Kenneth Sobel

Background

About Kenneth Sobel

I jointly lead my company’s practice in forecasting the sales of new products, line extensions, and newly relaunched products. We work in many industry sectors, including healthcare (mostly pharmaceuticals and medical devices), consumer packaged goods,(CPG) or fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) including food, beverage, household products, personal care, pet care, and over-the-counter (OTC) remedies, services (e.g, telecommunications, financial services), consumer durables (e.g, small like kitchen appliances, moderate like consumer electronics, and major such as automobiles), beverage alcohol, and restaurant menu items (both quick serve and casual dining). Forecasts are based on client marketing plans and survey research among target customers. Rather than conduct the survey research ourselves, Top Box forms strategic alliances with marketing research companies, and uses data collected by our allies. We forecast new products launched in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Pacific Rim, developing markets (e.g, the “BRIC” countries), and selected other markets. I have been providing accurate forecasts for new products since the 1980s. I have worked on thousands of new product assignments, using advanced analytic approaches to provide solutions to the business problems my clients face as they plan and execute new product launches. Hundreds of forecasts I have performed have been rigorously validated. The average absolute difference between forecasts and actual in-market sales is about 9 percent. At Top Box Associates all forecasts are conducted by senior professionals who avoid the many pitfalls common when doing forecasting. Our alliance-approach means our clients benefit from the flexibility and efficiency inherent in unbundled forecasting – where the data collection and modeling are each handled by specialists. For more information, please email me at ken.sobel@topboxassociates.com [Common other search words: Soble, Sobol, Kenneth, Kenneth L, Ken, FYI] Specialties: Beverage alcohol Concept screening Concept testing Consumer packaged goods CPG Fast moving consumer goods FMCG Healthcare Marketing plan development and optimization Market opportunity sizing Market share forecasting Market share modeling Medical devices New product forecasting New product research NPD Pharmaceuticals Pricing Product testing Promotional plan development and optimization Sales modeling Simulated Test Marketing (STM) Test Market Simulation Volumetric forecasting