Michelle Crossan-Matos’ Post

Huw Davies and I had a conversation before we launched North Star that went something like this 👇 Huw: We know that 87% of branded sales come from just 3% of CPG companies. And challenger brands have a huge opportunity given their quality, capability & agility to meet the fast changing shopper needs… Me: Agreed. So we need to find a way to change the traditional model of agencies & consultancies working with consumer brands, whereby 99% of the focus goes into the 3%.... Huw: I’ve been speaking to a few challenger brand founders and I know there’s a big appetite out there for an innovator to fill this space and help them to win and retain listings. Me: Okay great, so….lets do this!? — We’ve been supporting clients for over 6 months now and we still keep this front-of-mind. Every. Single. Day. We launched North Star with a single mission in mind… To be 100% dedicated to helping challenger brands get listed, stay listed and grow. By combining best-in-class data-led decision making with huge experience of what it takes for brands to win, we’re supporting founders throughout the UK to change the shape of grocery retail! I wonder what 2024 will hold in store for us all!? 🔮

When Huw Davies and I launched North Star we had ONE goal… Level the playing field for challenger brands to increase their chances of success in retail. After over a decade at Pepsico, we were clear on the winning moves it takes to succeed, but moving into the start-up sphere, the barriers became immediately evident... 👉 The prohibitive price of sales and shopper data  👉 Gatekeeping the secrets to succeeding in retail buyer meetings 👉 The lack of support in turning data into action The launch of our first product, Polaris - powered by Circana, gives challenger brands affordable access to category and market data, and paired with our team’s expertise, gives challenger brands the insight they need to feel confident going into pitches, and make better strategic choices. Later this week, we’re announcing the launch of our second partnership. A UK-first, that will change the game for challenger brands, setting them up for success. I can’t wait to share it with you. Keep your eyes peeled! 

💡 "The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." - Michael Porter. Had a fantastic time at the Food4Thought event on "The Power of Vision and a Business Plan” with keynote speaker Markus Koch, Growth Strategist, Board Chair, and Director of ASX listed companies. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 🎯 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀: Be specific, measurable, and aspirational. Strategy is the pathway to achieve them. 🛤️ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: Differentiation is key! Have a clear point of differentiation. 🛒 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Inspired by ALDI SÜD's "good different" strategy. Special buys and cost efficiency set them apart. Shoutout to Sean Sacher, Group Managing Director at ALDI - from our law grad days at Allens, who knew I'd be writing about ALDI now? 🔍 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 is crucial. During Markus' tenure as Chair and CEO of Daniels Health, they uncovered valuable consumer insights. For example, consumers purchased syringe disposal bins for aesthetics, not just safety. I've seen this firsthand while interior decorating my husband's dental practice! Great to catch up with Yak Yong Quek, Founder and CEO of Prime Value Asset Management, and John Sikkema, Chair of Prime Value, at Prime Value's offices sponsoring the event. Kudos to Markus Koch and Stephanie Woollard OAM, National Director of Engagement for F4T, for organising such an enlightening event! #Strategy #Vision #BusinessPlan #Differentiation #Innovation

It was a great pleasure to attend the social function of Food4T. I have such valuable insights not only learning a Business Strategy but also the spiritual story. Thanks Belinda Loke for the invitation and it was a great pleasure to meet Food4Thought Representatives especially Stephanie Woollard OAM and John Sikkema. Also to learn the Strategy Business Plan from Markus Koch. My take away is to focus on 5-year-plan. This is my first journey to inspire and add value to people, especially for Women in the Construction Industry, particularly the Women of Colour (the Minority of Minority). My mission is to empower women to bring out their greatest potential that is still hidden. According to the research, human in general, we only use 10% of our potential. What would happen if we could maximise our potential to reach 90%, the world would become a better place. One of human's greatest enemies is to focus on money instead of people. If we focus on people's potential, everybody will be prosperous. So My mission is to change the people's mindset from fixed and limited mindsets to abundant mindset. May Their Kindness in Helping Others will receive abundant blessings. With Gratitude and Blessings Yuliana (the Positive Culture Community)

