Shopper marketing and category managers are able to set target annual brand budgets in alignment with defined goals and allocate across retail accounts through a process driven by automated calculations and granular-level cost insights. Cuts, increases and reallocation of funds can be made in real-time to address market change, with auto-notifications sent to system users.

Scheduled programs are displayed in an interactive calendar, which can be viewed by a variety of filters, including by brand, category and customer. Users can click-through to view program insights and field reps can digitally share the calendar with their customers to support collaborative planning.

An automated program planning workflow allows plans to seamlessly be created by capturing essential data, including participating retailers, run times, distribution quantities and estimated cost. Cost estimates are calculated based on supplied agency and production PO’s. As the estimate archive grows, users are able to leverage it as a procurement tool.

Target budgets are displayed in visually dynamic charts that compare the amount of budget that has been allocated to the amount that remains. These spend tracking charts update in real-time to provide accurate intelligence into budget availability at the brand and customer level.

Variances between approved program estimates and invoiced actuals are revealed through automated data feeds from internal finance/ERP systems and third-party data suppliers, such as NCH. Users are responsible for reconciling identified variances by editing a program plan or requesting additional funding.