Layoffs at Neuro have taken place recently, but they are part of a realignment strategy that has been forced by the company’s growth, the company’s president told BevNET today.
“It feels crummy,” Paul Nadel said. “But from a company standpoint it was the only thing to do.”
Nadel confirmed that the company had recently cut several sales and marketing positions – ranks that had been filled by a mix of former Vitaminwater, Coke, Pepsi and Red Bull employees, among others — but said that those moves were not indicative of a brand that was struggling, rather one that was trying to put its people in important areas.
“You have to know your market,” Nadel said. “We’re hiring people who have experience with our distributors, of which DPS is a significant part.”
Nadel said the company wasn’t reducing its overall team size but was moving positions around – it had open job listings, he said, and was working with two employment organizations to locate potential hires. He touted a chief marketing officer who is joining the company next week as evidence that the brand is still growing and performing.
“We’re doing what we need to be doing,” Nadel said, while indicating that the company had to change its field organization to match up to areas where the brand was growing and also to areas where populations were more likely to purchase the product.
“The previous sales and marketing footprint was constructed at a time when it was a much smaller company,” Nadel said. While Neuro had initially pursued growth on a broad geographic scale, he said, hiring people and opening territories where it could, “some areas are non-strategic.”
“When all of this is said and done,” he added, “There will probably be more people [working for Neuro], although perhaps in fewer states.”
Neuro’s exact growth numbers have been shrouded in mystery, but for industry watchers, the key number for the company is $20 million – that’s the revenue floor typically expected by TSG, the venture capital firm that took a stake in the brand last year.