The consumer-packaged-goods industry, the birthplace of modern brand management, was for many years at the cutting edge of marketing. Recently, however, marketers in the industry have struggled to keep up with unprecedented levels of change—from an explosion in the number of media choices to the growth in size and importance of major retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores.

To understand how consumer goods marketers are coping, we surveyed chief marketing officers and their key subordinates at 20 leading North American consumer goods makers.¹ We asked them about their approaches to managing brands and brand portfolios, the changing media environment, innovation, consumer insights, relationships with retailers, and the relationship between corporate- and division-level marketers.² In addition, we reviewed the performance of the manufacturers (and, where possible, business units within them) in areas that matter to marketers, such as market share in product categories, the growth rates of brands and brand portfolios relative to category averages, and sales from new products. Together, the results provide clues about the connection between specific marketing practices and marketing performance.³

Our findings highlight the prevalence of persistent experimentation among a few leading marketers. In today’s uncertain environment, winning companies are experimenting with new media,...