Written six years ago, the robust analytical groundwork makes this paper a good read today. Furthermore, many of the recommendations are mainstream strategic plays in present-day toolboxes.

After outlining realities and challenges and how that game has changed, the authors argue that CPG companies should quicky move beyond establishing a digital presence—a website, some digital advertising, a presence in social media—and fully integrate digital into their operating model, build a big-data analytical capability, pursue a multichannel (or omnichannel) strategy, or tailor their product offerings to the digital or e-commerce marketplace

Their recipe to Playing the New Game to Win:

• Develop an integrated strategy
• Build brand equity online
• Revisit category management across channels
• Partner with retailers
• Rethink supply chain configuration
• Test, learn, scale
• Build an adaptive organization
• Manage internal tensions

Retrospectively, a missing item in this top-level list is advanced Data Analytics.

The Digital Future: A Game Plan for Consumer Packaged Goods
Patrick Hadlock, Shankar Raja, Bob Black, Jeff Gell, Paul Gormley, Ben Sprecher, Krishnakumar (KK) S. Davey, and Jamil Satchu
Boston Consulting Group, 2014