Perfecting product portfolios and performance

The intelligence provided to Philips MENA by GfK is central to the team’s product portfolio strategy for the personal care categories. It is crucial to help select the right products to launch based on market performance by price and product.

The team evaluates how products and categories are performing on a wide range of measures against the company’s own KPIs and also versus the competition. The market level analysis is used to understand current performance, forecast how market sizes might evolve in the future, and set targets for the coming year.

Having established such a close working relationship with GfK, Philips not only subscribes to the sales intelligence, but also commissions custom research to address specific challenges. Two recent projects illustrate how the player has used ad hoc intelligence to support strategy development.

• In one project, focused on haircare, the teams worked together to create a go-to- market strategy in Saudi Arabia. The challenge in this market was to increase the average selling price (ASP), while simultaneously striving to become the number one haircare brand in the Kingdom.
• In a second project, GfK helped Philps MENA understand and develop a suitable approach to reach the desirable Gen Z audience in the region. Here the brand wanted to create the most effective media and communications strategy to reach this desirable target audience. The results of the project are guiding Philips’ strategy and tactics.

Philips MENA and GfK enjoy a strong working relationship, based on a collaboration that has lasted many years. The team at Philips depends on GfK’s intelligence to support a significant part of the strategic planning for the personal care categories in the region.