Growth has stalled.

Revenue has plateaued. Marketing is working harder for less, distribution gains have slowed, and the explanations differ depending on who you ask.

Usually the constraint is a small number of things, and they are not the ones being argued about.

• More marketing spend is applied to a proposition problem.
• New products are launched into a range that is already too wide.
• Distribution is chased at the expense of rate of sale.
• Everyone works on the plan except the constraint.
• The business benchmarks itself against last year rather than the category.

• Where is growth actually coming from and stopping, by channel, customer and product?
• Is the constraint demand, distribution, product, price or capacity?
• How is the category moving, and how is the brand performing within it?
• What is the return on current marketing investment, honestly measured?
• What has the business stopped doing that used to work?

• Establish a single, agreed picture of performance from the underlying data.
• Identify the constraint and test it before rebuilding the plan around it.
• Rebuild the commercial plan by channel with clear ownership.
• Reallocate marketing investment towards what can be measured.
• Set an operating cadence that reviews performance rather than activity.