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The Industry’s Only True Trade Promotion Management Platform

Trade Promotion Management technology has evolved significantly, yet it remains insufficient to provide the needed battery of functionality and capability demanded by today’s modern consumer products company sales and operations organizations throughout the entire demand chain. Extremely high costs and lengthy implementations restrict the rapid ROI on these technologies, and the consumer continues to pressure all CPG companies to meet their vigorous demands for more value, fully stocked shelves, and prices that challenge the bottom line. Complexity is increasing and the technology struggles to keep up. Effective trade promotion management remains a top challenge and a priority.

Innovation in TPM

FireTPM™ is a true platform—not a “solution.” Its innovative design allows any consumer products company to rapidly implement even the most complex business rules, guidelines, terms, guardrails and security far sooner than a traditional TPM solution can do—even a SaaS-based application. The depth and breadth of its data model and UX design permits far more flexibility, speed and precision than any other TPM solution. It’s data model and field-level formulas combine to enable lightning-fast data access and the ability to run promotion scenarios at a single-digit fraction of the most sophisticated TPx analytics solution. This means that a key account manager can build a complete annual promotion plan in hours, not weeks.

Experience the FireTPM™ innovation. See it for yourself.

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Modern TPM Is Very Challenging

There are three major components to a TPM system: Promotions, Funds, and Volume Plans. Each has their own complex data models. They are complex because users need to create the data at high levels then cascade them down to lower levels to manage the data. Proper design of these hierarchies is necessary for usability reasons. Otherwise, users would spend an inordinate amount of time entering data. A single promotion can generate hundreds if not thousands of rows of data.

Variation in business processes. Historically many system designers tried to ignore the issue by assuming all key account managers could be forced to do business the same way, or that all Account Managers in each market do business the same way. This is not possible or true. Even the largest CG companies in the world do not dictate trade terms to companies like Walmart and in a “modern trade” market such as North America, there are still many independent and retailers serviced by wholesalers, and in “traditional trade” markets like Latin America, there are many very large global and regional retailers with a substantial presence. A good TPM system needs to allow planning in dozens of different ways, otherwise, Account Managers will continue to use their spreadsheets.

​Interdependencies between Promotions, Funds and Volumes is another challenge. Promotions increase planned volume forecasts and draw down from the Funds available to spend on Promotions. However, the increase in planned volume increases the planned Funds, so the number an Account Manager though was available before creating/editing a promotion is different from the number after the promotion is planned. This moving target is a frustrating process for Account Managers attempting to spend all their Funds available and not overspending their allotted Funds. To solve this problem, a TPM system needs to integrate an accounts Promotion Plan, Funds and Volume Plans in real-time. Given the complexities of each data model component and the variation in how the data may be stored within those components, designing an integration architecture that enables real-time reporting is not an easy task.

The final challenge with promotion planning is the consolidated volume plan. Ignoring the differences in the levels of granularity that Account Managers need to plan, there is the fact that internally different constituents within a CG company work with volume forecasts at different levels of granularity, and if not careful, they may drive Account Managers to plan promotions at their level of granularity rather than the level that is appropriate for their customer.

Why Is TPM Technical Design So Complex?

The growth and dynamics of the modern consumer goods industry has been challenging to even the largest manufacturers, retailers, and distributors. These three causal factors have accelerated faster than the established TPM vendors can update and/or rewrite their functional code to manage, leading to large customization projects, high costs and lengthy delays. Even then, the rapid advancement of channel requirements continue to overwhelm the legacy technology, making trade promotion one of the most expensive processes to implement and manage.

A New Blueprint for Trade Promotion Planning

One of the key challenges facing all TPM systems is the enormous amount of data required to create successful promotions. This has caused many TPM system designers to offload the data processing and storage from the primary TPM platform onto a “cheaper” data processing and storage solutions. Though this may reduce ownership costs, it hurts rather than helps the performance challenge that already exists, and it complicates the system configuration and implementation process.

FireCG leverages new data model technology, creating a wholly new data model that is more effective and appropriate for rapid data integration into the planning workflow. For Accounts that plan by week, this is a 52-fold (98%) decrease in data volume. This also turns a very expensive query into a simple lookup reference. The performance and configurability ramifications of this are tremendous—resulting in rapid implementation and a significantly lower cost of ownership.

The second step deviates from the longstanding traditions in TPM workflow and operational design to accommodate a smarter data model. Promotion planning is far more complex and demands higher granularity and flexibility—not every account plans the same way. Fire TPM is constructed to match how customers view the world and enable planning at the highest levels of flexibility and accommodation. Not only has usability been tremendously improved but the data volumes and performance have also been dramatically improved. The ease and speed of trade promotion planning has never been better.

