Vividly wants to put some sparkle in your next CPG trade promotion campaign

techcrunch.com:

Supply chain shortages and high gasoline prices have forced consumer packaged goods companies to manage trade more effectively over the past year to compete with other brands. Add in a worker shortage, and some brands are finding third parties they relied on are “dropping the ball when it comes to promotion execution,” Alexander Whatley, CEO of Vividly, told TechCrunch.

“We are seeing brands negotiate 20% off a promotion, but it might not run, yet they are still getting charged,” Whatley added.

Given that CPG companies spend over 20% of their revenue on trade promotion management, this is where Vividly comes in. Formerly known as Cresicor, the company provides trade promotion management tools for the $20 million global consumer packaged goods industry, which is forecasted to be valued at $25 million in 2028. The tools manage trade spend from the creation of campaigns to promotion planning, forecasting and deductions management.

Whatley estimates that customers have seen a 90% reduction in time required to complete business processes and a greater than 20% improvement in planning accuracy.

We profiled the company last year, back when it was still Cresicor, and when it raised $5.6 million in seed funding. At the time, it had grown revenue by 2.5x and employee headcount by 4x, to 20.

Cresicor was a company name Whatley had come up with back in 2017 when he founded the company with his brother Daniel, Stuart Kennedy and Nikki McNeil. At the time, he admitted it “was cool,” but as they got more into the trade promotion business, realized it didn’t fit.

Vividly’s trade planning feature. Image Credits: Vividly

“It kind of sounded like a drug name, too, so we always knew we wanted to rebrand,” Whatley said. “We help brands process