The shared goal among CPG manufacturers is the pursuit of steady, repeatable growth. If the winning formula is offering consumers a good product at a reasonable value and creating some excitement to keep those consumers engaged, why can’t every company do it?

Some companies achieve this coveted goal year after year. One company, Idahoan, has made our U.S. CPG Growth Leaders list in each of the 12 years we’ve produced the report. Another, Constellation Brands, has made the list 11 times. And given that 2023 had a host of headwinds, notably inflation, we wanted to learn how these and other growth companies break through the noise and competition to achieve the ultimate “mental availability” of consumer consideration. More on that in a bit.

Growth Leaders performance drivers in 2023

Several of our Growth Leaders companies joined us for two webinars: one featuring large- and medium-sized CPGs with sales ranging from $1 billion to more than $8 billion, the other featuring smaller companies with annual sales of $100 million to $1 billion. Our data shows leading companies driving velocity, distribution, and penetration faster than their competitors. So we dove deeper to understand the nuances of these winning performance. Executives from companies of all sizes shared their strategic priorities, and as we listened to them, we landed on five common factors in their success:

1. Consumer relevancy. This is the base from which all companies succeed. Winning companies are laser focused on consumer needs and experiences, connect with communities, and meet consumers where they are in distribution and marketing.

2. Integrated engagement. Connecting to the consumer in and out of their home and finding ways to communicate simple, consistent messages across new and traditional media and social platforms. This is often via influencers, ambassadors, and events in a seamless, integrated approach.

3. Continuous newness. It’s not purely about innovation, although that certainly plays a role, but it’s also about keeping new inflows. These include larger and smaller innovations, like new attributes, fun and fresh ways to use products, and bringing together different brands from within their portfolio to create newness.

4. Premium and value bifurcation. People are trading down — and up. Consumers across all demographic cohorts are looking for value in various ways. They’re willing to pay a premium when they want to have an out-of-home experience in their home or when they’re looking to elevate an occasion.

5. Embedding artificial intelligence for operational prowess. Companies are starting to use AI to reduce costs, increase speed of innovation, manage inventory, forecast, and market more effectively. They can, for example, digitize social messages and send them to many different consumers.

Becoming the top-of-mind brand

CPG Growth Leaders balanced priorities across all these tools to achieve the most desirable place at the top of the list when consumers think of the product or category. These companies, through exceptionally hard work over the years, have placed their brands firmly in the minds of consumers looking to make a purchase. It sounds simple, but there’s a huge difference between just having your product out there as an option and having it always be the automatic, instantly viable option.

It’s essentially owning permanent real estate in the consumer’s mind.

As these companies showed, it takes more than price, packaging, distribution, and media. It takes them all, plus continuous engagement with the consumer.