Three Survival Strategies For Legacy CPGs In The Age Of Digital Disruption

Far and wide across the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail economy, digital disruption is forcing legacy brands to radically reevaluate how they view production, distribution and consumption in the digital age. With distribution and sales models dating back 100 years or more, incumbents have been slow to adapt to the rise of the “digital native” consumer — a younger, more nuanced and tech-savvy demographic.

Unable to successfully employ the “mass-mass-mass” strategies of years past (mass production, mass distribution, mass advertising), the industry has fallen on tough times: Retailers  and supermarkets  are filing for bankruptcy at record rates. CPG legacy brands are reporting significant loses  at the hands of fast-growing startups . Amazon and Walmart, in addition to their intensely bitter price wars , have transitioned from clients to competitors with their own private labels . Consumer preferences  are continuing to shift as technology evolves.

If legacy brands want to survive, they must transform and adapt.