By Billee Howard,Senior Contributor

Copyright forbes

In today’s environment every organization must lead with the end user in mind. While many if not all organziations say they do this, they often miss the mark, not by the inch, but by the mile. Simply put, what this means is we can no longer build things and then figure out clever marketing strategies to get consumers to want them. We must understand what the consumer wants and then deliver it to them in ways that they value. Doing anything else is a recipe for disaster as this mantra is no longer an option, it is a strategic imperative, just as is tying marketing directly to improved business performance.

ALEN’s Tanu Grewal On Leveraging CMO As Voice Of The Consumer To Drive Innovation, Differentiation + Improved Business Outcomes
Billee Howard

As a result of all of this, one of the top conversations taking place at the highest levels of the C-Suite is how to reimagine voice of the consumer in ways that cut across the entire marketing function. This throughline should range from GTM strategy, to product innnovation, to brand storytelling. With that all in mind, I wanted to speak to someone who is a world class marketing leader within the CPG space who has always thought of herself as the voice of the consumer in any role she has played. Tanu Grewal is VP of Marketing, Innovation and Ecommerce at ALEN USA, a company dedicated to innovating sustainable and award-winning cleaning and laundry products for the home. She is an industry veteran having led marketing at top organizations such as Kohler, Whirlpool and Maytag. Following is a recap of our conversation:

Billee Howard: The marketing leadership role has changed significantly over the last several years requiring an ability to drive a continuous consumer feedback loop that allows the CMO to act as the true voice of the consumer. This thinking has always been fundamental to CPG but is now being more widely adopted. As a veteran of this school of thought can you share best practices here?

Tanu Grewal: In CPG, the consumer feedback loop has always been part of our DNA. We rely on real-time consumption data, in-home insights, and controlled test markets to ensure products fit seamlessly into people’s lives. Today, that same rigor is being adopted more broadly, layering in digital listening and first-party engagement to create an always-on consumer voice. At ALEN USA, that also means bringing forward the voice of the multicultural consumer—a hugely valuable yet often underrepresented segment—and making sure every business decision is stress-tested against what all consumers need and value.

Howard: You and I discussed old versus new definitions of a “value consumer.” I stated I think everyone in today’s environment is a value consumer as value no longer is only centered on price. What are your thoughts?

Grewal: Value today is no longer just about price. It’s about the balance of quality, performance, and emotional relevance a brand delivers. Tariff pressures and economic uncertainty have made consumers more discerning, but not necessarily more price driven. Today’s value consumer is everyone. At ALEN USA, that means ensuring our products deliver exceptional performance while reflecting the needs and identities of multicultural households because true value is both functional and cultural.

Howard: With that thinking in mind private label brands have exploded over the last few years, as loyalty wanes for some of the best-known brands in the world. As most categories are commoditized by price point what can brands do to instigate renewed loyalty, trust and ultimately overall engagement?

Grewal: Price parity has commoditized many categories, but loyalty is built on more than transactions. It’s built on trust, differentiation, and emotional resonance. To instigate renewed loyalty, brands must double down on three things: first, deliver superior performance that consumers can immediately feel; second, create a distinctive brand purpose that goes beyond function and reflects consumer values; and third, engage continuously through meaningful touchpoints, not just campaigns.

At ALEN USA, we are doing this by deeply understanding the needs of the multicultural consumer, an often overlooked but hugely influential segment. We translate that insight into products and experiences that feel personal and relevant, whether it’s delivering exceptional performance in the home or creating meaningful content like our Ensueno abuela tag reader, which connects with families on both a cultural and emotional level. For us, loyalty is built when consumers feel not just served but seen.

Howard: Innovation and consumer centricity are so ubiquitous they have often come to mean nothing. You shared some compelling thoughts on how the two ideas should exist in symbiosis and gave a great example related to some fantastic innovation work ALEN has done with fragrances. Can you share more about the process and the success of the outcomes?

Grewal: You’re right, terms like innovation and consumer centricity get used so often they risk becoming buzzwords. At ALEN, we keep them meaningful by making them inseparable. A great example is our work with fragrance. We knew from listening closely to multicultural consumers that scent wasn’t just about freshness, it was about memory, culture, and a true sense of home.

That insight led us to strategically invest in building a deep competency in fragrance, an area often overlooked in cleaning and laundry. With that expertise, we transformed Ensueno from a small regional brand into a nationally distributed brand by creating fragrances that felt personal, culturally relevant, and emotionally resonant. Out of the same competency, we launched Pinalen Luxury Scents, inspired by the consumer’s desire for elevated experiences in cleaning. By bringing scents crafted by master perfumers into the category, we made cleaning not just functional but enjoyable. The outcome has been powerful: innovation rooted in consumer centricity that delivers both superior performance and emotional connection, building loyalty and growth in categories often thought to be commoditized.

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