“I Love Trade Marketing” conference series: Inflation from different perspectives

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/4

Ildikó Kátai

Ágnes Csiby,

Founders of TMK: Zsuzsanna Hermann,

Zsuzsanna Hermann, co-founder of Trade Marketing Club welcomed the audience, as the moderator for the morning session. In the afternoon the other two co-founders of the club, Ágnes Csiby and Ildikó Kátai took over the baton.

Threats all around

János Klenovszki
CEO
NRC

In his introductory presentation János Klenovszki, CEO of NRC spoke about how the economic environment in which we live has a significant impact on our daily lives. Analysing the data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH), he outlined the inflation curve of the last 20 years, including changes in real wages and consumer behaviour. He then went on to list the major fears those consumers think are the biggest threats at global and national level.

A crisis-resistant brand

Dániel Salem
global category manager
HEINEKEN

Dániel Salem, global category manager of HEINEKEN talked about how HEINEKEN experienced the year 2023 and what factors influenced the beer company’s results. He pointed out that Heineken is perhaps the only beer brand that has been resilient through various crises, clearly thanks to its strong brand equity. The speaker stressed that the brewer’s priority is to learn about and understand consumer reactions.

Beáta Harcsa
strategy and marketing director/dairy business
Bonafarm

Beáta Harcsa, strategy and marketing director of Bonafarm’s dairy business line gave an insight into the performance of the domestic food industry, including the dairy sector. She said that in the first half of 2023 the food industry underperformed the industry as a whole. The decline in the dairy sector’s performance was smaller than that of the food industry.

A marketingigazgató előadásában arra a kérdésre is kereste a választ, hogy mit tesznek a fogyasztók egy olyan gazdasági helyzetben, amilyenben jelenleg is élünk. Megállapítása szerint, miközben több vonatkozásban is egyre tudatosabbak lesznek, felértékelődik bennük a stabilitás és az értékek iránti igény. Prezentációját cégcsoportjuk népszerű Mizo termékeinek felsorakoztatásával és bemutatásával zárta.

New strategy

Géza Tóth
CEO
Co-op Hungary

Géza Tóth, CEO of Co-op Hungary recalled the most important moments that led to the development of the new strategy of the retail chain. He revealed that one of the main drivers of their innovation work was to meet the needs of their customers, the components of which were pointed out by their own analysis. It turned out there was a strengthening demand for high quality from their customers. As a response to this, they have created COOP Szuper Plusz stores.

ViktóriaOzoróczy
NFR manager
Shell Hungary

Viktória Ozoróczy, NFR manager of Shell Hungary presented the special situation of petrol stations in relation to the topic under discussion. She explained that in this retail channel FMCG and other shop categories are highly dependent on the number of fuel transactions. The majority of purchases are impulsive, so active selling is an important tool. The speaker also shared valuable information on the network’s mini-shop concept.

Private labels leading the way

Tamás Harmati
channel marketing manager
Coca-Cola HBC

In his presentation Tamás Harmati, channel marketing manager of Coca-Cola HBC shed light on what 2023 was like in the market and in the life of Coca-Cola HBC. In addition to a series of challenging events, for instance the introduction of EPR or the rise in manufacturing costs and energy prices, he mentioned the fact that 2023 brought normalised and predictable prices and services as a positive development.

Katalin Varga
head of digital
SPAR

SPAR’s head of digital Katalin Varga detailed the company’s digital and traditional presence strategies. She gave an insight into the communication solutions they have used to respond to the challenges of the high food inflation. Her presentation covered the other ways in which the company has had to adapt to the recent inflationary challenges, with a particular focus on private label products that have made a conquest during this period.

Synergies are important

Judit Sándor
senior eCommerce
content manager,
Consumer Goods Europe
Essity

Judit Sándor, e-commerce activation manager (consumer goods Europe) of Essity joined the online conference from Vienna. She gave an overview of their digital shelf toolbox in the context of how communication can complement other e-commerce strategic elements in an inflationary environment. She explained that the e-commerce channel has a significant impact on the overall customer journey, which will only increase in the future.

Zoltán Hidvégi
managing director
Umbrella

Zoltán Hidvégi, managing director of Umbrella set out to do away with misconceptions about AI. Sharing their experiences, he told the audience that by using AI they can work more efficiently, produce better results and add value for their clients. He also discussed where AI can help in retail trade, including communication.

On the right path

Dr. István Réti
owner
Forma Display

Dr István Réti, owner of Forma Display explored the relationship between emotions and decisions in his presentation. He pointed out a phenomenon that has been echoed in many research findings: our rational thinking is hardly used in human decision making processes such as shopping. He explored the reasons why we make decisions based on our emotions –the analytical mind only plays a 5% role in purchasing decisions.

Orsolya Gábor
head of marketing
iData

Orsolya Gábor, head of marketing at iData and István Gál, CEO of Inepex gave the final presentation of the day.

István Gál
CEO
Inepex

István Gál told that his company uses GPS-based data to develop software solutions that assist companies in making work in the field more efficient and transparent. Orsolya Gábor said that the focus of their activities is GPS-based online fleet tracking, using their own iTrack system, which contributes to cost reduction, less administrative work and optimised fleet usage. //