Open House Guest Speakers

With over 25 years of experience leading teams to build partnerships between retailers and suppliers, Steve has a wealth of knowledge on successful business-to-business collaboration. Now more than 6 years into his role at the wheel of Advantage in Australia, Steve is a passionate advocate of the benefits of adopting a collaborative approach with FMCG trading partners; he emphasises that engagement done well drives performance, and that collaboration trumps negotiation for sustainable growth.

Initially specialising in Sales roles, Ilena seized an opportunity to broaden her experience, leading a team of Category specialists to develop a five year Strategic Category Growth Plan, whilst at her former organisation, Lactalis. Harnessing internal cross-functional expertise, and engaging customers along the way, the team have already delivered exceptional results and helped to shape NPD that truly shifts consumption in the category.

Ilena is passionate about putting consumers at the heart of what we do in FMCG, and enjoys getting into the detail to understand shopper and consumer opportunities. She is keenly watching emerging trends in the Australian retail landscape as online shopping continues to grow and retailer strategies focus on price trust, range simplification and macro space adjustments instore.

Now returning to her sales origins in a new organisation and category, Ilena is a strong advocate and champion of close connection between sales and category teams; developing and embedding category plans together with her customer, ensuring cohesion all the way through to JBP/JCP.

Cross-functional and strategic experience in Category development, Analytics consulting and Revenue Growth Management have prepared Melinda for her current role, leading Category, Revenue Growth Management and Demand functions.

Mel believes Revenue Growth Management is truly at the centre of a business’ success: When it’s going well, customer relationships are productive, profitability is positive and there is a clear roadmap to continuous improvement.

20+ years of experience in Sales, Category & Revenue Management for blue-chip FMCG organisations including Mondelez, Kraft and Campbell Arnott’s led David to his current role, developing the tools and processes used by the Real World team to help FMCG suppliers of all shapes and sizes to harness RGM levers for joint value creation.

David believes RGM is a discipline that can have incredible impact for organisations, fuelling profitable growth in a competitive market where price remains under pressure from Consumers, Retailers & external forces. He observes that RGM has come a long way in FMCG, but that he has yet to discover an organisation without further opportunities.

Starting-out his FMCG career working in stores, Matt joined Asahi on a classic sales pathway through territory management into account management. Recognising an emerging opportunity, he began building his knowledge and expertise, developing the eCommerce channel for Asahi’s non-alcohol portfolio. Today, he manages a successful Amazon business alongside thriving omnichannel grocery and partnerships with 3rd Party aggregators, like Uber Eats. Matt reflects that it has been a massive journey with a lot of learning along the way – which he is looking forward to sharing with our audience.

Matt is passionate about eCommerce because it is fast-moving, data-driven and shapes how consumers discover and connect with brands. More than a sales channel, he believes it is a growth engine offering endless opportunities to innovate, personalise and adapt. “In eGrocery, you can’t measure ROI the same way as in bricks and mortar,” he says. “Beyond sales uplift, it is also about visibility, data capture and long-term shopper loyalty that compounds over time.”

No stranger to leading sales teams, Brent has held Head of Sales roles across multiple different channels. He believes that the way to build trust with your customers is to make their needs your priority, genuinely listening and responding proactively; being clear on what you can do, and also what you can’t. Consistency, reliability and transparency build partnerships.

Brent is passionate about Joint Business Planning because truly understanding and aligning retailer and supplier strategies enables accelerated mutual growth. When you plan longer-term together, brand and category initiatives better connect with shoppers, and through effective customer wiring, mutual value can be realised end-to-end across the full value chain.