A featured contribution from Leadership Perspectives: a curated forum reserved for leaders nominated by our subscribers and vetted by the Construction Tech Review Advisory Board.
Bacardi
The Impact of Digitalization in the Consumer Packaged Goods Space
Jesus Checa serves as the director of innovation and corporate strategy at Bacardi, empowering the organization to adapt to the digitally-driven world. He is responsible for implementing corporate strategies for driving business agility through an evolved organizational design.
In an interview with CIOApplications Europe, Checa shares his valuable insights into the challenges, strategies, and exciting technologies that are shaping the future of business in the spirits market.
What are some of the leading challenges faced by organizations in the industry today?
The industry is prone to the effects of recession and inflation as the economy is in the midst of a crisis. Maintaining competitive pricing becomes a significant challenge as the production cost escalates, especially with consumer packaged goods like spirit. This can have a negative impact on the company’s sales as they may not be able to translate the price of the commodities as the production cost rises. Organizations are diversifying portfolios, optimizing their internal processes, and seeking ways to improve their operating margin to combat this challenge.
How does digital transformation influence the business and interactions between the organization and its customers?
Digitalization can enhance business efficiency and reduce the need for a large crew. Leveraging digital tools is an excellent way to expand and grow the market. Initiatives like data distillery and digital factories positively impact customer interactions and sales.
Data distillery improves sales and marketing by developing better insights through data. Digital factories have accelerated the development of mobile apps and web portals, empowering customers to engage with brands on digital platforms. These technological developments have enabled organizations to increase and digitalize their customer interactions and sales.
Can you share some insights on the leading technologies and trends in the industry today?
For the last ten years, the focus has been on digital marketing through social media and other public platforms to establish a one-on-one relationship with the consumer. The main objective is to take advantage of these platforms to deliver personalized offerings tailored to the customer’s needs and preferences. But today, there is a shift in this trend, and much attention is given to new technologies like the Metaverse and generative AI. We believe that Metaverse and Web 3.0 will be promising platforms in the future, with the potential to bridge the gap between sellers and customers. The emergence of generative AI technologies has also massively impacted the industry. The capabilities of these technologies will empower the market with the necessary tools to be more productive and creative, eliminating the need for agency partners to market the products.
What was the effect of digital transformation at Bacardi?
A few years back, there was a growing demand from our customers to interact with us digitally. This necessitated us to bring forth a new corporate strategy to employ digital technologies in our processes. Introducing these strategies into our system has improved customer interaction and internal communication with our employees.
The emergence of generative AI technologies has also massively impacted the industry. The capabilities of these technologies will empower the market with the necessary tools to be more productive and creative, eliminating the need for agency partners to market the products
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs and professionals in the field?
Change management is the basis of digital transformation, whether it involves seasoned corporations or budding startups. While technology serves as an enabler, the real challenge lies in shifting the mindsets, behaviors, and processes of the people involved. Always embrace the opportunities to do things differently. It’s all about adapting to new ways of business and thinking in the constantly evolving landscape.
