3-2-1 on Sharpening Top-to-Tops, Leading Category Conversations, and more
3 Insights Worth Your Attention
I. How to Pressure-Test Your Story to Turn Top-to-Tops into Real Conversations
A strong Top-to-Top or JBP story isn’t just about what you want to say. It’s about anticipating how the conversation might go.
The best teams don’t just align on strategy and messaging. They plan for the room. Here are two takeaways worth focusing on.
First prepare alternative scenarios. If you’re asking for expanded space, don’t walk in with just one plan. Come with a second option, e.g., a pricing move or a shopper activation. Perhaps, a category investment? Something that still drives joint growth.
It shows flexibility and positions you as a better partner.
Second, anticipate reactions from your retailer.
Before the meeting, pressure-test your story. What might get challenged? What sensitivities should you plan for?
E.g., if you’re proposing a price increase, support it with data. Show the shopper impact, elasticity, and how the price gap still holds. Show how past pricing drove performance. The stronger you read the retailer’s reaction, the sharper your message will land.
This kind of prep changes the tone. It builds trust. And it turns a one-way pitch into a two-way conversation.
📖 Read more: A practical checklist to sharpen your next T2T or JBP.
II. How Immersive Storytelling Turned a Category Conversation into a 3-Year Retailer Plan
Most category conversations follow a familiar flow: data, performance drivers, and a list of recommendations.
But in practice, it’s hard to drive alignment unless the retailer clearly sees the opportunity.
Rachelle Moore, former Shopper Insights lead at Kellogg, explains on the ARCast podcast how immersive storytelling helped unlock buy-in during a high-stakes category project.
Working with her team, Rachelle created an immersive walk-through with poster boards, in-store photos, and mapped shopper friction points across the journey. It gave both sides time to slow down and see the full picture (literally and figuratively).
Cross-functional teams from Kellogg and the retailer walked the space together. That shared experience shifted the conversation from reviewing findings to co-creating a three-year pipeline of aligned ideas.
🎧 Listen to how Rachelle used immersive formats to drive alignment. [15:04 – 17:59]
III. How Category Management Can Shape Brand Purpose.
Today, pricing, assortment, and convenience are no longer differentiators. In a retail landscape shaped by giants like Amazon and Costco, and flooded with endless brand choices, those are just table stakes.
Winning brands now stand out through purpose, by owning one key edge like Culture, Entertainment, Expertise, or Design.
That work is often left to brand marketers. But what if category leaders played a bigger role?
Category teams bring a deep understanding of how shoppers actually behave, how products show up on shelf, and role of your brand in the broader category. That knowledge should inform how a brand defines its purpose, not just how it executes it.
It’s time for CatMan teams to go beyond supporting brand strategy and start shaping it.
Ask yourself: Are you helping build the value proposition w/ your marketeers or just reacting to it?
📖 Read more: How Category teams can play a bigger role in shaping brand purpose and why it matters.
2 Quotes To Think About
I.
John Quelch, former Harvard Business School professor, on the Shelf as the Ultimate Test.
“The shelf is the momenth of truth. Everything we do must pass that test.”
From strategy decks to activation plans, it all comes down to what happens at the shelf. If the shopper doesn’t notice or understand the value prop in that moment, the rest doesn’t matter.
Source: Harvard Business School lectures on Consumer Marketing.
II.
Herb Sorensen, retail scientist and author, on the Value of Understanding Shopper Behavior.
“Understanding the ‘why’ behind shopper behaviour is worth ten times more than knowing the ‘what’ of their purchases.”
Insights isn’t just about reporting news. It’s about uncovering the motivations, barriers, and context behind shopper decisions. That’s where the opportunity to grow categories often lives.
Source: Shopper Marketing and the Role of In-Store Decision-Making.
1 Question For You
Are you building conviction, or just sharing information?
The strongest Insights and Sales leaders don’t just tell a good story. They build belief.
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