Optimizing Trade Promotion Budgets from the Top Down with Ava

I’ve spent my whole career in the CPG and FMCG world, with the last nine years laser-focused on Trade Promotion Management (TPM). My journey has taken me from starting as a data nerd at Nielsen, to leading trade marketing at Arla, and then six years at UpClear where I worked across sales, implementation, and consulting for BluePlanner.

Now at Aforza, I’m excited to continue this 5-part series where I share the experiences, lessons, and best practices I’ve learned along the way: alongside practical examples of how Ava, Aforza’s Vertical AI, helps companies solve these challenges in the real world.

In part one, I explored the 7 Deadly Sins of TPM and how Ava helps companies avoid them. In part two, I looked at how teams can move From Chaos to Clarity: How Ava Transforms the Planning Process. In part three, I focused on the role of the Key Account Manager and why intuitive tools like Ava are essential to help them plan smarter and faster.

Here in part four, I turn to the critical subject of budgets: how they’re traditionally set top down but consumed bottom up, and how Ava helps transform budgeting from a reactive cap into proactive guardrails that guide smarter decisions all year long.

This is the fourth article in my 5-part series on Trade Promotion Management, where I’m sharing lived experiences, best practices, and how Ava, Aforza’s Vertical AI, is helping consumer goods companies transform the way they plan and execute promotions.

In part one, I highlighted the 7 Deadly Sins of TPM. In part two, I showed how teams can move From Chaos to Clarity: How Ava Transforms the Planning Process. In part three, I explored Why KAMs Deserve Intuitive Tools to help them plan smarter and faster.

Now in part four, we turn to the lifeblood of TPM: budgets.

The Reality of Trade Promotion Budgets

In TPM, budgets are usually set top down. Leadership allocates funds across regions, channels, or accounts at the start of the year, providing a framework for investment.

But the way those budgets get consumed looks very different. They’re spent bottom up: one promotion at a time, as Key Account Managers and trade teams layer in program after program.

At first, everything looks fine. But over time, as each promotion chips away at the allocation, the ceiling comes into view. That’s when the problems start.

The Pain of “Budget Creep”

I’ve seen this happen at nearly every CPG company I’ve worked with. Budgets that felt generous at the start of the year suddenly disappear halfway through. Teams are forced to scramble for incremental funds, cutting corners on ROI analysis just to get approval. Even worse, I’ve seen cases where budgets end up under-utilized: not because there weren’t opportunities, but because visibility was poor and no one realised funds were left until it was too late.

This “budget creep” creates frustration for everyone. Sales feels constrained. Finance feels blindsided. And leadership questions whether trade spend is really delivering results.

Most legacy TPM tools treat budgets as static caps. They track how much has been consumed, but they don’t actively guide how funds should be used. It’s like driving with a fuel gauge but no GPS: you know how much you’ve got left, but not the smartest way to use it. Without proactive guidance, teams end up hitting walls instead of navigating with confidence.

Enter Ava: Making Budgets Work Smarter

This is where Ava, Aforza’s Vertical AI, changes the game. Rather than leaving budgets as immovable ceilings that promotions eventually collide with, Ava cascades budgets into optimised promotional plans from the start.

By interpreting all available contextual data: historical sales, POS data, retailer portals, market conditions, and even competitive intelligence, Ava ensures every promotion is designed with the bigger budget picture in mind.

Budgets stop being passive trackers. They become active guardrails.

From Reactive to Proactive Budgeting

With Ava, budgeting transforms in three critical ways:

The result is a shift from reactive budget firefighting to proactive budget management. Instead of accidentally hitting the ceiling, teams stay aligned all year.

Why This Matters for CPG Companies

Trade spend is often the second largest line item in a CPG P&L. When budgets are mismanaged, the impact on profitability is immediate and significant.

By turning budgets into active planning tools, Ava gives finance the control they need, sales the flexibility they want, and leadership the confidence that trade spend is being used wisely.

This isn’t just about saving money. It’s about unlocking growth. When promotions are designed within the context of the full budget picture, you avoid waste, reduce duplication, and invest in the opportunities that really move the needle.

Final Thoughts

I’ve worked with many companies where budgets felt like imaginary walls: invisible until you collided with them. The result was always the same: frustration, last-minute scrambles, and missed opportunities.

With Ava, it doesn’t have to be that way. Budgets stop being blunt caps and start becoming smart, dynamic guardrails that actively guide better decision-making. Instead of reacting when funds run out, teams can plan with confidence, knowing every promotion is designed with the bigger picture in mind.

That’s the real power of a top-down, AI-driven approach. It gives you clarity, alignment, and control from the very first day of the year to the very last. Finance gains visibility, Sales gets flexibility, and leadership can be confident that trade spend is working harder than ever.

With Ava, you don’t just track budgets. You optimise them to unlock growth.