This is the fifth of seven chapters in our 2025 CPG Marketing at the Algorithmic Crossroads content series designed to build a comprehensive playbook to win at CPG marketing in the new, third marketing era: the Algorithmic Era. You can find the four previously released chapters in the CPG Content Hub.
This Consideration #4 stresses the importance of creative, sometimes unorthodox, yet always disciplined planning.
To win in the Algorithmic Era, brands must create experience algorithms by uniting two disciplines: communication planning and content planning. It’s an era when all factors that might impact the brand are assessed, where differentiation depends on the optimal mix of touchpoints along the consumer journey, and where AI and PI (people intelligence) bring critical capabilities to the mix.
In this report we lay out ways CPG brands can reframe their planning:
- There is no longer one-size-fits-all planning. This opens up a huge opportunity to derive your own unique approach for your brand.
- AI and PI are a powerful duo. AI promises almost limitless possibilities and PI adds the human touch with strategic, nuanced and empathetic thinking.
- Successful communication and content planning requires close agency and platform partnerships. Partners bring creative, strategic, and algorithmic capabilities that maximize brand opportunities.
The rise of the Algorithmic Era is not going to change. It’s up to us to keep pace as we shift to algorithmic planning.
