Book Review: Revenue Growth Management by Danilo Zatta and Jelle de Jong
- George Boretos
- Jul 31
- 4 min read
How to orchestrate pricing, promotions, products, channels, AI, and execution for profitable growth in FMCG and retail
It has become something of a tradition for me to read and review Danilo Zatta’s books during my travels!
This time, Revenue Growth Management, co-authored with Jelle de Jong, travelled with me to Morocco and to Marrakech’s famous Majorelle Garden, closely associated with Yves Saint Laurent.
It was a fitting setting. The garden brings together plants, color, water, architecture, and design. Each element is striking on its own, but the real result comes from the way everything works together.
That is also the central idea behind Revenue Growth Management (RGM):
Sustainable, profitable growth comes from coordinating pricing with products, pack sizes, promotions, trade terms, channels, data, technology, and execution.
Although the book focuses primarily on FMCG and retail, many of its lessons around pricing, segmentation, portfolio roles, analytics, AI, organizational alignment, and execution are equally relevant to complex B2B businesses.
✔️ Much more than a pricing book
Having enjoyed and reviewed several of Danilo’s previous books, I initially expected another excellent exploration of pricing. This book is much broader.
The authors present RGM not as an isolated function or analytics initiative, but as a disciplined way to coordinate all the commercial levers that create and capture value, such as pricing, price-pack architecture, promotions, trade terms, product and customer mix, channel strategy, retailer relationships, commercial systems, and execution.
The real power does not come from optimizing each lever independently. It comes from making them work as one coherent commercial system.
✔️ Hidden value is often lost through small decisions
One of the strongest messages in the book is that companies can lose substantial value through hundreds of apparently minor commercial decisions.
A discount that is never questioned.
A promotion that generates volume but no incremental profit.
A product variant without a clearly defined role.
A rebate or customer agreement that continues simply because it has always existed.
Individually, these decisions may look insignificant. Together, they can create serious margin leakage.
The same discipline should apply to products, packs, and promotions.
Everything must have a clear role: encouraging trial, improving margin, winning a specific channel, reaching a particular customer segment, or creating a trade-up path.
If that role is unclear, it may simply add complexity and cannibalization.
✔️ Price is a strategic signal
Naturally, some of my favorite sections relate to pricing.
The authors remind us that price is not simply the output of a mathematical model. It is one of the clearest strategic signals a brand sends to the market.
It communicates what the company believes its product is worth.
Pricing should therefore not be treated as an isolated decision owned only by sales or finance. It must connect with positioning, customer value, product architecture, and execution.
I particularly liked the idea of a clear Price Positioning Statement: what the intended price position is, how the product compares with alternatives, what role promotions should play, and — most importantly — why the price is justified.
Many companies have detailed brand strategies. Far fewer can explain their pricing position with the same clarity.
✔️ From averages to real insight
As someone working with AI-powered price optimization and predictive analytics, I especially appreciated the book’s warnings against relying on averages, intuition, or a single attractive metric.
Average profitability can hide major differences between customers, products, channels, and geographies.
A generally sensible price can still be wrong for specific segments.
And one elasticity estimate can create a dangerous illusion of precision.
This strongly reflects what I have seen in practice:
Data-driven insights create the most value when they identify specific pockets where action is justified — not when they produce a few average benchmarks for the entire business.
✔️ AI — without the hype
The authors show where AI can support price optimization, demand forecasting, promotion planning, price-pack architecture, and assortment optimization.
But they are equally clear that AI cannot compensate for unclear strategy, poor data, disconnected systems, or weak organizational execution.
The most important lesson is simple:
Start with the commercial problem, not the technology. AI recommendations must reflect reality and be actionable. People will not implement something they do not understand or trust.
✔️ Execution makes the difference
Perhaps the most important underlying message is that strong ideas are not enough. Success depends on execution.
Sales, marketing, finance, supply chain, category management, and leadership must align. Systems must support real decisions rather than produce disconnected insights. Local knowledge must complement central strategy. Teams must also learn quickly when something fails.
The book repeatedly shows that the difference between a clever concept and a successful commercial initiative is often operational discipline.
✔️ My final take
Revenue Growth Management shows how pricing connects with all the other commercial levers required to deliver profitable, sustainable growth.
The combination of Danilo Zatta’s and Jelle de Jong’s experience has produced something rare:
A broad book that remains practical.
A sophisticated book that remains easy to follow.
A data-driven book that never forgets people and execution.
Revenue Growth Management does not ask only whether your company is growing.
It asks the more important question:
Are you growing profitably, deliberately, and sustainably?
I would highly recommend it to business, commercial, pricing, and finance leaders — as well as anyone interested in achieving profitable growth.
Interested in learning more about AI-Powered Price Optimization and Strategic Forecasting?
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