This is the second in an ongoing series of blog posts that will introduce you to Strattam’s diverse portfolio of companies—including what they do and who they serve, their vision for doing business in today’s market, and their plans for innovation within their industries.
Meet the Portfolio: Blacksmith Applications
In May 2016, Strattam Capital completed a majority investment in Blacksmith Applications and partnered with Paul Wietecha, Founder and CEO, to aid the company in expanding its product suite to meet growing customer demand.
Business Overview:
With offices in Boston, Pittsburgh and Chicago, Blacksmith Applications is the industry’s leading trade spend management SaaS platform for the Consumer Package Goods industry, processing more than $10 billion in trade promotions each year.
Vision:
Blacksmith works to comprehensively meet the needs of customers through a cloud-based trade management ecosystem, in conjunction with unparalleled industry expertise. The company believes in bolstering its offerings through a customer-first approach and takes pride in the fact that its very first customer remains a customer to this day.
Products & Services:
- Trade Promotion Management (“TPM”)
This solution helps customers comprehensively plan, manage, and execute trade promotions across complex vendor networks and sales channels. The TPM platform enables transparency and visibility while helping to accurately validate settlements and claims following a promotion. - Trade Promotion Optimization (“TPO”)
Blacksmith’s user-friendly trade promotion optimization (TPO) solution automates data harmonization for real-time post-event analytics. Leveraging constraint-based modeling for optimized trade spend planning results, the platform typically delivers a 3-5% return on annual trade investment. - Advanced Analytics
Blacksmith’s Advanced Analytics dashboards translate raw trade spend data into visible, actionable guidance for business unit leaders. Insights range from customer performance metrics to ROI calculations and even into trade optimization decisions related to product, pricing, and timing. - Consulting & Outsourced Services
Blacksmith leverages deep industry expertise to help clients pinpoint valuable data trends, optimize their trade processes and strategies, and even outsource claim acquisition and validation.
Clients:
Blacksmith delivers technology for businesses of all sizes, creating innovative products that deliver trade transparency for CPG organizations. The company’s customer list includes premier CPG companies such as Tyson, Smucker’s, Conagra, Unilever, Impossible Foods and Welch’s, just to name a few. For a comprehensive client list, including case studies, visit the website.
New & Noteworthy:
Blacksmith’s growth in recent years has been enhanced through strategic acquisitions. In 2018, the company acquired GoSimple, a provider of a trade promotion management solution built primarily to serve small and mid-tier CPG manufacturing organizations. In 2019, Blacksmith acquired T-Pro Solutions and its state-of-the-art trade optimization application, which empowers customers to make more informed and profitable decisions related to in-store marketing investments. Through these deals, Blacksmith now manages more than $10 billion in annual promotional spend, while providing best-in-class, end-to-end trade promotion and optimization solutions that serve the needs of CPG companies of all sizes, across all channels.
Learn more:
Check out a quick 90-second intro video here, and visit the Blacksmith Applications website at www.blacksmithapplications.com.
