Right now, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies often lag behind challenger brands when it comes to turning consumer insights into meaningful growth.
From natural pet food to healthy sodas, demand mapping has often surfaced rising trends early, but big brands have then failed to convert those insights into scaled action plans.
The So What
“The recurring theme isn’t that incumbents didn’t see the signals, it’s that they missed the urgency for action. They couldn’t translate early demand clarity into sustained momentum," says Gaby Barrios, a partner and director at BCG who specializes in demand-centric growth.
This is in contrast to challenger brands that have shown what’s possible when a company builds a clear point of view, commits to a customer need, and moves quickly from signal to shelf. For example:
- The healthy soda category (fizzy drinks with high-quality ingredients and no preservatives) has grown from ~$160 million in 2019 to ~$900 million in 2024—a CAGR of 40%. Customer demand in this area emerged in demand maps more than a decade ago, yet it is challenger brands such as Olipop and Poppi that have scaled into the need.
- Natural pet food (with more fresh, protein-rich food) has grown from ~$6 billion in 2019 to $10 billion in 2024—a CAGR of 11%. A demand map highlighted the white space many years before companies scaled their offerings.
Many large CPGs aren’t short on insights, technology, or capability. What they often require is more focus and a repeatable mechanism for turning consumer signals into an investable innovation platform, explains Fabrice Beaulieu, a senior advisor to BCG and former chief marketing officer at Reckitt.
''Growth leaders don’t win by generating more ideas. They win by building systems that convert consumer signals into scalable innovation. AI is widening the gap between companies that run innovation as a discipline and those that treat it as a pipeline of ideas,” he says.
These are some of the patterns that commonly stall innovation at big brands:
- Generating large volumes of data and trends but struggling to prioritize which unmet needs truly matter.
- Chasing competitor launches or short-term trends rather than building from distinctive consumer needs or identifying unique brand strengths.
- Identifying multiple opportunities but failing to commit to one specific need. This can lead to analysis and exploration without decisive action.
- Using R&D and emerging tech investments widely but without a demand-led structure to translate experimentation into commercial impact.
- Having fragmented ownership and not having enough resources to carry ideas forward.
- Favoring the extension of existing brands over the launch of new products that are more innovative.
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Now What
CPGs should consider how to start running innovation as a system rather than as an event or an exercise. To do so requires both cross-functional collaboration and dedicated innovation teams.
“As pressure to deliver organic growth increases, a strong innovation capability has never been more important. Centered in clear understanding of consumer tensions and changing behaviors, innovation must be owned end to end. That requires R&D, marketing, supply chain, manufacturing, and sales functions to work in concert to build scalable innovation platforms, says Kristen Riggs, a BCG senior advisor and former chief growth officer at Hershey.
Quantify what will win.
Use predictive analytics and rapid consumer validation to quantify which concepts have the highest potential ROI, and pressure-test early demand signals so teams build conviction quickly (rather than waiting for perfect certainty).
Translate insight into a business case and a 12–18 month roadmap.
Move beyond identifying where growth exists to creating multi-year innovation platforms that connect consumer need, technical feasibility, and commercial right-to-win Make the work actionable by pairing a credible business case (viability and right-to-win) with a practical plan with clear roles across R&D, marketing, operations, and channels.
Put an operating model behind the choices.
Innovation becomes consistent when companies treat it like a cross-functional product that is run by a small, dedicated team with clear decision rights. Many leaders use an “innovation pod” model to move from space to concept to test to scale quickly. The pod owns momentum, while leadership provides guardrails, funding gates, and portfolio trade-offs.
Embed decisions in a shared fact base.
Create a single source of truth so teams can act cohesively across functions and build the organization’s ability to speak in demand-led terms rather than opinion-led debates.
Harness the power of AI.
AI and GenAI can accelerate the innovation cycle, expand the range of ideas explored, and surface the concepts most likely to appeal to customers. Innovation teams and workflows should also be redesigned with the role of agents in mind.
