In the current environment, the temptation for manufacturers and retailers alike is to adopt a tactical, price-focused stance in their relationships. However, experience shows that this is the surest way to put long-term combined profits at risk. For example, recent tensions between some retailers and their suppliers have resulted in key branded products to be taken off the shelves, impacting both store footfalls and manufacturer margins. There is a more productive alternative: retailers and their manufacturers can look at the downturn as a prompt to find new ways of collaborating to stimulate consumer demand. Shaping that alternative is the motivation behind Jointly Agreed Growth (JAG), a recent initiative by Efficient Consumer Response Europe (ECR Europe), a consumer and retail industry body, and supported by McKinsey & Company. JAG focuses on bringing together retailer and manufacturer insights to generate ground breaking ideas to benefit consumers, ultimately driving increased sales in a particular category - despite the downturn.