Case Studies

Customized Growth Solutions

• For a hair care brand, the issue was low volume, which led to low budget, which led to low consumer awareness and little attention from the sales force. The solution: we put the innovation plan on steroids and customized promotion plans around the needs of a single small retail channel.

The result: sales nearly tripled and the brand became #1 in the target channel, creating the financial strength and sales force enthusiasm necessary to expand into other channels.

• For a Fortune 500 manufacturer of household products, the issue was that competition had just launched a major innovation that threatened to obsolete their most profitable products. Company culture favored mimicking the competitor’s product, but technology barriers were too high and lead times too long. The solution: using novel research techniques, we identified ways to defend current business and win the next product generation. We developed new advertising while putting all innovation resources into leapfrogging the competition.

The result: our client gained share behind new ads, then beat competition with 2nd generation technology – the biggest new product in their 100 year history.

• For a small tourist-oriented newspaper, the issue was that a poor economy had stopped ad revenue growth. The solution: we designed and launched a rental listing insert, where landlords paid only for successful rentals, while repricing other ads to give discounts for longer commitments.

The result: revenue growth so explosive that the rental listing was spun off as a standalone business.

• For a frozen food company, the issue was that retail buyers were cherry-picking new products, causing high failure rate due to poor distribution and less willingness to invest in innovation. The solution: we developed and launched a portfolio of thematically-linked initiatives, each with multiple SKUs.

The result: most accounts took all items, shelf space grew, share grew, and the company increased resources behind innovation.

• For a sporting goods company, the issue was being so focused on innovation that the core business was losing share. The solution: we revitalized the core behind new branding and advertising, while refocusing innovation on fewer, bigger ideas.

The result: share gains for the core and industry-changing new products.