Norrizon

Outsourcing of sales and marketing functions to external food brokers has been prevalent in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry for many years. In addition to outsourcing various elements of manufacturing, supply chain, advertising, human resources and IT functions, many CPG companies outsource their sales and marketing tasks to SMAs. For years, the SMAs have successfully assisted CPG companies in introducing new products, increasing their speed to market, improving retail shelf management, maintaining continuity, and expanding market coverage. The trend of outsourcing key sales and marketing functions to SMAs has grown in recent years due to increased focus by CPG companies on reducing costs, improving marketing productivity, enhancing core capabilities, and ensuring product availability in a multi-channel marketing environment. Not surprisingly, retailers and CPG firms alike bestowed very high satisfaction ratings across all dimensions of their SMA relationships.

The prevalence of outsourcing sales and marketing by CPG companies is high, yet it is expected to grow further, driven by the increased propensity among leading companies to find ways to reduce costs and improve marketing effectiveness. SMAs have proven to be valuable to the CPG industry and retailers because of their ability to provide cost savings to the industry as well as their ability to increase product sales through intensive retail activities, including HQ sales support. For most CPG companies, SMAs provide a substantial return on investment as the invested infrastructure, sales teams and systems of SMAs are utilized by CPG companies to achieve their sales and marketing objectives. The superior regional/local market knowledge and expertise of SMAs provide the basis for building the business of many CPGs.