SITUATION

• A leading global beauty company initiated a commercial planning transformation in India to align local operations with global best practices and strengthen overall business steering.

• The organization operated across multiple divisions, creating complexity in forecast alignment, promotion and launch planning, and cross-functional coordination.

• Forecast performance showed variability across baseline, promotional activities, and product launches, reducing visibility and limiting proactive decision-making.

• There was insufficient convergence between customer-driven commercial forecasts and product-driven demand plans, particularly around launch sizing and promotional pipe-in.

• Planning cycles were resource-intensive, with unclear roles and responsibilities, inconsistent post-event analysis for promotions and launches, and heavy administrative workload.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

• Improve the end-to-end business planning process to improve forecasting reliability across baseline, promotions, and launches.

• Strengthen cross-functional collaboration between Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance through clearer governance and accountability.

• Improve forecast accuracy and service levels by introducing a structured monthly convergence between commercial planning and demand planning.

• Embed rigorous promotion and launch management, including structured pre-alignment and post-event performance tracking.

• Implement a standardized and scalable planning framework aligned with global guidelines while tailored to local market dynamics.

WHAT WAS DONE

• Conducted a comprehensive diagnostic phase, including stakeholder interviews and process mapping, to assess gaps in baseline, promotional, and launch planning.

• Facilitated cross-functional workshops to redesign planning flows, clarify decision rights, and improve coordination around promotions and product launches.

• Formalised RACI matrices to ensure accountability across forecasting, promotion planning, launch pipe-in, and performance tracking.

• Standardised the monthly planning cycle, ensuring structured convergence between commercial forecasts and demand plans, with explicit integration of promotional and launch assumptions.

• Introduced clear governance for promotion and launch evaluation, embedding systematic post-event analysis to strengthen future planning quality.

RESULTS DELIVERED

• Improved forecast governance and alignment, enabling earlier identification of risks and opportunities related to baseline, promotions, and launches.

• Strengthened multifunctional collaboration, with clearer ownership of promotional investments and launch performance.

• Enhanced business steering capability, providing leadership with a more realistic and forward-looking view of commercial drivers.

• Increased focus on value-added planning activities, reducing administrative burden and improving efficiency.

• Established a sustainable operating model supporting stronger profitability, service levels, and launch execution discipline.