Defining a global value proposition to maintain market leadership

The Challenge

Built on over 200 years of heritage, Givaudan had established themselves as a leader in a significant and growing flavour category. 

Against a backdrop of increasing category complexity - spanning supply chain volatility, heightened competitive intensity, and shifting customer expectations - Givaudan recognised an opportunity to define a cohesive, global value proposition. Anchored in a deeper understanding of customer needs, this would strengthen and sustain their leadership position over time.

It was essential that the resulting value proposition resonated at every level of the organisation:

• Globally they wanted alignment behind a powerful, compelling value proposition
• Markets & Regions required consistent messaging and materials

• Sales Teams needed to be equipped with the tools to articulate their unique value to customers

  The Givaudan leadership team chose to partner with Cognosis to gain an external perspective that would strengthen their strategic view. They were drawn to our proven value proposition development process, recognised for its strategic rigour and deep customer insight. Together, we set out with two clear priorities:  To sharpen Givaudan’s competitive positioning by understanding customer pains and gains, and to translate this into a compelling global value proposition. Equally important was ensuring alignment across the organisation - building belief and securing stakeholder buy-in to drive adoption.

Our Approach

We designed a tailored approach that aligned Givaudan’s offerings more closely with customer needs while sharpening their competitive positioning.  At the heart of this work was a rigorous blend of market analysis, customer engagement, and innovative testing that gave Givaudan unprecedented clarity and confidence in their value proposition.

By combining deep research and stakeholder collaboration with both real-world customer input and AI-powered synthetic customer intelligence, we ensured that every angle was explored - surfacing opportunities, highlighting blind spots, and refining the value proposition. This innovative dual approach to customer research provided validation and superior confidence in findings.

This project was not only about defining the right message, but also about ensuring the organisation was equipped and energised to deliver it. Close collaboration across global commercial teams and specialist functions meant the final value proposition was both strategically robust and operationally practical, with widespread buy-in to drive impact across the business.

The Impact

The project delivered meaningful strategic impact giving Givaudan a cohesive customer-driven global value proposition that:

• Strengthened organisational alignment & confidence:   Leadership and teams quickly rallied around a single, compelling value proposition that clearly articulated Givaudan’s unique strengths. The blend of traditional and synthetic customer insights gave confidence that the positioning would resonate with decision-makers and stand apart from competitors.
• Provided strategic clarity for regions & markets:  A global framework was cascaded to regional teams, equipping them with consistent messaging and practical customer engagement tools. This ensured not only alignment at the centre, but also clarity and credibility in every market.
• Enhanced strategic capability within the organisation:   Beyond the immediate project, Givaudan adopted the methodology to shape value propositions in other parts of the business - demonstrating both scalability and long-term strategic value.

By combining robust analysis with deep stakeholder engagement, Cognosis helped Givaudan deliver a value proposition that was insight-led and rigorously tested providing a robust foundation for market differentiation, category leadership and continued growth.