We help clients solve a wide range of product, market, and organizational problems at all stages of their business lifecycles.
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- Conducted win-loss analyses of several products for a leading provider of information services to hospitals. Our analysis provided critical insights and recommendations regarding the drivers of customer purchase behavior, and resulted in our client undertaking new sales and customer retention initiatives.
- Assessed competitive threats for a provider of technology and services in the retail sector, providing recommendations on re-positioning the company for competitive advantage.
- Developed vertical marketing strategies for a business information aggregator. Through our in-depth analysis of user needs, we were able to identify potential opportunities for our client to serve users in several vertical segments.
- Advised directory publisher on strategies for transitioning from print publications to online services. Our work assessed the impact of search engines on directories and the evolution of online advertising models.
- Analyzed and defined new pricing approaches for several information companies. New technology is changing how customers access information. Our work focused on understanding how those changes impact the value of our clients’ content and applications to their customers, and identifying ways to structure pricing so that it is logical and scaleable within a variety of customer usage scenarios.
- Validated a new product strategy for a financial information vendor. A leading vendor of market data asked us to conduct in-depth market research with its customers in Europe and the U.S. to ensure that its new product plans were acceptable, and to recommend any changes or enhancements to its plan.
- Managed a business planning process for a health information company. The CEO of a major publisher asked us to augment his internal staff and run the annual business planning process. Working with several divisions, our role was to ensure that the company built a cohesive plan integrating key strategies and initiatives at both the corporate and divisional levels.
- Guided several clients through Rapid Strategic Planning™, our process for building a company’s road map. Through this process, management teams were able to establish goals and strategies at both corporate and departmental levels, allocate resources to the most critical projects, and set up milestones for measuring results on an ongoing basis.
- Defined a product strategy for a reference publisher’s next generation of digital products. Using both online surveys and in-depth interviews with academic librarians and scholars, we identified and prioritized the needs of various higher-education market segments, determined their packaging and pricing preferences, and identified other key product requirements. Armed with these findings, we constructed a product plan targeting the most critical market needs.
- Defined a competitive strategy for a legal information vendor. Through in-depth interviews with customers and prospects, we isolated and prioritized the drivers of purchase behavior and recommended steps for our client to sell more effectively itself within its mature and highly competitive market.
- Guided several clients through Rapid Strategic Planning,™ our process for building a company’s road map. Through this process, management teams were able to establish goals and strategies at both corporate and departmental levels, allocate resources to the most critical projects, and set up milestones for measuring results on an ongoing basis.
- A financial services company retained us to develop a strategy for using new technologies to deliver its services to the market. We identified and analyzed the critical business and technical issues in the customer purchase decision. As a result of our recommendations, our client was able to integrate technology into its service offering and gain a high degree of customer acceptance.
- A leading professional publisher retained us for a strategic planning effort focusing on opportunities in the healthcare industry. As a first step, our work identified discontinuities that were creating new product opportunities in the industry. As a second step, we helped analyze several potential new product concepts through interviews with potential customers, resulting in the identification of one product that warranted development.
- A provider of electronic services commissioned us to shape a strategy to expand into a new market segment. Our work concluded that the critical success factors were both network technology and distribution channels in that market segment. As a result of these findings, our client was able to move successfully into the new market segment.
- A publisher of professional directories engaged us to help analyze electronic publishing opportunities. Working closely with the publisher’s staff, we identified several ways the publisher could leverage its existing market presence and database content. We also analyzed marketing, production, and distribution costs of expanding from print to electronic publishing.
- Advised a major information company on a program to become more customer-focused. At the behest of the CEO, we identified best practices of customer-focused organizations and recommended steps for our client to close identified gaps. Our recommendations resulted in specific changes in policy and practice affecting a wide range of processes across the company.
- A software company retained us to help it develop a business among electronic publishers. We first defined a strong value proposition and created a sales presentation for publishers. We then went on to identify and qualify potential customers and to use our connections to make introductions for our client’s sales force.
- A healthcare information company asked us to help it devise a roll-out strategy for a new product aimed at physicians. After conducting extensive interviews with physicians, hospital CIOs, and information specialists, we defined a plan for pricing and positioning to major hospitals and healthcare institutions.
- A start-up technology company retained us to create a sales strategy for bringing its products to market. We devised a multi-pronged approach using direct, OEM,.and VAR sales channels to accelerate its sales. As part of our work, we helped the company re-package its offering into separate software modules that would sell more easily through those channels.
- A venture capital firm retained us to help analyze investment opportunities in Internet companies. Working with the principals of the investment fund, our work has involved pre- and post-deal due diligence, including market assessments, competitive analyses, and valuations.
- A major consumer media company retained us to develop a business plan for its entry into web publishing. Working closely with senior management, we created a plan that capitalized on the company’s strength in content creation and exploited its distribution capabilities in other media, including magazines, books, cable TV, and merchandise, to help build its brand online. The plan, which required a multimillion dollar investment, was approved by the company’s board of directors and is being executed.