In summary, a near 99% reduction in data volume not only decreases ownership costs and improves performance, but it also reduces implementation time and effort, and it enables real-time what-if promotion analytics and more accurate and effective promotions.

Flexible Volume Planning

We believe that the key to a good (accurate) volume plan is allowing people to plan at the level they understand the data the best, and that forcing people to enter details they don’t have or know creates a lower quality result, both in terms of user experience and the resultant accuracy.

Annual Operations Planning and target setting is a natural starting point for the volume planning discussion. Though FireTPM™ is not a time-series volume planning designed to allocated down and aggregate up volume plans via any arbitrary hierarchy, it does have the ability to store, micro-adjust and collaborate on volume plans. Thus, if the original targets and funds set at the beginning of the year are not achievable, the system has capabilities to manage the delta.

In the ideal world:

  • The Planning Account Is a large retailer that shares weekly ePOS consumption data
  • Promoted products are not over-promoted
  • Deals are scan based, and
  • IT and Demand Planning can generate a great weekly baseline volume and predictive planning lift coefficients

​Given this situation, a great real-time AI/ML consumption Baseline/Incremental forecast can be generated, a better supplemental AI/ML Total Volume forecast account for cannibalization and halo effects can be used to augment the real-time forecast, and a Sell-In volume forecast can be generated by backing in from the Sell-Out forecast (accounting for forward buying and warehouse withdrawals).

At FireCG we have identified and preconfigured our solution to handle 5 different sell-Out volume planning methodologies and 11 different Sell-In volume planning methodologies. Not only can Account Managers use whichever methodology works best for them, but then can even change methods at the end or even in the middle of Planning Years.

​Allowing Account Managers to plan and forecast the way they actually think and do business with their customers not only provides a more accurate estimate, but it also greatly improves the system user experience and the likelihood that they will finally let go of their manual excel planning spreadsheets.

​Moving away from those spreadsheets will not only free up salespeople’s time and improve forecasting accuracy, but it will also improve collaboration and enable automated order alerts, so that key stakeholders can be notified when incoming orders are not aligning promotional volume forecasts in time for actions to be taken.

New Data Model

A major innovative design in the FireTPM™ platform is the actual data model. This is one of the most important aspects of the platform because it enables universal data ingestion that can be adapted to any source and rapidly accommodate the platform’s ability to work with the data in the specific functional requirements you have.

Traditional TPM solutions can be customized to work with the major data elements such as ERP data, ePOS data, and syndicated consumption data, but not without often costly configuration time and/or expensive customization.

Optimized for the Key Account Manager

Why do the KAMs continue to use spreadsheets even when there is a sophisticated promotion planning tool available to them? Because the tool fails to deliver the simplicity, flexibility and familiarity of the data and the workflow. The FireTPM™ data model and UI architecture leverages not only the best of the Salesforce functionality, but also has a completely new architecture that provides a highly intuitive UX and navigation with integrated data in just exactly the right combination of format and visuals to eliminate the need for ever going back to the use of a spreadsheet.

Account-Driven Workflow

For the promotion planner, everything flows in and out of the account—period. Everything needs to be right there, within the screen layout and workflow to enable visibility of and access to the rich complement of data that drives rapid and complete promotion planning—whether a single promotion or an entire annual plan. Many TPM solutions provide some aspects of this visibility, but they often do not base the application foundational architecture to connect and align everything to the account in such a way as to create the flexibility and speed of promotion planning that FireTPM™ does. All other aspects of promotion management including funds, product groups, tactical plans, programs, timing, settlement, and analytics are tightly aligned and connected to this hierarchical account structure making the job of managing the account easy and time-saving. This design came from KAMs who know how to maximize their time.

Smart Data Integration 

A major advantage of FireTPM™ is that the sales forecast, volume, revenues and even profitability projections are pre-loaded and automatically drives the calculations for promotion creation which reduces the time necessary to refer to spreadsheets or third-party analytics tools. Some TPM solutions integrate similar data, but it is mostly referential and requires significant customization to automate the final extension of the promotion discounts, lump sum payments, product group guardrails and causal factors to quickly build the promotion. FireTPM™ does this and provides AI-driven simulations to point to the best option for both the supplier and the retailer.

Ease of Promotion Entry

By staying 100% on the Salesforce platform and avoiding the use of Salesforce Visualforce pages and Salesforce Apex Coding, FireCG was able to develop a highly efficient and easy to customize UX for capturing promotions, whether it be highly complex promotions for large modern trade Key Accounts, or for high-level promotions for distributed trade Indirect Accounts. All the data needed for a complete promotion plan, whether a single promotion or an entire annual promotion plan, is integrated and visible to the KAM. Volumes and funding formulas reside within the fields which then calculate, extend, and populate field inputs to reduce the time in process.

