Morrison & Foerster Alumni News - Winter 2020

MoForever Winter 2020 | 6 an uptick in consumer class action litigation that challenges the accuracy of product labeling and advertising. Consumer trust in companies has changed, and we see that reflected in the types and volume of litigation we face. Digital transformation is also impacting our industry in multiple ways. Consumers have access to more information than ever, ask more challenging questions, and don’t necessarily accept at face value the product claims made on websites, product packaging, or social media. With the ability to research nearly anything online, I see more of a “trust but verify” approach. At the same time, our digital interactions with consumers bring privacy and cybersecurity issues into play that require our constant vigilance. We consistently strive to earn and maintain the trust of our consumers, and to understand and meet their product wants and needs. We gain tremendous insights from consumers’ interactions with our brand websites, social media, and other digital platforms. We’re not waiting months to discover what consumers expect, but instead have a more real-time finger on the consumer pulse to which we can react. How else does digital transformation impact your company? Digital transformation also impacts how our retail customers sell products and how we operate as a company to enable their success. Companies like Amazon have created alternate paths for consumers to purchase products that compete with the traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Just as they’ve leveraged technology to transform the buying experience, we’re leveraging it to transform how we design, test, manufacture, and deliver products. One example is how our distribution and transportation systems and software, coupled with GPS, enable us to track shipments in real time. We can know where most shipments stand at any point in time. If plans change, we can immediately pivot to redirect or ship products from alternative distribution or manufacturing centers. This is critical to our customers, who are competing in a consumer click-and-deliver world. So not only does digital transformation cut across how we interact with and learn from consumers, and how we optimize and improve our service to customers, but it is also defining the winners and losers on the retail shelf, both physical and virtual. The Clorox legal team is award winning for its diversity and inclusion. How do you continue to improve as an organization? We have an incredible team, led by our general counsel and MoFo “CONSUMER TRUST IN COMPANIES HAS CHANGED, AND WE SEE THAT REFLECTED IN THE TYPES AND VOLUME OF LITIGATION WE FACE.”