The 2013 Consumer Value Creators Report

One Size Does Not Fit All: A Tailored Approach to Creating Value

By Ketil GjerstadJean-Marc BellaïcheJeff GellRune JacobsenSam RidesicAlan Wise, and Frank Plaschke

The 2013 Consumer Value Creators Report, One Size Does Not Fit All: A Tailored Approach to Creating Value, shows that, as in previous years, consumer industry companies outperform most other industries in producing shareholder value. The report examines the total shareholder return (TSR) of nearly 300 major consumer companies for the period from 2008 through 2012. The report covers four major sectors in the consumer industry: retail, consumer nondurables (also called fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG), consumer durables and apparel, and travel and tourism. The analysis is based on empirical data from The Boston Consulting Group’s fifteenth annual report in the Value Creators series, Unlocking New Sources of Value Creation, which is a broader review of 1,616 companies spanning 25 industry groups.

The 2013 Consumer Value Creators Report draws lessons for generating superior returns from the top performers in each of the major consumer-industry sectors. The results of our analysis provide guidance and insight for consumer companies in today’s uncertain economic environment. The report illustrates, in particular, the need for a multitrack approach to creating value that may include, but is not limited to, pursuit of growth in emerging markets. Such an approach inevitably involves a constant effort to reinvent the business.