Ready for the Mobile Key Account Manager

100% of the functionality is available and pre-optimized for mobile. End users can also further customize and optimize their user experience by displaying or hiding fields and entire sections of the application that may or may not be relevant to the way they do business.

FireTPM™ has completely re-invented “on-the-fly” promotion planning!

Fingertip Intelligence You Need

Every TPM solution has a dashboard and reports—many of which are very nice. However, the determining factor of usefulness for a KAM is what data is available, how fast they can see it, and what help it is to them. Key data such as volume projections, spend vs volume analysis, POS data, “what-if” scenario modeling and baselines combine to make the ultimate impact to the delivery of the forecast and promotion objectives. THAT is real intelligence. Knowing where, how and when to use the data is always a challenge to the promotion planners and managers, and the safety and flexibility of a spreadsheet is what most KAMs end up running to before they finalize a promotion. With FireTPM™, everything you need to analyze, assess and create the best promotion for the situation is not only right in front of you, but much of it automates the promotion model by completing the formulas and algorithms that are built into the platform.

Financial Integrity

Trade promotion is a financial issue—the second largest line item on the corporate financials for a consumer products firm. FireTPM™ has a sophisticated fund and budget management technology that drives the allocation and accrual of promotional funds (any and all of them) and the settlement functionality for claims audit and payment, rebates, and deduction management. The accounting integrity of the FireTPM™ is best in class and, as with all of the platform’s functionality, leverages the new data model and UX to provide the most flexible, yet accurate management of the financial aspects of TPM, including P&L-driven planning and trustworthy and precise fund allocation and settlement.

Rapid Implementation—Full Functionality

Modern SaaS cloud-based TPM solution vendors often promise quick implementation. The caveat is that it must be within the current scope of functionality and little or no customization—otherwise, it’s months…if able to be accommodated at all. On-premise solutions take even longer and are far more expensive to deliver your ideal solution for TPM.

With the architectural design and the data model of FireTPM™, you get your rapid implementation WITH a fully comprehensive fulfillment of your requirements. This is our “special sauce,” and we have already proven it.

The Three-Phase FireTPM™ Implementation Plan is significantly different than any other TPx vendor because we promise not only to get you up and running immediately, but this includes ALL your current “As Is” processes, practices and requirements. This means you are not limited to only “out-of-the-box” functionality of the basic application, but a full slate of functions you currently have. You lose no capabilities, and you begin to generate ROI on the new platform without waiting for future updates, versions or expensive customization. Only FireTPM™ can provide this form of rapid implementation because of the unique data model, workflow infrastructure, and configuration technology.

There is no need for lengthy projects and months of custom development. Work that normally takes days and weeks takes hours. We spend the time getting to know you and what you require, but the actual implementation time is a small fraction of the industry norm.

More important than ever is the fact that with FireTPM™, you will find that the team that works with you in advance to fully vet the cross-organizational business and process requirements will be more efficient than with larger consulting firms, getting right to the heart of the needs and rapidly accommodating the platform blueprint with demonstrations of new functionality and validation of your requests for functionality, changes, and business execution. We focus on YOU, your CUSTOMER, and of course, the CONSUMER.

Summary: FireTPM™ Product Advantages

The design and development of FireTPM™ derives from 5 decades of experience working with the industry’s top TPx vendors and the world’s most well-known brands. This experience has brought us to the realization that the existing technology landscape is too far behind to accommodate the rapid and dynamic growth demands of the modern consumer products manufacturer/supplier. We concentrated on building out not only the standard industry best practice functionality but improved existing and/or developed new functionality that KAMs, finance executives and operations executives have been frustrated with for so many years. Many of the existing vendors tout their ability to do these key things, but most find that the high cost and time commitment of customization drives the decision to hold off.

After all, there’s always spreadsheets, right?  Here are just some of the advancements you will find in FireTPM™:

Highly Configurable

  • 100% Salesforce Lightning Platform – No external processing engine or hard-coded UI
  • Almost any new requirement can be configured and deployed to production in a matter of hours
  • Leverages Salesforce OOTB functionality such as Kanbans, Mass Updates, List Views and Editable Reports

Fast

  • New generation data model that dramatically reduces traditional data volumes by 98% and data querying processing by 99.9%
  • Traditional processes such as Forecast, Fund Accrual Rates, Trade Terms that most often require overnight processing can be updated in seconds

Sophisticated & Intelligent

  • Enables planning at multiple levels of Account, Product, and Time hierarchies
  • Handles both shipment and consumption planning – NOT either/or
  • Enables volume planning in periods of weeks and months
  • Handles baseline incremental or total volume planning
  • Provides predictive planning via a mathematical formula approach to volume forecasting (not lift factor or third-party data integration)
  • Ability to handle multiple account and product hierarchies