Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/646914
46 / the tasting panel / march 2016 OUR INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR verticals from the world's largest nuclear operating facility to their rapid expansion into beverage alcohol. One of their unique differentiators is an application of game theory and gaming design to optimize user adoption. There is virtually no training required and Brown said it succinctly: "They made it easy enough for me to understand." "When we first met with the Brown- Forman leadership they knew exactly what they wanted," says Dave Dennis, President and CEO of InsightAction. "Our role was to support their needs with a software application that gave them what they wanted, when they wanted it, in a format they could use to advance their business." While Brown is versed in sales and marketing strategies and has over 20 years of experience in opening new markets, he admits that analytics is not his strong point. "I am not a tech person, but it was Owsley Brown who was a big fan of analytics for growing our business. He would have approved. With the program from InsightAction, we can identify the nature of our sales store by store, street by street, city by city. We can see, in real time, where our brands are shelved, where they are selling and which rival brands are selling next to them." Measuring success is a powerful tool, and Brown and the Canadian team at Brown-Forman arm their front line sales teams with critical insight to easily access and capture relevant data to achieve long and short term goals through the InsightAction program. "We can determine price points at a moment's notice; the variables can be manipulated based on what we see is happening in any region. The InsightAction team is always on the ready to take our input and make any necessary changes or recommendations. There's no code to write or figure out; their accessibility to interface with the sales persons is easier than one can imagine." "It's gratifying to know that Brown- Forman can easily use our application to make important business decisions across a variety of business func- tions." Dennis adds, "Our platform is fluid enough to support our client's ever changing business require- ments with new functionality without disruption to their business or any application downtime." Brown refers to Brown-Forman as a "mid-size participant" in the wine and spirits industry and explained to us that the investment they made in InsightAction fits the nature of the size of the company and became a value and strength in terms of its cost. "This connection defined our scope, and as a result we know which brands will respond well in which market. Canada operates similarly to a control state here in the U.S., where the government has the power of information. The chal- lenge for InsightAction was to capture it in one place and truly, they do it best. They give us the most robust informa- tion and one version of the truth—and eliminate all the noise in-between." "InsightAction's software application allows our territory managers to react quickly on a number of fronts," says Ian Buchanan, Business Intelligence and Analytics Manager on Brown-Forman's Canadian team. "Most importantly, our response level within the retail environment allows for instant analysis and study of sales-to-space data giving our field team the ability to conduct analysis and formulate fact-based questions—it provides instant data and keeps us current. On a more macro level, we can observe trend developments within any given brand, period or geographic location level. The application also provides data for the on-premise channel and while the information is slightly different than retail, it can also provide valuable insights for consideration during a sales call." He continues: "It has certainly lifted our ability to sell our portfolio based on factual data. As we know, fact-based selling allows for instant answers to questions a customer may have. It changes the overall selling proposition into one where the benefits and product attributes are accompanied by a solid business justification. It has certainly armed our sales team with a level of confidence that we did not have before." Commenting on InsightAction's expansion in the U.S., Dennis says, "Two years ago, Campbell and the Canadian Brown-Forman leadership bet on our ability to deliver a solution that served their needs. That bet has since afforded us the privilege of serving the needs of suppliers and distributors working with multiple sources of data in the U.S., where most of our efforts now reside." Retailers, restaurateurs and distribu- tor partners see the commitment as well. "Our customers have expectations now more than ever," states Brown. "They are equally impressed in our front line sales team, who come in enlight- ened, educated and solution-based. That's the highest level of competition, and it's working for us." " InsightAction's software application allows our territory managers to react quickly on a number of fronts"