Consumer Goods Technology - August 2017 - 3

MANAGING DIRECTOR
AND PUBLISHER
Albert Guffanti
aguffanti@ensembleiq.com
EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief: Peter Breen
pbreen@ensembleiq.com
Editor: Alarice Rajagopal
arajagopal@ensembleiq.com
Contributing Editors:
Tim Binder, Jamie Grill-Goodman,
Nidhi Madhavan, Patrycja Malinowska,
Charlie Menchaca, Samantha Nelson

EVENTS
SVP, Events & Conferences: Maureen Macke
mmacke@ensembleiq.com
Director, Event Planning: Patricia Benkner
pbenkner@ensembleiq.com
Director, Event Content: John Hall
jhall@ensembleiq.com
MARKETING
VP, Marketing & Communications:
Bruce Hendrickson
bhendrickson@ensembleiq.com
MARKETING DIRECTOR: Kim Sterling
ksterling@ensembleiq.com
CIRCULATION
Director of Audience Development: Gail Reboletti
greboletti@ensembleiq.com
Audience Development Manager: Jeffrey Zabe
jzabe@ensembleiq.com
ONLINE MEDIA
Director Product Development: Jason Ward
jward@ensembleiq.com
Web Development Manager: Scott Ernst
sernst@ensembleiq.com
Online Project Manager: Whitney Ryerson
wryerson@ensembleiq.com
ART AND PRODUCTION
Corporate Director of Production: Kathryn Homenick
khomenick@ensembleiq.com
Creative Director: Colette Magliaro
cmagliaro@ensembleiq.com
Production Manager: Pat Wisser
pwisser@ensembleiq.com
Subscriptions: 978-671-0449
CORPORATE OFFICERS
Alan Glass
Executive Chairman
Rich Rivera
Chief Operating Officer
Jeff Greisch
Chief Brand Officer
Len Farrell
Chief Financial Officer
Korry Stagnito
Chief Business Development
Officer & President,
EnsembleIQ, Canada
Ned Bardic
President of Enterprise
Solutions/Chief Customer Officer
Joel Hughes
Chief Digital Officer
Greg Flores
Chief Human Resources Officer

CORPORATE OFFICE
4 Middlebury Blvd, Randolph, NJ 07869-1111
(973) 607-1300 * Fax (973) 607-1395
www.consumergoods.com

In 2014, my husband came home from work with an article he clipped out of The
Wall Street Journal titled, "Get Familiar with Big Data Now-or Face 'Permanent
Pink Slip.'" He showed it to me, I skimmed it (probably smiled and nodded), and
then moved on with the many other things I was most likely multi-tasking.
Later, when I went into his home oﬃce, I noticed the article hanging on the wall
in front of his desk. At this point, the term "big data" had hit the industry and spread like wildﬁre -
so much so that when I saw the article, I'm sure my eyes glazed over and I thought he was "geeking"
out like a tween, a teeny bopper or groupie (feel free to insert any word here, depending on the era
of your upbringing), putting up a poster of his or her favorite boy band or rock band.
Little did I know that he was onto something. That same year, CGT joined forces with sister brand
RIS News to launch the ﬁrst Retail & Consumer Goods Analytics Summit. The inaugural Summit went
well. By year two, attendance doubled. That same year (2015), I was covering the event and came
across Linda Burtch, one of the speakers on our roster.
I thought her name sounded familiar, but dismissed it. When I ﬁnally had the chance to meet her
in person, it dawned on me. Admittedly, it was my turn to geek out as I told her how her article was
hanging on the wall in my house, and how my husband and I were big
The most fans of her work. (Don't worry, I think I played it cool.)
Just a few short years later, as I was helping to compile the list
daunting of noteworthy executives for this month's "Who's Who in Data &
challenge is Analytics" feature, I couldn't help but wonder why I became so
"star struck" over an executive recruiter specializing in quantitative,
ﬁnding those analytic and marketing professionals?
Here's why: According to a Northeastern University article from
"unicorns":
2016, we produce the data equivalent of 90 years of HD video ...
executives who
EACH DAY. The most daunting challenge about this is ﬁnding those
can look at data, "unicorn" interpreters: the executives who can look at the data
see an insight (sometimes create a query here and there), see an insight to act
upon, and then be able to clearly explain it to upper management
and explain it to (who probably understand the business, but not the science and
management. technology being used to strategize).
That's what this August issue is all about. Not only do we present
a list of talented individuals who live and breathe data and analytics every day, but we also oﬀer a
variety of tools that can help their eﬀorts in our 2017 listing of "Data & Analytics Solutions," part of
our ongoing Technology Solutions Guide series.
And, even though this month's Straight Talk is focused on debunking myths surrounding supply
chain, it appropriately states two facts that our data and analytics experts can get behind: 1.
Delivering and synchronizing data can be streamlined with the right systems and processes in place,
and 2. One of the essential ingredients for success includes a C-level executive champion to align
the organization.
And so, to whatever you want to call them - executive champions, superstars or even unicorns
- I say keep on being the rock stars you are. We're your biggest fans!
Alarice Rajagopal, Editor

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

CONSUMERGOODS.COM | AUGUST 2017 | CGT

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SALES
Associate Brand Director: Diana Masurack Mann
dmann@ensembleiq.com
Director of Business Development: Mike Johnson
mjohnson@ensembleiq.com
Assistant to Brand Director: Jen Johnson
jjohnson@ensembleiq.com

Superstar Unicorns
Consumer Goods Technology - August 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Consumer Goods Technology - August 2017
