Most CPG brands waste months and tens of thousands on AI tools that don't fit. The difference isn't the technology — it's the discipline of specifying exactly what you need before you buy or build anything. This is the framework behind every NWTN AI engagement.
Before we evaluate a single tool or write a line of code, we run every project through SCOPE. It's why our clients get the right solution on the first pass — not the third.
Map the current state before touching anything. What tools are already in place? What data sources exist? What manual processes are eating hours every week?
“The brand runs SPINS weekly through Excel, Vividly for TPM, and does deduction recovery manually via KeHE portal. No automation between systems. Brand manager spends 8 hrs/week on reporting.”
Every project has stakes. A $50K tool purchase is different from a quick automation. Context shapes every recommendation — budget, team size, timeline, what’s at risk.
“Q3 board meeting in 6 weeks. VP of Sales wants automated category decks. Current process takes the analyst 2 full days per retailer. Budget: under $15K.”
The most critical dimension. Be specific and measurable. If you can’t describe the deliverable to your team in one sentence, it’s not defined enough.
“Automated weekly SPINS dashboard: top 10 SKUs by velocity, distribution gaps by retailer, competitive share shifts — delivered to Slack every Monday by 9am. 8 hrs/week → 15 min review.”
Define the guardrails. What existing systems must it integrate with? What’s the team’s technical comfort? What should we explicitly NOT do?
“Must pull from existing SPINS portal login. Team isn’t technical — no code required to operate. Don’t replace Vividly, just connect to it. Output as Google Slides, not PowerPoint.”
The difference between a demo and a production tool. Think about the unhappy paths: missing data weeks, new SKU launches, retailer format changes, team turnover.
“What happens when SPINS data is late? When a new retailer is added? When the brand manager who uses it leaves? Build for the 80% case, document the edge cases.”
Real before/after comparisons from CPG brands. Vague requirements lead to wasted spend. SCOPE leads to solutions that stick.
“We need a better way to manage trade promotions.”
Vendor suggested a $200K platform. Wrong fit.
The brand runs 120+ promos/year across 8 retailers, managed in spreadsheets. Brand manager spends 6 hrs/week reconciling actuals vs. planned. Need: automated lift analysis per promo, ROI ranking dashboard, and alerts when a promo underperforms by >15%. Integrate with existing Vividly data. Team needs it by Q3 planning.
Custom dashboard in 4 weeks. $12K. 6 hrs → 30 min/week.
“We’re losing money on deductions and need help.”
Bought SupplyPike. Only covers Walmart. $180K still leaking.
KeHE and UNFI deductions total $340K/year. Currently the ops coordinator manually reviews each one in the distributor portal — about 15 hrs/week. Need: automated categorization (valid vs. disputable), prioritized dispute queue by dollar value, and auto-generated dispute letters with backup documentation. Must work with existing KeHE/UNFI portals.
Right tool for UNFI/KeHE. Recovered $127K in 90 days.
“Can we automate our SPINS reporting?”
Generic BI tool. Nobody used it after month 2.
Brand analyst builds a 15-slide deck every Monday from SPINS data: top SKUs by velocity, distribution changes, competitive share shifts, and promotional lift. Takes 2 full days. Need: automated weekly pull, formatted Google Slides output matching our brand template, delivered to #analytics Slack channel by 9am Monday. Edge cases: missing data weeks, new item launches.
Automated pipeline. 2 days → 15 min review. Team actually uses it.
Most brands default to buying everything or building everything. The highest-ROI path is strategic navigation — and that's where we live.
Buys every tool that demos well. Ends up with 6 platforms nobody uses.
Maps workflows first, evaluates tools against real needs, builds what doesn’t exist. Ships solutions that stick.
Hires a full AI/data team. 6 months to first deliverable. $300K+ burn.
We've seen these patterns across dozens of brands. Every one is avoidable with the right process.
Signing a $50K contract because the demo looked great — without mapping the actual workflow it needs to solve.
Map 3-5 workflows first. Then evaluate which tools actually fit.
“It’ll save us time” isn’t a business case. Without specific metrics, you can’t measure success or justify renewal.
Quantify the current cost: hours/week, error rate, dollars lost. Then measure against it.
The tool works great in isolation. But it doesn’t connect to your ERP, your distributor portals, or your existing reporting stack.
List every system it must integrate with. If the vendor can’t show a live integration, it’s a red flag.
The tool is deployed. Training was a 30-min webinar. Three months later, the team is back in Excel.
Plan for adoption: who champions it, what’s the first 30/60/90 day workflow, what triggers a check-in.
Enterprise tools sold to a $20M brand. The feature set is 80% irrelevant, the price is 3x too high, and the onboarding takes 4 months.
Match the tool to your stage. A $15M brand doesn’t need what a $500M brand needs.
Having the brand manager evaluate 15 AI vendors while also running the P&L. It doesn’t get done, or it gets done badly.
Bring in a navigator. Independent evaluation, faster timeline, no vendor bias.
We apply SCOPE to every engagement — from tech stack audits to custom builds. Book a 30-minute call and we'll SCOPE your biggest workflow pain point live, on the spot.
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