Just wrapped up an incredible week at Groceryshop 2023! 🛒 I'd like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our attendees for making this year's Groceryshop the BEST one to date! I had the privilege of participating in some truly engaging and inspiring conversations. Here are a few highlights: Generative AI: As Ben Miller aptly put it, "To sum up all of the conversations, it's a runaway train." Retail Media: Krystina Gustafson shared her insights, noting that "Last year, it was a shiny new object. This year, we're focused on standardization. Next year, we'll likely be looking at differentiating capabilities." Organic vs. Inorganic Expansion & Adjacent Revenue Streams: JJ Fleeman emphasized Ahold Delhaize's active exploration of growth through acquisitions, recognizing the importance of scale for technology investments in a consolidating market. Ben Miller summarized these key takeaways nicely: 1. Organic Expansion: Leveraging their dominant East Coast presence to drive organic growth. 2. Inorganic Expansion through scale acquisition. 3. Retail Media Networks: Diversifying revenue streams has paid off, with AD Retail Media experiencing a remarkable 70% income growth since its recent relaunch. In addition to the incredible content, we witnessed some fantastic activations at this year's event, including the Street Fair. It was our inaugural inclusion of retailers and brands in the show experience, featuring exciting and DELICIOUS treats from brands like Monster Energy, Kellogg Company, Feastables, PepsiCo, and more. Congratulations to Lindsay Cohen and the operations team for bringing this vision to life! In summary, I am both inspired and a little tired, but also eagerly looking forward to rolling up my sleeves for next year's event! 🙌 #Groceryshop #RetailInnovation

Tomorrow I am moderating a panel (translation: schvitzing and panicking) with esteemed panelists: Joana M. Nada Shepherd, MBA, BSc and Sravanthi Muppidi about Revenue Streams outside of retail core competencies - I think this is a very hot topic. There was a time when Wall Street frowned (i.e. analysts hammered the stock) on any distractions away from main business and revenue functions. This is no longer happening and so we have retailers as ad agencies (Retail Media Networks), hotel operators (thinking RH), and entertainers (as experiential retail takes hold again - eg. many of the recent Coach activations). Bottom line: the discussion will be really great and I look forward to being with this group and the rest of the attendees at Total Retail Tech. September 11- 13 | Denver, CO https://lnkd.in/ghmNbPcg

Q. Is the CMO the smartest person in the room? While a CMO may have a good grasp of marketing and branding, it is generally perceived that they may lack the broader business acumen required to be an effective CEO. There have been, however, interesting developments in boardrooms in the last few months. - Zoom's ex-CMO has become CEO of the video conferencing platform, Neat - Rated People ex-CMO has returned to be the new CEO. - Taco Bell (Yum Brands) has appointed their Chief Brand Officer (Michael Tresvant) to CEO. David Gibbs, Yum Brands CEO, went as far as calling Tresvant “a visionary business leader and best-in-class brand builder.” Are we seeing the rise of 'brand'? What do you think? #cmo #branding #marketing #advertising #skills #relevance #marketplace #skillsgap #impostersyndrome #validation # https://lnkd.in/dUuW3UXU.

On Tuesday we hosted a happy hour for brand-side Ecomm & Retail leaders at the Acadia office in Atlanta. Most people didn't know each other, but left as friends at the end. Folks from brands like Red Bull, Hanes, Aloha, Reduce, and Kellanova swapped notes on AVN tactics, good DSP metrics to track, and how to get internal buy-in on investing in PDP content. I have 3 rules for these gatherings: 1. Name tags, so no great conversation is ever undermined by "sorry what was your name again?" 2. Cut through the small talk. We have some prompts to get a meaningful conversation going so people leave the event with some tangible learning. 3. No pitching! We're in it for the long haul, not a quick sale. Connecting the local ATL retail & ecomm community is a big priority for us this year. Ping me if you want to be in the loop for our next one!

A few things about #cpg sales… 💰more expensive than you think 🗓️with fewer resets, farther between, the whole kit & caboodle is about de-risking for your buyer (thank you Adria Campbell for making that crystal clear for me!) 😩diversifying your channels can take some of the pain away And! I’m looking forward to kicking off 2024 with another Naturally New York Retail Roundtable panel. This time I’m not interviewing buyers,but hearing from founders. We’ll get granular about how they approach retail costs, expansion, prioritization, and success. Big thanks to Jake Kneller, Michelle Jimenez-Meggiato , and Kevin Lee for your willingness to share. In advance ;) REGISTER HERE:

I was recently shortlisted as the Australian Retail Innovator of the Year. It was a great honour and thanks to all at The Retail Doctor Group for it. As part of the awards process I was chatting to Brian Walker about what I saw as the future of retail and it wasn’t necessarily about always looking forward, about hanging bells and whistles around your instore or online #experience and always striving to make it better. It is about making sure that its more valuable. Not necessarily in monetary terms, but in terms of the #value exchange with consumers. In business, as in life, negative thoughts and emotions tend to have the most resonance, we give them the most headspace, want to solve them the quickest and so our future strategies tend to be geared towards fixing them. But is that right? Is building the future on a negative foundation the right move? By narrowing our focus so much we can often miss out on all of the incredible things we already offer. That is why I feel that although the future of retail may be different for all of us in how it manifests, the central driving force will be the same, nurturing what you already have created for your #brand and your customers so that you can grow together. What you do will evolve over time but that central tenant of who you are will always remain the same. So look inwards before you look forwards.