Real World Marketing

What Real World Marketing does

Real World Marketing Pty Ltd is an Australian FMCG consulting and training firm headquartered in Sydney with offices in Melbourne and Brisbane. Founded in 2006 by John McLoughlin, a former Coca-Cola senior executive and research/consulting veteran, the firm operates as a 12-person boutique practice built around a roster of director-level alumni from blue-chip consumer goods companies including Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Unilever, Diageo, General Mills, Campbell Arnotts, Mars, Wrigley, PepsiCo, and Bega, collectively representing 150+ years of FMCG experience.

The firm delivers its services through six core product lines: Business/Market Diagnostics, Category Development, Revenue Growth Management (RGM), Commercial Management (including Joint Business Planning), Organisation Design and Business Process, and Marketing and Innovation. These are wrapped around a proprietary Joint Value Creation methodology. There is no proprietary technology platform — the offering is entirely human-delivered consulting, training, and capability development. Training is anchored by the Australian Grocery Academy (AGA), a modular program run in partnership with the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC), supplemented by custom learning academies, coaching, mentoring, and e-learning.

The business model is professional services revenue, delivered via fixed-term projects, multi-year partnerships, and retainer arrangements with enterprise FMCG suppliers across Australia, New Zealand, and 20+ international markets spanning Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Go-to-market is sales-led enterprise consulting with no self-serve or SMB channel, complemented by recurring industry forums in partnership with Six Degrees Executive and Advantage Group benchmarking data integrated into diagnostic offerings.

Name

Real World Marketing

Legal name

Real World Marketing Pty Ltd

Website

https://realworldmarketing.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Real World Marketing is a Sydney-based boutique FMCG consulting and training firm serving enterprise consumer goods suppliers across Australia/NZ and 20+ international markets, delivering category strategy, revenue growth management, and capability development through a senior practitioner team.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Consultative Selling & Discovery (EDABABAC)

Keywords

• FMCG consulting services
• Category management consulting
• Revenue growth management
• Joint business planning
• Capability development training

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Expert consulting engagements delivered as facilitated consulting, outsourced consulting, hybrid consulting, or advisory. Engagements include fixed term projects, multi-year partnerships, and retainer arrangements.
2. Training & Capability Development: Training programs including Australian Grocery Academy (open house and in-house sessions), custom learning academies, coaching & mentoring, and e-learning programs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Real World Marketing is a consulting and training specialist dedicated to helping FMCG and consumer goods suppliers unlock growth, build capability, and future-proof their businesses. Its core offering is a suite of professional services organized around six practice areas: Business/Market Diagnostics, Category Development, Revenue Growth Management, Commercial Management, Organisation Design & Business Process, and Marketing & Innovation, delivered through consulting engagements, training programs, and the Australian Grocery Academy.

