CPG Insiders
By Mark Young, Justin Girouard
CPG Insiders brings the insights and expertise that Jekyll & Hyde has gained and leveraged across more than two decades in the advertising business, becoming the top agency in the country for CPG challenger brands. On the podcast, host Mark Young (agency CEO and Chairman), along with co-host Justin Girouard (Vice President), answer the questions that our clients most often ask about creating better marketing campaigns. They offer useful perspectives and insider information on creative and media strategies, product packing, retailer needs, trends, traps to avoid and more about what it truly takes to succeed at retail.
18 episodes
All Episodes
How Retailers Replace CPG Brands With Private Label Alternatives
Retailers are done waiting for brands to prove their worth. Instead, they are cutting them out of the supply chain entirely. Stop thinking like a manufacturer and start building the genuine emotional loyalty you need to survive.
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Building Brand Loyalty to Counter Retailer Private Labels
Retailers are swapping out established products for their own store brands to increase their profit margins. To stay competitive, CPG companies need to stop operating strictly as manufacturers and instead build the kind of deep emotional loyalty that keeps shoppers coming back to their specific brands.
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Scaling Retail Growth Through Forward-Looking Cash Modeling
Scaling into major retail often triggers a hidden cash flow crisis that kills growing brands. Replace reactive accounting with forward looking cash modeling to survive rapid expansion and identify which products actually drive your company profitability.
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Maximizing Exit Value by Selling Growth Instead of Burnout
Selling your company while you are burned out will result in a lower valuation. To maximize your exit, treat your business as a future asset, keep growth momentum high, and build an autonomous team years before you intend to sell.
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Managing Retail Working Capital to Avoid Debt Traps
When CPG brands land a major retail purchase order, they often face a systemic collapse. You can avoid this debt trap by moving away from reactive, high-interest borrowing toward proactive, relationship-based capital management.
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Replacing Legacy Scale With AI--Native Operational Agility
Legacy scale no longer gives CPG brands a competitive edge. By swapping manual compliance reviews for AI-native workflows, challenger brands can move faster than incumbents and lead in the new era of AI-driven consumer discovery.
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The Future Belongs to the Curious, Not the Certain
Certainty is the new risk. In an AI-driven world, the real advantage isn't skill--it's curiosity. The future rewards not those who execute fastest, but those who question loudest and rethink everything.
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Packaging: CPG Brand Perception and Retail Success Driver
Packaging is a strategic weapon, not just containment. Brands treating it as an asset unlock competitive advantages, while others face damage, inefficiency, and missed growth.
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Retail Entry's Hidden Costs--Beyond Shelf Placement
Getting on the shelf is just the start. Discover the hidden operational and financial complexities that sink most new CPG brands, and learn to navigate them for sustained retail success.
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The Entrepreneur's Paradox: Building a Prison in Pursuit of Freedom
Entrepreneurs often build a prison in pursuit of freedom, becoming indispensable to their own creation. Discover how to break free and find purpose beyond your business.
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CPG Brand Success: Embrace Reality Over Optimism
95% of new CPG products fail annually. Discover the counter-intuitive "laws of physics" that separate enduring brands from the 95% that perish.
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Retail Reality, Category Creation, and Profit Drive CPG Growth
Discover how 80% of purchases happen in physical retail, challenging e-commerce-first thinking. Gain a strategic framework for profitability and market positioning that drives exponential brand growth and acquisition value.
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CPG Scaling: Fractional Expertise Over Full-Time Hires for Cash Flow
Scaling CPG brands requires hiring strategic "whos," not just operational "hows." Leverage fractional executives to secure top talent without crippling cash flow, ensuring sustainable growth beyond initial sales.
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Mastering DTC Spend Through Scalable Economics
DTC brands scale by embracing variable, data-driven spending, investing aggressively when profitable CPA and LTV math supports it, not by adhering to rigid, pre-set budgets.
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Patience and Negative Cash Conversion Cycle Fuel Sustainable CPG Growth
Master the cash conversion cycle to fund growth with customer payments, not external capital. Build a self-sustaining, profitable CPG brand with ultimate control.
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Concentrate Ad Spend for Optimal Frequency and Campaign Success
Underinvesting in ad campaigns costs more than overspending. Achieve 6-8 impressions for impact by concentrating spend and prioritizing creative quality.
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Mitigating Seasonal Retail Risk Through Proactive Planning
Seasonal retail's allure hides margin erosion; brands must meticulously plan for discounts and manage retailer-shifted inventory risk to avoid financial hits.
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Primal Intelligence: Intuition for Innovation Over AI Optimization
Human intuition, not AI, drives innovation by spotting exceptions and anomalies. Embrace this primal intelligence to adapt faster, outmaneuver competitors, and create novel futures.
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