• Situation

    Major pub plc was rapidly rolling out a “retail” (managed) model of pub management but results were below target.

    Diagnosis

    Pubs were not routinely being provided with the correct proposition and pricing based on location and consumer wants. Existing segmentation not fit for purpose. Wrong teams were taking decisions with poor information.

    Solution

    Create a new segmentation based on consumer wants. Generate new propositions (food, drinks range, service model, pricing) for each segment rooted in consumer research. Shift accountability for deciding the appropriate proposition for each pub to the team with the fact base (RACI work).

    Results

    Like for like sales and profits rose by 7%.

    Keys

    Robust segmentation. RACI work to realign accountabilities for developing propositions and allocating them to pubs.

  • Situation

    FTSE 50 drinks business: company’s biggest brand’s growth had stalled.

    Diagnosis

    Most markets were declining with their aging consumer base. Company was nervous about changing its “crown jewels”.

    Solution

    Reposition brand to recruit younger consumers whilst not alienating existing ones. Identify high volume and value drinking occasions for younger consumers.

    Brief some ethnographic research to fundamentally understand drivers of consumer behaviour.

    Put the resultant “deep human truth” at the heart of a new brand communications campaign, with revised media footprint.

    Adjust distribution to upweight emphasis on high value on-trade outlets.

    Collaborate with markets to persuade them to adopt the new strategy and advertising and focus on execution.

    Results

    Brand share rose by 1% in Europe, 1.6% in Lat. Am.

    Keys

    Robust segmentation.

    Realignment of roles and responsibilities between central and local marketing teams.

    Ensuring the local marketing teams felt empowered and accountable.

    Reassurance of all stakeholder groups about validity of strategy.

  • Situation

    Major mobile operator was behind revenue and profit targets with high churn driving up costs.

    Diagnosis

    Multiple causes: lack of loyalty propositions, suboptimal investment in retention, misaligned objectives across functions.

    Solution

    Develop propositions that reassured consumers about value. Refine investment framework to enable economic retention of high churn risk customers. Ensure all relevant stakeholders had appropriate churn related objectives that were suitably cascaded.

    Results

    Churn fell from 33% to 14%.

    Keys

    Single most powerful enabler was realigning the organisation and getting buy-in to shared and cascaded churn objectives.

  • Situation

    International shopper loyalty business had almost exhausted its shopper reward pipeline (most items had significant development and sourcing lead times) which severely impacted its ability to sell and deliver effective loyalty programmes to retailers.

    Diagnosis

    NPD process for shopper rewards was informal and inconsistent, reward choice was subjective, decision-making authority was unclear resulting in rewards not always aligned with shopper needs and long product development times.

    Solution

    Introduce shopper insight to inform the development of the shopper reward range and to test them. Develop and introduce formal and streamlined NPD process with appropriate involvement and communication across teams. RACI work to have single point of accountability.

    Results

    NPD output rose by 82%, contributing to sales increase of 8%.

    Keys

    Introducing effective process, and selling the benefits of it to get buy in. RACI work.

  • At a major South African brewer: undertook customer profitability analysis and allied it with segment growth to highlight biggest opportunities for margin growth. Sales and customer investment resources were reallocated. Customer margin grew by 2.7%

    At a large international travel firm: identified which service offerings and segments generated the highest return on assets. This enabled a change in marketing and investment focus to achieve a 6% increase in passenger retail revenue and 7% increase in ROCI

Case Studies

If you would like to hear more about these and other examples, please contact me.

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  • "Neil and I worked together during a major business transformation in Punch Taverns, at the time the UK’s second largest Pub owner. Whilst Neil had experience of the beverage sector, he had not worked in a PubCo, and I found his adaptation, speed of learning, and value analysis remarkably rapid. He quickly identified key change issues, drew up strong change programmes and worked across the business with experts in various other fields to execute plans. His maturity in different environments helped to form strong, constructive internal relations, and to overcome resistance in a positive manner when needed. Neil was adept at not only identifying the right business solutions, but at understanding the nuances of people in difference disciplines, and had the influencing skills to take them along with him. His work with the operations team, to identify different propositions for a variety of pub segments, was particularly strong and clearly showed his operations experience and ability to have empathy with the people working within it. As well as internal stakeholders, Neil managed external parties, such as suppliers and consultants with great skill too. He managed the consultancy used for the segmentation so that they delivered on time, on budget, and gave us an excellent platform for development, which Neil masterminded. My final observation, was that Neil constantly had the customer at the heart of every decision and direction that he took. His insight, evidence, and good common sense in thinking through the customer experience and reaction was a vital part of our Executive Board’s compass when taking some very key decisions."

    Duncan Garrood - CEO, Empiric PLC | Chair | PE Advisor

  • “I worked on the same leadership team as Neil for nearly 2 years whilst he turned around the Orange Pay Monthly business. He came from outside telco but quickly adapted to the new context and brought experience from other sectors to shape the turnaround. He is highly commercial with a deep understanding of all the levers of acquisition, retention and growth marketing and how to balance long-term brand building with short-term trading momentum. Although rational, analytical and fact-based in his approach he is not dependent on “full data sets” to reach solutions and is a calculated risk taker, unafraid to make bold moves. Very focused on results, he thinks about what needs to be delivered and how – communicating clearly and providing leadership across the business to influence, build consensus and grow warm, productive relationships along the way to address organisational change needs.”

    Jim Graham - PE & VC Chair | Director | Advisor | Investor

  • "Neil is a remarkable person to have involved in your business. A naturally gifted coach, mentor, strategist, and marketer, Neil is super-smart, a great listener, and much loved by colleagues and clients alike. Decades of strategy leadership roles and hard-won experience enables Neil to provide much needed clarity, helpful frameworks, great suggestions, and support for whatever challenges you're facing. Neil helped me navigate enormous change in the company I founded, System1 Group PLC, and achieve the last year of dramatically improved growth. Many thanks Neil!"

    John Kearon – Founder and President, System1 Group PLC

  • "I have worked closely with Neil before and was able to observe some of his core strengths first hand. Neil is good at dealing with complexity and getting to the core issues/problems in an organisation quickly. He thinks in a “joined up” way from the customer back to the organisation. He is highly commercial and results focused. He communicates clearly, has a low ego and thrives as part of a cross functional team."

    Michael Ioakimides – PE Chair

  • "I’ve worked with Neil over a period of almost 30 years in various capacities as team member, consultant colleague and client. Key to his value to clients is his ability to build a clear strategy and then translate it into actionable plans. He has always displayed a pragmatic down to earth approach to developing solutions, unlike other consultants I have worked with or hired. The plans have always been realistic and highly commercial, focused on delivering action that clients can actually implement. More recently, I’ve been able to work with Neil in an entirely new sector for him (higher education) and all of the commercial acumen remains, as he helped develop a strategy to more than double our income. It reinforced to me firstly how able Neil is at picking up the essence of new industries quickly, and also how he builds relationships in a client team from a standing start to be credible and welcome. Informally I’ve always found his advice, seasoned as it has been in multiple industries and leadership positions, to be extremely valuable, providing an external sounding board for me in many situations."

    Gavin Flynn – Senior Bursar, Downing College,

    Cambridge | Formerly SVP at IHG