20. Creating Digital Growth at International Consumer Goods Companies

Senior managers of international consumer goods companies face a perplexing dilemma. To increase the profit multiple, companies must have a convincing long-term growth story. For consumer goods companies, this story is increasingly rooted in digital transformation. Devised and executed in the right way, a digital growth strategy can combine an improved long-term strategic position with an increase in the profit base within an acceptable horizon of 2–3 years. The question is not if to transform but how. This Executive Briefing introduces a framework for the digital transformation of consumer goods companies in order to provide guidance to senior managers who are preparing to move down this path. The methodology is an inductive one, combining case studies of successful digital transformers and start-ups in consumer good industries with specific literature to lay out the basic success factors of digital growth.