World Cup week and promo phasing: the overlap manufacturers need to prevent

The scenario every FMCG professional recognises

This week at the supermarket, I noticed the same product on promotion in two different stores at the same time.

One chain has the same vegetarian product at €2.99, while another has it simultaneously on promotion at €2.49. As a shopper, the choice is obvious. As a former account manager on the manufacturer side, this is a familiar and painful situation.

The shopper arbitrages immediately. The premium retailer feels undercut. The discounter questions the value of the partnership. And you are caught between both customers, explaining a conflict that should have been visible on a planning timeline weeks earlier.

Promo phasing: the discipline of planning the right week

Promotion planning across the year was one of my most important responsibilities as an account manager. Not just which mechanic to run, but which week. You work to align different retail formats: you do not want a premium supermarket and a discounter running the same product at the same time, cannibalising each other's impact.

The goal is always optimal phasing — maximum impact for both retailer and manufacturer, with each activation landing cleanly in its own window. Complementary, not overlapping.

The World Cup as a magnifying glass on your promo calendar

Last week I closed another Promo Gantt license outside FMCG. But this first World Cup week is a clear reminder of why I built it for FMCG in the first place: helping manufacturers make their promo phasing visible and manageable in Power BI — so painful overlaps can be prevented before they reach the store shelf.

The World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19. Beyond the traditional peak moments, the next six weeks represent the biggest promotional window of Q2 and Q3 combined for most FMCG brands.

I am seeing in the market right now exactly the overlaps I worked to prevent as an account manager at Unilever and FrieslandCampina.

Where current tooling falls short

Reporting in Power BI should help make this overlap visible quickly — but without an accurate visual timeline, the overlap stays hidden. Standard Power BI visuals simply do not meet this specific need.

The problem is not the data. The data exists — in your promo tool, in your ERP, in Excel. The problem is the lack of a shared visual timeline that pulls everything together, so you can see the overlap at a glance before the S&OP, not after it.

What the Promo Gantt Chart does

The Promo Gantt Chart is a Microsoft AppSource certified Power BI custom visual, built for exactly this need. Not as a replacement for your TPM tool, but as the visualisation layer that brings everything onto one timeline inside Power BI.

• Visual overview - immediate, fluid insight into your full promo plan. No export rounds, no tab-switching.
• Overlap detection - conflicting promotions automatically detected and flagged. A thicker bar on the timeline is your signal to investigate.
• Media alignment - see at a glance how your promo calendar connects to your ATL campaigns. BTL and ATL on the same timeline.
• Ghost Mode - overlay last year's promotions directly onto the current plan. YoY comparison without an export round.
• Cross-filtering - click any brand or retailer and your entire Power BI dashboard filters with it. Fully integrated, not a standalone island.