Chaser a business audit of 232 SKUs and a new product architecture for a category leader

In brief

Chaser leads its FMCG category in Ukraine: seven years on the market and a portfolio of 80+ active items. Over that time the range grew faster than the rules meant to govern it. New lines and limited editions launched one after another and started competing with each other.

Chaser brought us in to transform its business and marketing. One principle guided the work: you change a market leader on sales data and the voice of the field, never on gut feeling.

We completed the first stage in full, an audit of 232 SKUs over 26 months plus in-depth interviews with Chaser’s top management and partner store sellers, and began the second: a new product architecture. At that point Chaser paused the project to rebuild the company from within. Most figures and decisions are confidential, so we show the depth of the work and keep the answers private.

Scale

Chaser’s sales data and the voice of people who see the buyer every day

232: unique SKUs audited
26: months of sales data
4.5+ hrs: of in-depth interviews with Chaser’s top management and partner store sellers
≈1,400: points of sale in scope

Project logic

Four stages and an honest stopping point

Stage 12–3 weeks

100%

Analytics and portfolio audit

An audit of every Chaser SKU across seven dimensions, an action priority for each, and in-depth interviews with the company’s top management and partner store sellers.

Stage 2in progress

≈25–30%

Product architecture

Strategy sessions, a line allocation canvas, positioning hypotheses, portfolio tiers and the rules for managing them.

Stop point

Here Chaser paused the project and started rebuilding from within

The audit showed the issue ran deeper than packaging. Before changing the design, Chaser took on its own structure, based on our findings.

Stage 3not started

Visual identity and packaging

A redesign of the lines built on the new architecture.

Stage 4not started

Brand book and guidelines

A system that lets the team run the portfolio and communication on its own.

Depth

Seven levels, from the market to the conversation at the shelf

We looked at Chaser through a business lens as much as a marketing one. Each level is a separate layer of the business with its own data, methods and findings. Specifics are redacted: they stay with Chaser.

BusinessMarketing

Level 01 / 07Marketing

Market

What we examined: Four key competitors: where the leader wins and where it loses
How: Field interviews, shelf review
What we found: Buyers value consistency and breadth of choice, yet switch to a competitor because of .

Level 02 / 07Marketing

Brand

What we examined: How buyers, sellers and Chaser’s own team read the brand
How: In-depth interviews with top management and partner sellers, 4.5+ hours
What we found: The lines exist in the portfolio and are absent from the buyer’s mind. Buyers tell flavors and brands apart, and almost never lines.

Level 03 / 07Business + marketing

Lines

What we examined: Nine lines: roles, overlaps, conflicts
How: Line canvas, cannibalization analysis
What we found: Four conflicts inside the portfolio: ↔ , ↔ and . Two of them were named by every interviewee, from top management to sellers.

Level 04 / 07Business

SKU

What we examined: 232 items over 26 months of sales
How: ABC, XYZ, margin, life-cycle stage, trend, repeat orders
What we found: Every SKU got a diagnosis and an action priority, from “protect in the rebrand” to “phase out”.

Level 05 / 07Business

Money

What we examined: Shelf price, partner purchase price, discounts, margin
How: Price map of the lines, margin by class
What we found: The pricing logic of the lines : .

Level 06 / 07Business

Channel

What we examined: Chains and independent stores, five regional zones, 300+ B2B partners
How: Partner orders, voice of merchandisers
What we found: Where the brand is strong and where it’s weak, and which in-store tools fail to work: .

Level 07 / 07Marketing

Shelf

What we examined: How the purchase decision is actually made
How: Scenarios reconstructed from the voice of sellers
What we found: Four purchase scenarios and switching triggers. The seller is the key link between product and buyer.

Stage 1

158 SKUs × 7 dimensions: every item got a diagnosis

Each dot is a real Chaser SKU from the stable pool, with name and line hidden. Switch lenses: the items regroup for each dimension of the analysis.

