Building a GTM Team’s Vision, Uncrustables’ $1B Story, PepsiCo’s $271B Push Beyond Snacks
This Week's Main Story
A Playbook for Building and Selling Your GTM Function's Vision
How to build the “Vision presentation” that gets your leadership aligned and your team on board
Whether you lead category management, sales, trade marketing, or RGM, the leaders who build and sell a strong vision for their function are the ones who move the needle. Those teams become more strategic with their retail partners and solve bigger problems, and sr. leadership starts to see those functions as a true growth driver.
And yet, vision work is usually the first thing pushed aside for the next urgent request. The day-to-day keeps pulling you into reactive mode, and the strategic work that would actually change your trajectory stays on the back burner.
Here’s what we’ve found: most leaders already have a clear sense of their vision. The challenge is articulating it in a way that gets people on board. That’s where the “Vision presentation” becomes the vehicle: turning what’s in your head into a story others can act on.
We recently worked on a Vision story for the head of Cat Man at a large snacking CPG. The deck had these 3 main chapters. This structure and ideas we share can serve as a strong starting point if you’re due to build a Vision for your team.
Chapter 1: Where you’ve been. Highlight the wins (e.g, customer recognitions, a strategic initiative win w/ a retailer) and acknowledge the gaps (a lagging Kantar or Advantage ranking, not having a seat at the table w/ a key retailer). Use both to make the case for change.
Chapter 2: Where you’re headed. Articulate your vision, i.e., what your team should stand for over the next 2 to 3 years, supported by 3 to 4 bold pillars. The strongest pillars tend to be outward-facing, e.g., lead with an external lens (shopper, consumer, and retailer insights first), elevate category execution (e.g., elevate shopability, optimize space), and build team capabilities (e.g., AI, storytelling, analytics).
Chapter 3: How you’ll get there. Lay out milestones with ambitions, e.g., improved retailer rankings, new captaincies, test-and-learns that prove the approach. Time and resources will always be a constraint, so address it head-on. A Start / Stop / Continue reset can help your team reprioritize, freeing time for the higher-impact work your vision calls for.
Closing: End with your asks. If you’re presenting to leadership, ask for what you need: budget, tools, training, air cover to remove barriers. If you’re rallying your team, the ask is: change how you work, move beyond “rates and dates,” and lean into deeper retailer influence.
Below is a presentation outline that maps these chapters to suggested slides. It’s based on a real exercise, so adapt it to fit your situation.
➤ Read more: The full article breaks down all three parts with examples you can adapt directly. A Playbook for Building and Selling Your GTM Function’s Vision
What's Moving in CPG
Here’re a few reads from around the internet that caught our attention
The $1B Uncrustables Story Isn’t Really About Peanut Butter
Jif is declining. Smucker’s fruit spreads are declining. And the frozen sandwich made from both just crossed $1B in net sales. A 10-count box runs about $9.84 at Walmart (~$1 per piece), while the homemade version costs somewhere between 20 and 45 cents.
Uncrustables understood what tired parents really needed: one less thing to worry about, wrapped in comfort and nostalgia. It shows why functional benefits like protein and thaw time aren’t the whole story. As Sidnee Schaefer puts it, “functional motivators get copied, emotional ones get defended.”
[More here]
PepsiCo Is Chasing $271B Outside the Snack Aisle
PepsiCo is putting more resources behind fresh foods as consumers shift toward the store perimeter, a $271B+ part of the grocery business. Tostitos guacamole and a U.S. launch of Alvalle gazpacho are part of the push.
For CPG teams, it’s a useful reminder to look beyond your current shelf for emerging shopper occasions. The next growth opportunity may be an adjacent part of the store, not another SKU in your existing category.
Shopability: Can Shoppers Find and Choose Your Product?
A great product can still be lost at the moment of purchase if shoppers have to work too hard to find, understand or compare it. Run through these seven questions to test your product’s shopability, both online and on the shelf.
Resources for Sales & CatMan Teams
1/ Explore our PPT Time-Saver Toolkit. A hands-on resource for building presentations faster, with a storytelling guide, simplified master template, real slide examples from your business, and a robust asset library. [Start here]
2/ When Selling to Costco, Start With the Member, Not the SKU. The retail buyer at Costco is often asking these questions when you pitch a product: Is it better for our members? Does it fit the Costco model? We share a before-vs-after of a “new item pitch” (slide examples) so you can win placement at this sought-after warehouse leader. [Read more]
Check Out Some of Our Recent High-Stakes CPG Presentations
Most of our CPG-retailer presentation work is confidential, so we can’t share it publicly. But here are a few recent examples of high-stakes (and already public) presentations we’ve done for major CPGs.
While some of these happen to be investor-facing, the underlying storytelling principles remain identical: align with audience priorities, structure a clear narrative, and utilize powerful visual design to ensure your message resonates effectively.
Learn More About OUTKREATE’s Sales, CatMan & Insights Solutions
OUTKREATE develops retailer-facing presentations for top CPG Cat Man & Insights teams, equipping them for success, be it Top to Tops, Innovation Selling Stories, Line Reviews & JBPs, and more.
Thinking of UPGRADING your Retailer-facing Presentation?
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