Product overview

Real World Marketing is a consulting and training specialist offering FMCG consultancy services across Australia and NZ. The company operates as a unified platform of integrated consulting services rather than a software product, delivering solutions through consulting engagements, training programs, and capability development. The product portfolio is organized into six core service areas: Business/Market Diagnostics (including Business Capability Assessment and Market DNA Assessment), Category Development (including Category Growth Strategy and Store of the Future), Revenue Growth Management (including Occasion Pack Price Architecture and Promotional Optimisation), Commercial Management (including Joint Business Planning and Customer Engagement), Organisation Design & Business Process, and Marketing & Innovation. Additionally, the company offers the Australian Grocery Academy (AGA) training program in partnership with the Australian Food & Grocery Council. All services are delivered through modular, client-led engagements that can be configured as consulting, training, or hybrid delivery models.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Business/Market Diagnostics Diagnostic solutions that assess business performance, market position, and capability gaps through business capability assessment, skills/competencies assessment, and market/category DNA situation assessment. Targeted at FMCG suppliers seeking to identify performance gaps.
• Category Development Strategic category planning solutions that help suppliers and retailers grow categories through category growth strategy, store of the future design, perfect store execution, shopper marketing, and range review support. Targeted at FMCG suppliers and retail partners.
• Revenue Growth Management Comprehensive RGM solutions including occasion pack price architecture, portfolio pricing, mix optimisation, promotional optimisation, trade spend optimisation, and dashboard/reporting tools. Targeted at FMCG suppliers seeking pricing and revenue optimisation.
• Commercial Management Customer collaboration and commercial partnership solutions covering joint business planning, customer engagement planning, end-to-end value chain mining, channel strategy, route to market, negotiation support, and field optimisation. Targeted at FMCG suppliers and retailers.
• Organisation Design & Business Process Organisational capability building solutions including strategic process design, structure and headcount planning, cross-functional roles and responsibilities clarification, and functional strategy development. Targeted at FMCG suppliers undertaking organisational transformation.
• Marketing & Innovation Commercial marketing and innovation solutions covering portfolio strategy, innovation strategy, brand positioning, and brand strategy and activation to build brand mental and physical availability. Targeted at FMCG suppliers seeking growth through brand and innovation.
• Training & Capability Development Capability building programs including custom learning academies, coaching and mentoring, strategy/process rollouts, eLearning programs, and competency frameworks. Targeted at FMCG teams needing structured capability uplift.
• Australian Grocery Academy (AGA) Modular training sessions in industry topics including category strategy, e-commerce, revenue growth management, and joint business planning, delivered in partnership with the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC). Open House sessions run twice a year in Sydney and Melbourne, with in-house sessions available for groups of 10+.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clients have retained their first ever client and continue to expand list of blue chip brands
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with AFGC for the Australian Grocery Academy (AGA) training program. AGA provides modular training sessions in industry relevant topics like category strategy, e-commerce, revenue growth management and joint business planning. Open House sessions run twice a year in Sydney and Melbourne, with in-house sessions available for groups of 10+.
• Six Degrees ExecutivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for industry forums: Sales & HR Directors Forums (tri-annually), Marketing Forums (quarterly), and Category Development Forums (quarterly). Forums provide thought leadership and networking opportunities for FMCG industry professionals.
• Advantage Group InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferenced for business capability benchmarking. Real World uses Advantage Group data to overlay external perceptions for Business Capability Assessment diagnostics.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Partnering Group: The Partnering Group is a management consulting firm specializing in retailer-supplier collaboration, joint business planning, and category management — closely aligned with RWM's Joint Value Creation philosophy and FMCG supplier focus.
• Clarkston Consulting: Clarkston Consulting is a boutique consumer goods consultancy serving FMCG manufacturers with category management, RGM, and commercial strategy — directly comparable in positioning and offering to RWM.
• Advantage Group International: Advantage Group International is the supplier-retailer perception benchmarking firm whose global CEO is RWM's founder. RWM embeds Advantage Group data into its diagnostics and AFGC forums, making it the most closely aligned peer in methodology and relationship.
• Velocity Partners: Velocity Partners is a shopper marketing and category management consultancy serving CPG manufacturers with strategy and execution support — a direct niche competitor to RWM's commercial management and JBP offerings.

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ: NielsenIQ is a global measurement and data analytics firm serving FMCG manufacturers and retailers with category insights, shopper analytics, and advisory services — overlapping RWM's category strategy and joint business planning work.
• McKinsey & Company (Consumer Goods Practice): McKinsey's Consumer Goods practice serves the same multinational FMCG clients with category strategy, RGM, and capability building, operating at global scale across the same geographies RWM covers.
• Circana (formerly IRI): Circana provides consumer goods analytics and consulting, including category management and revenue growth management — directly overlapping RWM's core offerings but at global scale with proprietary data assets.
• Bain & Company (Consumer Products Practice): Bain's Consumer Products practice offers category strategy, customer strategy, and RGM advisory to FMCG manufacturers — many of the same blue-chip clients RWM serves.
• Oliver Wyman (Retail & Consumer Goods): Oliver Wyman's Retail and Consumer Goods practice delivers commercial strategy, pricing, and category advisory to FMCG suppliers and retailers, overlapping RWM's JBP and RGM offerings at greater scale.
• Kantar: Kantar is a global FMCG insights and consulting powerhouse serving similar consumer goods clients with category, shopper, and brand strategy. It operates at a vastly larger scale than RWM, but competes for the same strategic mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/realworldmarketing

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Real World Marketing