A82
Core: together they bring 80% of revenue
B41
The next 15%
C35
Long tail: the last 5%

X52
Stable: production can be planned
Y52
Fluctuating: needs attention
Z54
Erratic: season, partner or a problem

M+53
Top third
M53
Middle
M−52
Bottom third

P112
Critical: decide now
P232
Strategic: core to protect or review
P39
Quick wins with zero investment
P419
Review: find the cause of decline
P574
Monitor: no action needed
P612
Technical tail: being phased out

ACore: together they bring 80% of revenue
BThe next 15%
CLong tail: the last 5%

XStable: production can be planned
YFluctuating: needs attention
ZErratic: season, partner or a problem

M+Top third
MMiddle
M−Bottom third

P1Critical: decide now
P2Strategic: core to protect or review
P3Quick wins with zero investment
P4Review: find the cause of decline
P5Monitor: no action needed
P6Technical tail: being phased out

Insight

56% SKU → 80% of revenue

The portfolio is flat, with no pyramid

By Pareto, 20% of items bring 80% of revenue. Here it takes more than half. So a rebrand can’t lean on one or two hits: recognition has to hold across 20–30 SKUs at once.

Stage 2

From chaotic expansion to four tiers with rules

Each tier has its own role on the shelf and its own SKU life rules. Line names and revenue shares are confidential.

Axes of differentiation

01Flavor logic
02Intensity
03Price
04Role on the shelf
05Visual code

A line must differ from its neighbor on at least two axes. Otherwise the buyer sees a duplicate.

CorePermanent shelf

The main turnover and brand recognition. Never leaves the shelf; refreshed only through Limited.

4 lines · names under NDA
SpecialNiche demand

Novelty, form factor, cultural code. Separate positioning and communication.

1 line · names under NDA
LimitedShelf test · 3 mo

Seasonal and themed series. The best flavors graduate to Core against set criteria.

3 series types · names under NDA
PartnerSeparate track

Partner lines stay apart from the main brand on the shelf.

3 lines · names under NDA

SKU life cycle

01Idea
02R&D test
03Limited · 3 mo
04Analysis
05Core or archive

Into Core

Revenue share threshold in months 2 and 3
Margin at or above the portfolio average
No duplicate in the line’s flavor cluster
Positive feedback from the field

Out of Core

C-class and decline two quarters in a row
Duplicates a stronger SKU
Margin below threshold with no strategic role

Architecture test

If a seller can’t explain the difference in two minutes, we redo it

The best architecture is worthless if it can’t be explained at the shelf. So we wrote a seller script for it and made that script the main test.

0:00/ 2:00

0:00 — 0:20

Ask

Three questions instead of listing every flavor

“What are you having today?”
“Single flavor or a mix?”
“Want it with a chill?”

0:20 — 0:50

Guide

Each answer leads to one line

Single flavor →
Mix →
“The best” →
Chill →
Something new →

0:50 — 1:30

Let them compare

Two options from one line, maximum

Name the line’s message
Let them compare two flavors

1:30 — 2:00

Close

Confirm the choice and offer a tweak

Flavor code from the map
Booster, if they want one

What the seller never says

~~“It’s the same as the other line”~~
~~“The only difference is the strength”~~
~~“Just take whatever’s there”~~

Hypotheses

Seven strategic hypotheses, each backed by numbers and the voice of the market

We show the anatomy of the hypotheses; the content stays with Chaser. Click a folder to see what each one is made of.

7
hypotheses for the new architecture
6 sections in each · contents stay with the client

Result

Chaser got a portfolio management tool and a decision that changed the company.

Money under control. Each of the 232 SKUs got a diagnosis and an action priority: what to protect, what to review, what to phase out. It’s now clear which items carry revenue and margin, and which only take up shelf space, production capacity and warehouse room.

Launches that add revenue. We showed where lines take sales from each other and delivered an architecture framework with tiers and SKU life rules, so every new launch brings in a new buyer.

Selling at the shelf. The “a seller explains it in two minutes” test and the conversation script turn the architecture into the language partner stores use to sell Chaser.

The most important part came after: the audit findings showed the issue ran deeper than packaging, and Chaser launched an internal restructuring and optimization. Business decisions are now made on data.

What we’ll do for you

Strategy that starts with numbers

For when the portfolio has grown and the rules haven’t. We’ll break the business down level by level, from margin to shelf, and deliver an architecture that both the owner and the seller understand.

Discuss strategy Direction: Transformation

01 Portfolio audit ABC/XYZ, margin, life cycle, priorities.
02 Voice of the field In-depth interviews with sellers and the team.
03 Architecture Tiers, line roles and operating rules.

Team

Agency: DOGMA
Client: Chaser