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The State of Revenue Growth Management in CPG:
What 50 Brands Told Us.
For most brands, trade spend is the second-largest expense after COGS, and often the least understood in terms of what's actually driving return.
Revenue Growth Management helps leading CPG brands turn their biggest cost line into their biggest lever., by coordinating pricing, trade promotions, and product assortment decisions with one objective - profitable, sustainable growth.
Vividly has managed over $10B in trade spend as the platform CPG brands rely on for trade promotion management. That foundation revealed a consistent gap: brands with solid TPM data still struggled to connect it to the broader decisions like pricing strategy, portfolio mix, demand forecasting that determine whether a brand grows profitably or just grows.
Vividly's RGM offering was built to close that gap, combining its trade platform, Transcend AI, and 15+ years of hands-on RGM consulting expertise. We surveyed 50 qualified CPG decision-makers - spanning $70M to $2B in annual revenue - on how they manage pricing, trade promotions, and product mix.
What we found: a market that knows it needs better tools, but hasn't found them yet.
79%
of brands still rely on spreadsheets as their primary RGM tool
38%
of brands say RGM became a formal priority at $50-100M revenue
#1 Gap
is trade promotion management: highest pain, lowest active investment
66%
of buying decisions include the CFO
RGM is a recognized priority — but most brands are still flying blind
In 2026, Vividly partnered with NewtonX, a specialist B2B research panel, to survey 50 CPG decision-makers at brands with annual revenue ranging from $70M to $2B. The findings are clear: RGM is funded and recognized across both revenue tiers, but the tools and processes to execute on it consistently are still catching up.
CPG brands entered 2026 facing a convergence of pressures that have collectively closed the door on price-led growth: unit volumes are declining, consumers are trading down to private label, tariffs have introduced a structural cost shock, and retailers are pushing back against further list price increases. The next dollar of margin won't come from another round of price hikes, but from spending trade more precisely, pricing more surgically, and building the right packs for the right channels.
The industry has shifted from "how much can we raise prices" to "how do we defend margin without sacrificing velocity, retailer trust, or cash flow." That is precisely the question RGM exists to answer.
Sources: Circana CPG Demand Signals (2026); BCG/Reuters via HRG (2026); BLS import price index (Mar 2026); 2025 Private Label Report; Promotion Optimization Institute trade-spend benchmarks.
Spreadsheets dominate, even at $2B in revenue
When asked what tools they use to manage pricing, trade, and assortment, 79% of respondents cited Excel or Google Sheets as a primary or sole tool. Even at the upper tier, ERP modules and BI platforms dominate over purpose-built RGM software. The spreadsheet dependency is not a lower-tier problem; it's an industry-wide one.
Without a single source of truth, every RGM decision begins with a data reconciliation exercise rather than analysis. Teams running on spreadsheets spend their bandwidth maintaining the model rather than acting on what it shows. The 36% with no clear RGM owner compounds this: when accountability is diffuse, decisions default to whoever built the last deck. These aren't culture or capability problems; they're systems problems, which makes them easily solvable.
Trade promo: the biggest gap between pain felt and investment made
Across four RGM pillars, trade promotion stands out as the area with the widest gap between recognized pain and active investment. For brands, trade promo is the most visible problem with the least funded solution.
The market is over-indexed on demand forecasting, an area already well served by established tools, while trade promotion ROI largely goes unmeasured. For brands evaluating where to start with RGM, the fastest path to recoverable margin isn't a better forecast. It's knowing which promotions should never have run, understanding why, and not making the same call again next cycle.
In their own words: what CPG brands are dealing with every day
Survey respondents were asked to describe the single biggest frustration in how their organization manages pricing, trade promotions, and product mix. Below are verbatim responses reproduced exactly as submitted, across company sizes and revenue tiers.
"There's no formal tools or software. It's all trial and error or self-built tools in Excel."
"We are unable to get current, up-to-date information on how our trade promotions are doing, and whether they are successful at moving the needle or not. We want better information so we can change the trade promotions on the fly if something isn't working."
"All modeling is still conducted in Excel spreadsheets, so scenario planning is very time-consuming and prone to error."
"The disconnect between trade promotion planning and actual demand forecasting. When we run multi-channel promos, our tools don't sync well with our supply chain data, leading to stockouts when a promo does too well, or inventory waste when it underperforms."
"Fragmentation of decision-making and silos. We don't have one place to draw a view of demand and margin impact; it becomes an exercise of pulling together information from many sources."
"We tend to make the same decisions on promotions, not investing in learnings or updating product mix without fully estimating the impact."
