1/ The magnitude of CEO turnover is hard to imagine if you don’t focus on CPG. Find an industry where leadership turnover is worse.
wsj.com/articles/packa…
wsj.com/articles/packa…
2/ Almost no CEOs in public CPG companies have clout. They are almost never the founders, often aren’t respected by the street. Usually suits that have never created anything, never driven real positive change.
3/ They are usually lifelong company people that are really really good at running companies that are dying- and slowing their death.
4/ Who is voting to get rid of the CEO? The Board.
I’ve talked before that the boards are stale, afraid to take the necessary risk to innovate, disconnected from what the core consumers want.
I’ve talked before that the boards are stale, afraid to take the necessary risk to innovate, disconnected from what the core consumers want.
6/ That’s allowed in tech because tech CEOs have Clout. With a capital C. Maybe its because they are founders, maybe because there is a track record of their industry making big bold bets. I don’t know. What I do know is public CPG CEOs are in Trouble. With a capital T.
7/ Why does this matter? Well lets assume for a minute that I’m right in the statement that large brands are massively losing share to small brands. The large brands are in trouble.
8/ To get out of this vicious loop it wont be about creating pumpkin flavored cheerios. We need real change- real leadership that will drive impactful innovation.
cheerios.com/products/pumpk…
cheerios.com/products/pumpk…
9/ I know what I would do if I were the CEO of one of these companies. But let's be clear- it is very very hard for them.
10/ But I’m skeptical real change will happen unless one of the public companies gets taken private (pressure off of CEO) or a CEO has the courage to not focus on quarterly numbers.
11/ Here is my message to CEOs of public CPG companies. Einstein's (allegedly) definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
They need some Change. With a capital C.
They need some Change. With a capital C.
12/ That change will be to have a CEO that has the courage and capabilities to lead innovation in a new and profound way. It's a long came that short-term investors will hate. But it's the only way out of the slow decline they are all in.
