Free Webinar
The Role of RGM to Drive Change and Growth with Unilever
Launching RGM only works when you redesign who decides, who influences, and how evidence travels
Turning RGM Into a Decision Partner
Most RGM launches fail for a simple reason: the capability is “introduced” without changing the real decision system. The team builds smart analyses, but the power centres stay the same, the language stays incompatible, and the function becomes an optional service rather than a partner in commercial calls.
In this session, Sam Kane lays out a practical path for moving from zero to one without triggering organisational antibodies. The focus is not on a textbook RGM rollout, but on how to earn influence inside an established organisation by sequencing trust, translation, and early wins so the work starts to compound.
What You'll Learn
- How to diagnose the real power structure before you build RGM
Why mapping formal org charts is insufficient, and how observing meetings, approvals, and informal influence determines where RGM must earn trust to matter. - How category fluency becomes a credibility lever, not a nice to have
Why walking the aisle, using category specific language, and respecting existing norms is essential for RGM teams to be heard and not dismissed as abstract analysts. - Why insight sharing must come before recommendation making
How introducing RGM vocabulary and perspectives inside existing processes creates pull from the business, instead of resistance to “new” methodologies. - How to define the right first win without overreaching
Why successful RGM launches start with tightly scoped cases that are easy to land, even if the commercial upside is large, and how scope discipline builds influence faster than ambition. - How early champions become a scaling mechanism
How packaging initial test cases into a reusable translation layer allows RGM to spread organically across teams without constant evangelising.
Meet The Speaker
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Samantha CaineSenior Manager NRM at Unilever |
Before joining Unilever, Samantha was Senior Revenue Growth Manager at Hasbro. She holds an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School. With deep experience in pricing, PPA, and organizational change, she brings a practical perspective on what it takes to successfully launch and embed RGM in complex global environments.
Session Highlights
RGM adoption is an influence problem before it is an analytics problem. The first job is identifying the true power centres, including the informal ones, so you know where trust must be built. [03:40]
“Speak their language” means category fluency, not better slidecraft. Walking the aisle, using the team’s terminology, and embracing company lore removes friction and signals respect for how decisions are already made. [08:02]
If RGM is new, asking “how can we help?” is the wrong question. Instead, start with the other team’s goals and challenges, then translate where RGM can credibly support. [12:08]
Early wins should introduce vocabulary, not force recommendations. Embedding into an existing cadence and sharing insights first lets teams adopt the lens on their terms, creating pull rather than push. [14:59]
Champions are created when curiosity shows up in the room. The teams that start asking for recommendations become the bridge to the first live test cases and broader rollout. [16:15]
Scaling depends on a translation layer the organisation can reuse. Packaging test cases into a “cheat sheet” that maps business questions to RGM methods expands demand beyond the initial champions. [21:06]
Q&A
1) How did you identify who actually needed to be influenced to make RGM stick?
Sam describes learning both the formal and informal org by observing meetings: who speaks, who gets looked to for approvals, and who shapes the conversation. The goal is to find the real decision makers, not just the names on the org chart. [04:11]
2) What did you do first to build trust with the power centre, before pushing recommendations?
She focused on category immersion and communication: walking the aisle, understanding how the category is shopped, and adopting the team’s terminology. Trust came from showing that RGM would account for the nuances the category owners care about. [08:21]
3) When RGM is new, how do you find the right projects without people knowing what to ask for?
She avoided leading with “RGM capabilities” and instead ran coffee chats focused on what marketers were trying to achieve and where they were stuck. Only after patterns emerged did she overlay where RGM could support, so the work aligned to existing goals. [12:08]
4) What makes a “small win” the right starting point for an RGM launch?
Her view is that “small” is about focused scope, not necessarily small dollars. You can narrow by project size, by geography, or by audience, as long as it increases the probability of success and creates a story the organisation will repeat. [18:08]
5) How do you make RGM relevant in categories that do not have a traditional price per volume logic?
She explains that the team started with teaching the academic concept of price pack architecture, then adapted the mindset to the category using competitive indices and clean slate opportunities like new development. The point is to translate principles into a form the category can use. [19:09]
6) What are the practical differences between online and offline that matter for RGM strategy?
She contrasts the reactive, algorithm influenced nature of online with the timing and constraints of physical retail, including shelf resets and limited shelf space. The unifying requirement is to understand shopper occasions by channel and build a holistic architecture that respects those norms. [30:52]