We help clients build distinctive value, brand loyalty, and sustainable growth by putting customers first.
Engage your customers, drive growth
Today’s customers trust brands that deliver consistent, meaningful, and personalized experiences across all physical and digital touchpoints. To successfully create those experiences, companies must fully understand their customers and respond with the right capabilities, products, services, and channels. By leveraging the right mix of business, experience, and technology, we help clients exceed their customers’ expectations at every interaction and achieve lasting, profitable growth.
More than 80% of senior leaders say customer strategy will be one of their largest investment areas over the next three to five years. Are you one of them?
How we can help you
Customer strategy and experience design
Marketing and sales
Service and engagement
Pricing and profitability
Customer analytics
Customer strategy and experience design
Companies must strike the right balance between generating value for the customer and value for the business. To do that, we help clients evaluate their overall customer landscape, determine which segments they should focus on, and then consistently engage with those customers in every interaction across products, services, solutions, and brand messaging.
In the age of experience, we help clients take advantage of the most important digital trends and tools to integrate strategy, customer insight and analytics, experience design, and technology. We strive for marketing and sales excellence that enables innovation, supports “always on” customer engagement and go-to market strategies, and drives the bottom line.
Information is everywhere, experiences are integrated across channels, and individuals expect immediate customized responses. As these dramatic social and technological realities create new roles for customers and companies, we partner with clients to help them transform their digital and physical services so that they can thrive in this fast-changing market with the right strategies and organizational approach.
Achieving superior pricing and margin management requires capabilities that blend mathematics and managerial science. More than ever, companies need a holistic pricing strategy that starts with the end-user, leverages a growing number of data sources, and reflects value delivered and received by channel partners. We work with clients to build the pricing strategies and capabilities that support profitable growth and optimize value capture.
Service offerings include:
Pricing and revenue model strategy
Customer portfolio profitability and optimization
Trade promotion, rebate, and discount effectiveness
The key to understanding customers is getting the right insights. We support customer strategies with advanced quantitative and qualitative research techniques, leveraging big and little data to inform complex marketing, sales, pricing, and channel decisions.
A U.S. beverage maker wanted to enhance its customer experience strategy and develop a more personalized loyalty program. Strategy& created journey maps, assessed opportunities to transform its digital organization, and evaluated more than 25 loyalty program elements. As a result of our work, the client is now delivering a seamless experience across all channels, its customers’ mobile purchases increased by 22 percent, and its membership and loyalty are estimated to be up double digits over the next five years.
Luxury goods
Jewelry manufacturer uses customer-centricity to find headroom for growth
A leading jewelry manufacturer wanted to create a new, consumer-centric market segmentation to better understand customer attitudes, identify new market opportunities, and align its offerings to its target customers. Strategy& took a market-back approach to understanding consumer preferences, working with company data, leveraging market research, and conducting sophisticated analytics around consumer preferences. As a result of our work, we uncovered five distinct segments for which we recommended specific brand positioning options. The client is projected to achieve two to three times its absolute sales growth by 2020 and make improvements in net margins of between 10 and 15 percent.
Media and entertainment
Broadcast network enhances internal content flow
To increase its organizational efficiency, a major broadcast network wanted to enable transparent, real-time collaboration and sharing of information among reporters and producers. Strategy& iterated and implemented a tailored solution for content creation, sharing, and tracking, which is now being used globally within the organization. As a result of our work, the organization’s employees can now seamlessly discover breaking news via social media and other mobile channels, collaborate with peers, and report the news more quickly.
Telecommunications
International telco expands into new markets
Approaching an expansion into eight new markets, an international telecom company wanted to more systematically and strategically allocate its marketing spend across geographies. Strategy& delivered a clearly defined analytical and statistical framework, a tangible set of dashboards to properly measure the ROI on marketing spend, and a detailed evaluation of vendors best suited to deliver against this vision. Our efforts resulted in a nearly 3 percent efficiency gain in marketing spend over three years.
Retail banking
Major retail bank drives utilization of digital products
A major U.S. bank launched a customer acquisition initiative to better understand how to engage customers, as well as to leverage social media channels in their promotional mix to drive utilization of digital products. Strategy& used a combination of social listening and analytical techniques to generate insights and identify opportunities to use social media to promote products and enhance customer engagement. Our work resulted in a distinct and measurable social media strategy linked to the existing marketing strategy and a five-pronged implementation plan.
A wealth management firm with brokers across the United States wanted to capitalize on the growth of digitization to spur growth. Strategy& identified three digital initiatives to acquire new affluent households over three years: developing a new prospect database, tailoring products and services to segmented populations, and expanding the company’s influence via online channels. After creating strategic blueprints based on competitive analysis and profiling of targeted consumers, we identified key partners and vendors and addressed the operating model implications. As a result of our work, the client expects to yield more than 200,000 new affluent households and is investing $8 million in digital platforms.
Insurance
U.S. healthcare insurer improves customer experience
As part of a broader cultural and organizational transformation strategy, a U.S. healthcare company wanted to improve its customer experience. Using human-center design, Strategy& focused on two member journeys: post-enrollment 90 days and care in time of need. We set out initiatives to fix pain points, used human-centered design to reimagine the experience, and then mapped out key initiatives and capabilities required over waves of releases. As a result of our work, the client’s senior marketing executive said: “Reimagining a more personalized approach where employees step up and say ‘I’ve got it’ is key to reenergizing our culture and brand.”
Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceuticals company redesigns its patient engagement model
A top 5 pharmaceutical company wanted to improve patient engagement by designing, building, and launching a disease-agnostic patient engagement model that could be utilized across business units. Strategy& identified the key patient pain points, reviewed competitor programs, and developed solution concepts. We then categorized the client’s patients into different personas and developed four solution concepts that serve as a curated, comprehensive engagement model for patients following diagnosis. This strengthened the client’s positioning in oncology, leveraged the client’s scale, and improved the scope of services provided to patients.
Consumer products: U.S. beverage maker uses loyalty to drive revenue
A U.S. beverage maker wanted to enhance its customer experience strategy and develop a more personalized loyalty program. Strategy& created journey maps, assessed opportunities to transform its digital organization, and evaluated more than 25 loyalty program elements. As a result of our work, the client is now delivering a seamless experience across all channels, its customers’ mobile purchases increased by 22 percent, and its membership and loyalty are estimated to be up double digits over the next five years.
Luxury goods: Jewelry manufacturer uses customer-centricity to find headroom for growth
A leading jewelry manufacturer wanted to create a new, consumer-centric market segmentation to better understand customer attitudes, identify new market opportunities, and align its offerings to its target customers. Strategy& took a market-back approach to understanding consumer preferences, working with company data, leveraging market research, and conducting sophisticated analytics around consumer preferences. As a result of our work, we uncovered five distinct segments for which we recommended specific brand positioning options. The client is projected to achieve two to three times its absolute sales growth by 2020 and make improvements in net margins of between 10 and 15 percent.
Media and entertainment: Broadcast network enhances internal content flow
To increase its organizational efficiency, a major broadcast network wanted to enable transparent, real-time collaboration and sharing of information among reporters and producers. Strategy& iterated and implemented a tailored solution for content creation, sharing, and tracking, which is now being used globally within the organization. As a result of our work, the organization’s employees can now seamlessly discover breaking news via social media and other mobile channels, collaborate with peers, and report the news more quickly.
Telecommunications: International telco expands into new markets
Approaching an expansion into eight new markets, an international telecom company wanted to more systematically and strategically allocate its marketing spend across geographies. Strategy& delivered a clearly defined analytical and statistical framework, a tangible set of dashboards to properly measure the ROI on marketing spend, and a detailed evaluation of vendors best suited to deliver against this vision. Our efforts resulted in a nearly 3 percent efficiency gain in marketing spend over three years.
Retail banking: Major retail bank drives utilization of digital products
A major U.S. bank launched a customer acquisition initiative to better understand how to engage customers, as well as to leverage social media channels in their promotional mix to drive utilization of digital products. Strategy& used a combination of social listening and analytical techniques to generate insights and identify opportunities to use social media to promote products and enhance customer engagement. Our work resulted in a distinct and measurable social media strategy linked to the existing marketing strategy and a five-pronged implementation plan.
A wealth management firm with brokers across the United States wanted to capitalize on the growth of digitization to spur growth. Strategy& identified three digital initiatives to acquire new affluent households over three years: developing a new prospect database, tailoring products and services to segmented populations, and expanding the company’s influence via online channels. After creating strategic blueprints based on competitive analysis and profiling of targeted consumers, we identified key partners and vendors and addressed the operating model implications. As a result of our work, the client expects to yield more than 200,000 new affluent households and is investing $8 million in digital platforms.
Insurance: U.S. healthcare insurer improves customer experience
A top 5 pharmaceutical company wanted to improve patient engagement by designing, building, and launching a disease-agnostic patient engagement model that could be utilized across business units. Strategy& identified the key patient pain points, reviewed competitor programs, and developed solution concepts. We then categorized the client’s patients into different personas and developed four solution concepts that serve as a curated, comprehensive engagement model for patients following diagnosis. This strengthened the client’s positioning in oncology, leveraged the client’s scale, and improved the scope of services provided to patients.
Pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceuticals company redesigns its patient engagement model
As part of a broader cultural and organizational transformation strategy, a U.S. healthcare company wanted to improve its customer experience. Using human-center design, Strategy& focused on two member journeys: post-enrollment 90 days and care in time of need. We set out initiatives to fix pain points, used human-centered design to reimagine the experience, and then mapped out key initiatives and capabilities required over waves of releases. As a result of our work, the client’s senior marketing executive said: “Reimagining a more personalized approach where employees step up and say ‘I’ve got it’ is key to reenergizing our culture and brand.”
Insights: Our latest thinking on customer strategy
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As B2B companies look for new ways to grow their top and bottom lines, commercial excellence may be the answer. By imposing discipline on a company’s pricing...
Most companies in the consumer packaged goods sector want a post-event analysis (PEA) capability to help them understand the effectiveness of their trade promotion spending....
Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Today, web interactions...
“Inspirational sales leadership” leverages a deep understanding of current sales performance to systematically identify leadership behaviors that actually...
The routes to market that consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies use to sell and service their trade accounts determine their sales volume, their ability to deliver the...
For companies up and down the consumer packaged goods (CPG) value chain, now is the time to take a fresh look at sales and operations planning (S&OP) processes....
To build closer connections to customers, start by developing analytical prowess.
Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control
This book asserts that we are at the beginning of a consumer-centric digital age where traditional ways of marketing products and services are no longer viable.
Each year, billions of dollars are spent on marketing endeavors. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the money disappears into thin air, and marketing executives are...
Boosting the bottom line: Through improved trade promotion effectiveness
Many consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers are so focused on generating additional volume that the overall efficiency of their trade spend investment is low.