The market isn't anti-software — it's anti-black-box
Almost no respondents are outright dissatisfied with their current external support (only 2 dissatisfied responses across all dimensions), so switching tools or systems requires a clearly better offer. When asked what it would take to trust software over a consultant, the answers clustered around three themes: i) transparency, ii) proven outcomes, and iii) ERP integration.
"To fully trust a platform over a consultant, it must feature a transparent, well-explained AI model with no black boxes. It needs to prove it can ingest messy, multi-channel distributor data with near-perfect accuracy and deliver granular, back-tested recommendations our internal teams can immediately validate and act on."
"Clear explainability on its outputs — my CFO will ask questions, and I need to be able to answer them."
"Track record matters to me. Show me companies similar to ours that have seen measurable results."
"It needs to solve the specific problem, not only have AI/ML capabilities, but actually deliver ROI."
"Would need solid references, proof of concept, and integration to our ERP (NetSuite) to eliminate any manual data manipulation."
The CFO hurdle isn't just a procurement gate; it's a signal about what the buying process requires. Transparent, explainable outputs that can survive internal scrutiny are table stakes, not differentiators. References from companies at a similar revenue band and complexity level matter more than feature lists. These buyers are not waiting to be convinced that RGM matters. They're waiting to see proof that it works for a brand like theirs and that the platform can speak the same language as their finance team.
Two distinct buyers with different budgets and expectations
Lower-tier brands ($70M–$500M) cluster around a willingness to pay $25K–$150K annually and prefer self-serve software. Upper-tier brands ($500M–$2B) expect to spend $150–$300K, want advisory alongside software, and are already paying that to large consulting firms. Nearly all respondents — 49 of 50 — say they would pay for external RGM support.
Software + advisory is the most popular single model across both tiers (30% overall). Among upper-tier brands, it ties self-serve software as the top pick. This preference is especially meaningful given that upper-tier brands are currently spending $150K–$500K with large generalist consultants and are open to switching if a software platform can demonstrate transparent ROI and ERP integration.
Upper-tier brands spending $150–$300K annually with large consulting firms already have the budget allocated, so the question isn't whether they'll pay, it's whether they'll redirect existing spend toward a solution that delivers both platform and advisory. Lower-tier brands are earlier in their formalization journey and need a lower-friction, lower-cost entry point. The demand signal here is as strong as this research gets: 49 of 50 respondents said they would pay for external RGM support.
What the data means for CPG brands and the vendors serving them
Taken together, these findings describe a market at an inflection point. RGM is recognized, partially funded, and increasingly urgent, but most brands are still managing it with tools designed for a different era.
38% of respondents say RGM became a formally funded priority at $50–$100M in revenue. Brands that have recently crossed $75M are in the formalization moment — the highest-readiness window for investment in new solutions.
Demand forecasting is already crowded with active investment. Trade promo has equally high pain but the lowest investment rate of any pillar. This is the clearest opportunity for differentiation for a purpose-built platform.
Lower-tier brands want accessible self-serve software at $75–$150K. Upper-tier brands want software paired with advisory at $150–$300K, and are currently paying that to McKinsey and Deloitte. Packaging and pricing must reflect this divergence.
Finance is involved in 66% of RGM buying decisions. Category managers and CROs surface the need, but CFOs approve the budget. Any ROI narrative must quantify trade waste reduction, margin improvement, and forecast accuracy in dollar terms.
The market is not anti-software; it's anti-black-box. Transparency of logic, proven ROI with peer references, and ERP integration (especially NetSuite) are the three requirements for displacing large consultants at scale.
Three companies with $500M–$2B in revenue say RGM has never been a formal priority. Revenue alone does not predict readiness. Qualification must include organizational signals: dedicated ownership, structured processes, and an active RGM budget line.
Vividly brings all three together.
All in One Place. Finally.
After managing over $10B in trade spend, Vividly is giving CPG brands a full view of every driver behind their business performance — combining a purpose-built platform, Transcend AI, and 15+ years of hands-on RGM consulting expertise. No more choosing between a great platform and great strategy.
See Vividly RGM →Survey conducted June 2026 by NewtonX on behalf of Vividly. n=50 qualified CPG decision-makers, $70M–$2B annual revenue, US-based. Findings are directionally indicative; sub-segment analyses should be treated as exploratory given sample size constraints at the sub-group level.
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Know what your trade is actually returning.
Most CPG brands run trade on gut feel and stale data. Vividly changes that - combining your existing trade data with Transcend AI and 15+ years of hands-on RGM expertise to close the loop between what you spend and what you earn.
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Goodbye Excel.
Hello Vividly!
Achieve 98% accuracy and recover up to $700K in trade spend, all in one unified trade promotion management platform.
