Sunita Sharman - Ferrero

Brand growth is often seen as a mix of strong marketing, innovation, and consumer engagement. However, according to Sunita Sharman, Head of Business Intelligence UK & Ireland at Ferrero, execution plays an equally critical role. Distribution, in-store visibility, and last-mile execution can determine whether a brand thrives or disappears.

In this interview, Sunita shares her insights on the fundamentals of brand growth, the role of innovation, and how AI is shaping the future of FMCG marketing and research. She challenges common industry assumptions and explains why execution is often more important than strategy.

Brand Growth: Why Execution Matters as Much as Strategy

Great branding and marketing campaigns only work if consumers can easily find the product. Sunita shares the importance of distribution as a foundation of brand growth, especially in FMCG, where companies rely on retailers to reach consumers. “Without shelf space, there is no brand awareness, no trial, and no growth. I see distribution as the foundation of brand growth.” It has to be said that to achieve successful distribution, the consumer proposition must be relevant. “You can have the distribution, but if consumers are not interested in what you have to offer, that is not relevant,” Sunita shares.

Packaging and in-store execution also play a crucial role. Most shoppers make split-second decisions, often in a rush. A well-placed, well-designed product can capture attention and drive sales, while a poorly executed launch will struggle, no matter how strong the brand behind it. Sunita remembers a quote a consumer once told her, the consumer said: "I’d love to say I walk through the store carefully reading all the labels and thinking about what I feed my children, but in reality, I have 45 minutes to do the shop between the school run and picking up my kid from football. I rush through like a goldfish, throwing things into the trolley." This sums up how most consumers behave in-store: they’re distracted, time-pressured and don’t have the bandwidth to process every claim on the pack.

“Without shelf space, there is no brand awareness, no trial, and no growth.”

The in-store merchandising also plays a role here as shoppers might not be consciously looking for certain cues, but their subconscious is influenced by how products are placed, packaged, and marketed in stores. Hence, brands need to use clear, recognisable cues on packaging to communicate effectively, Sunita implies.

She argues that for FMCG, in-store execution is just as critical for brand growth as other factors like brand strength and innovation; “In FMCG, the in-store experience is fundamental to growth. I think it’s often overlooked because discussions around brand growth tend to focus on conceptual elements — brand strength, innovation, marketing, and so on. But at the end of the day, if your last-mile execution is weak, none of that matters. You could have the strongest brand in the world, but if your in-store execution — shelf placement, availability, packaging, promotions — is not aligned, it simply won’t work.”

“In FMCG, the in-store experience is fundamental to growth. At the end of the day, if your last-mile execution is weak, no conceptual brand elements matter.”

The Innovation Dilemma: Necessity or Luxury?

Innovation is often seen as a key to brand growth, but in FMCG, it typically accounts for less than 10% of revenue. In uncertain economic times, consumers are less willing to experiment with new products, sticking to trusted brands instead. This means that FMCG companies need to prioritise strengthening their core brands against private labels rather than launching new products. “When consumers are cutting back on spending, they are gravitating towards trusted brands and products they know will deliver value. As a result, brands have to justify their price and presence against private labels. This shift makes core brand growth a priority over launching new products.”

Sunita raises a relevant factor in how organisations structure innovation teams, as often, these are separate from the core brand team, operating on different goals and metrics. This creates friction between what external market conditions suggest and internal team KPIs. However, she highlights that the best ideas tend to gain traction across multiple teams. “A truly great innovation idea will resonate across different departments. That’s often a sign that the idea has real potential.”

Another popular source of innovation within the FMCG landscape is category blurring. This reduces risk, leverages existing brand equity, and ensures faster market acceptance. Sunita brings up examples of confectionery brands like Ferrero, Mars, and M&M’s, which successfully launched ice cream variants that capitalise on their brand equity. “M&M’s ice cream, for example, has been one of the fastest-growing players in China.” However, some industries, such as beauty and toys, depend on constant innovation to stay relevant.

“A truly great innovation idea will resonate across different departments. That’s often a sign that the idea has real potential.”

Challenges in Bringing Innovation to Market

Launching a successful innovation isn’t just about having a great idea. Speed to market is critical, yet large organisations often struggle with long approval processes. By the time a new product is ready, a smaller, more agile competitor may have launched something similar.

Internal alignment is another challenge. As projects move through different departments, ideas can become diluted, losing their original strength. Furthermore, innovation projects can sometimes get caught in internal optimism bias. Sunita explains, “When a team has spent months or even years developing a product, they naturally become emotionally invested, which can make the team blind to market realities.”

Even when a product reaches the market, it relies on strong retailer support. If distribution isn’t secured early on, the product may fail before it has a chance to succeed. “Distribution support can be pulled away at the last minute, especially if the core brand isn’t performing well. If a retailer decides not to support an innovation as expected, it significantly reduces its chances of success,” Sunita says.

Lastly, technical constraints sometimes dilute an innovation. “A product may start with a compelling idea, but by the time it reaches the market, compromises in ingredients, packaging, or production might make it less exciting to consumers.”

“When a team has spent months or even years developing a product, they naturally become emotionally invested, which can make the team blind to market realities.”

The role of sustainability in innovation

Sustainability is a non-negotiable for innovation. “It’s almost impossible to justify an innovation that doesn’t align with sustainability goals. While many companies actively communicate sustainability, we’ve reached a stage where consumers expect it as a baseline,” Sunita shares. An interesting point she highlights, though, is that consumers have started to conflate sustainability with quality. “Many premium brands highlight their sustainability credentials, which has led to a subconscious association between eco-friendly and premium.”

Nevertheless, sustainability claims on packaging have become a standard, and consumers might only notice it if it’s missing. “Sustainability is becoming a hygiene factor; it won’t necessarily drive sales on its own, but if a brand isn’t sustainable, it can lose relevance. That’s why many companies focus on making their portfolios more sustainable overall, even if they don’t always highlight it in consumer-facing communications.”

“Sustainability is becoming a hygiene factor; it won’t necessarily drive sales on its own, but if a brand isn’t sustainable, it can lose relevance.”

AI’s In Innovation and Insights

Lastly, Sunita briefly touches upon the topic of AI and innovation. While AI is already transforming market research, consumer insights, and product testing, with, for example, helping brands test visual impact and shelf visibility more efficiently, Sunita raises the concern about AI-generated “synthetic respondents”. However, as technology advances, this could become a game-changer for consumer testing.

Another area that Sunita sees AI has great potential in is also concept refinement, “AI might not be great at coming up with entirely new concepts, but it can help with naming, positioning, and optimising the way ideas are communicated,” she says. Nevertheless, AI has yet to fully replace human creativity in innovation. “Most new product ideas still come from experienced teams, not algorithms,” she concludes.