Joint Business Planning: Turning Insights Into Commercial Plan
Year
Company
Blistex
Project Type
Brand Strategy
What I built
For Blistex, I designed a tiered portfolio architecture where each product has a distinct mechanism, occasion, and price point - eliminating internal cannibalization and creating a clear ladder from the mass tier into the higher-growth segments identified in my market analysis.
For Stridex, the opportunity sat in operations. I built a shipment performance analysis that mapped demand peaks against replenishment timing and quantified exactly what tighter synchronization was worth. That analysis turned a vague “we need better supply” conversation into specific, measurable operational commitments from both sides.
The biggest structural problem was China’s product registration timeline: 18+ months before a new product can reach traditional retail. I designed a channel framework that gave every product a clear role, so proven products scale where the brand is strongest and new launches earn their investment with real consumer data first.
The unlock
Data earns trust. Structure earns alignment. I led every recommendation with market evidence, so our partner was looking at the same reality we were. Then I structured every priority as a two-way commitment: “HQ provides X, distributor delivers Y.” That shifted the dynamic from top-down mandate to mutual accountability. Both sides saw themselves in the plan. That’s what moved it from presentation to adoption.
What changed
The framework was adopted. An innovation pipeline with clear channel roles was agreed upon. A new agency was onboarded and briefed on the market intelligence I built. A quarterly review cadence was established on a shared data baseline. And operational commitments were formalized for both sides, with specific metrics attached.
The same framework is now being adapted for other international markets. Same structure, different data, same principle: give people a structure they can decide inside of.
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