- An established corporate service company requested our help in structuring a business relationship with a startup information company. Our work included valuation of the target company prior to making an equity investment as well as guidance during the successful negotiation of a product distribution agreement.
- A major corporation retained us to provide a valuation of a potential information company acquisition. We developed a cost and revenue model for acquiring, consolidating, and operating a combined business. Our model enabled the client to negotiate successfully from a position of strength.
- A newspaper publisher with a web site asked us to evaluate opportunities to develop a separate site that would deliver specialized information. We conducted an assessment of the market and an analysis of the cost of building and/or acquiring content. We subsequently developed a business plan that was approved and funded by company management.
- A major professional publisher came to us with the idea of developing an online service within its market. As a print publisher, the client did not have the expertise to develop and market an electronic service. We were engaged to refine the client’s business plan, define the product offering, create an implementation plan, and co-manage the product launch. We also evaluated several vendors, and eventually negotiated an agreement with one vendor to establish a system.
- A large financial services firm requested our help in marketing its electronic order execution service to institutional customers. Although the market was crowded with several competitive offerings, our work found that the key to market acceptance was linking the order execution service to other systems that are integral to users’ trading workflow. Our client was able to re-position its order execution service, and make significant inroads into the marketplace.
- A financial industry group retained us to help it develop ways to move the industry toward more efficient forms of electronic commerce. As a first step, we analyzed the scope and cost of the existing ways of conducting commerce using legacy electronic systems. As a follow-on phase, we devised an improved methodology for conducting electronic commerce, and an approach for a practical migration to the new approach over time.
- Defined a product strategy for a reference publisher’s next generation of digital products. Using both online surveys and in-depth interviews with academic librarians and scholars, we identified and prioritized the needs of various higher-education market segments, determined their packaging and pricing preferences, and identified other key product requirements. Armed with these findings, we constructed a product plan targeting the most critical market needs.
- A major financial processor hired us to examine the feasibility of turning its in-house transactional data into information products. We prototyped several potential products and then conducted in-depth market research with potential customers. Our work validated the need for a selected number of these products and went on to identify a number of critical product requirements, thereby enabling our client to focus its development activities.
- An online information service wanted to expand its content into new areas. We were commissioned to put together content plans, including a recommended scope of content, a scan of potential suppliers, and intelligence on the availability of this information in electronic form. Based on our information, the client was able to negotiate favorable agreements to acquire data from external suppliers.
- A major online database vendor retained us to validate a new product concept. We did an extensive review of the proposed product and conducted in-depth competitive analysis of a leading incumbent vendor. As a result, we were able to recommend product enhancements that enabled our client to successfully differentiate its product from competitive products.
- A provider of electronic services to corporations commissioned us to evaluate a new product concept. We did a market study based on in-depth interviews with a broad sample of customers and prospects. As a result of our recommendations, our client was able to change the product so that it would better conform to customers’ technology environments.
- An established provider of business databases retained us to help it reposition and enhance an existing product in response to newer products from competitors. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the major competitors’ products, delivery systems, pricing, and business practices. Using our findings, our client was able to incorporate key features and make its product competitive.
- A financial database company engaged us to help it develop an online service. From product concepts, we created and documented a detailed product plan and architecture along with an implementation strategy. We were then able to help the client identify and negotiate with potential software developers and network partners.
- A major financial entity retained us to help it re-negotiate the contract with its outsourced IT vendor. We isolated the key issues, including the allocation of development resources, client oversight of project management, and operational improvement. We also re-wrote service level agreements and associate penalties, resulting in a more responsive relationship with the vendor.
- A major provider of business information retained us to make its distribution channels more efficient. We conducted a situation analysis and recommended restructuring its geographically-based sales force into industry-based groups, augmented by less expensive, alternative channels, such as online marketing, telemarketing and direct mail. We also recommended ways to better align products with industry needs and sales resources.
- A diversified publisher requested a forum for giving its top executives a working knowledge of new media. Working closely with the chief executive officer, we developed and conducted a workshop covering the critical trends, issues, and business models for publishers in new media.
- A consumer publisher in the midst of building an online information service asked for our help in designing the systems required for customer administration, billing, and customer support. Working closely with a team of the client’s marketing, customer support, and technical specialists, we led a project to write functional specifications for these systems.
- An online services company asked us to recommend ways to use technology to reduce its customer support staff, while maintaining its service quality. We developed a “best practices” framework based on how other companies in the online services, software, and computer equipment fields support customers through different electronic technologies.
- Defined a competitive strategy for a legal information vendor. Though in-depth interviews with customers and prospects, we isolated and prioritized the drivers of purchase behavior and recommended steps for our client to sell more effectively itself within its mature and highly competitive market.
- Assessed the e-commerce site of a financial research vendor. Working with a group of senior managers, we analyzed the effectiveness of the company’s web site in serving its clients, identified gaps, and proposed concrete steps for improving the site. These findings were used successfully to win increased investment in the e-commerce site.
