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors. WK Kellogg Co (#KLG) is a $1.2 billion market capitalization company that is probably being sold out of any large-cap and mid-cap funds that previously held Kellogg. Since large and mid-cap funds have much more total capital than small cap funds, there is not enough short-term purchase demand to sustain the price. For Kellanova (#K) there remains some doubt as to its ability to become a global snack dynamo while juggling cereal, noodles, and plant-based product lines. Investors that already own Kellanova post spinofft are probably not looking to own more of the company, thus those that are selling are not finding much demand for their shares. https://lnkd.in/ggB8HRXi #stocks #CPG #cereal #snacks #foodandbeverage #markets Disclosure: The opinions expressed are those of Running Point Capital Advisors, LLC (Running Point) and are subject to change without notice. The opinions referenced are as of the date of publication, may be modified due to changes in the market or economic conditions, and may not necessarily come to pass. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. Running Point is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Running Point’s investment advisory services and fees can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. RP-23-98

Thank you, Daniella A., for having me on the Plantas Pod! Our conversation flew as we talked about my Partake Foods journey to date—the highs and lows of starting a CPG business, fundraising, scaling a purpose-driven company, inclusive work culture, branding, customer service, and innovation. If you give it a listen, I hope there are some helpful takeaways! Listen Here: https://lnkd.in/gj8bPh5r