Author: admin

03 Sep 2017

Country Penetration
Strategy

The client’s goal for their business in China was to achieve €50 Million Revenue with an ROS of 30% in 3 years, over 3 times the market growth for the period.  Deliverable included a 23-page comprehensive plan, in which the client’s strengths and weakness, in comparison to their main competitors, were defined as well as the internal and external threats and opportunities.  Beyond this classic analysis, core value-added pillars required by Chinese customers were called out including gaps in the client’s current offering, and resources required to close the gap.  Critical partnerships, supplements to in-house knowledge, and China-specific modifications to the client’s overall global strategy were distinguished.  The strategy was sub-divided into the functional food, dietary supplement, and non-nutritional food formulation segments.  The plan discussed alternative strategies for growth and why those were not preferred, and culminated in a detailed action plan for execution with staff names and target dates.  The client was delighted with the level of knowledge Concision could condense from the organization’s touch-points in a short time frame and expressed that the plan was ready for execution pending investment approvals by their board.

03 Jul 2017

Brand
Re-invention

The client was viewed in the market as being out of touch with consumers and the health benefits that their customers’ food, beverage, and supplements deliver.  The client utilized Concision’s experience in the human nutrition market to facilitate a complete re-branding of their business after acquiring another company.  Concision parlayed existing marketing materials from both legacy companies to contribute equally to the new brand image blend.  The re-branding required new brand guidelines and templates for all software platforms and communication vehicles.  An entire raft of deliverables was provided including tradeshow booth redesign, employee communication road shows, product label redesign, corporate banner and poster redesign, brochure makeovers, internet redesign, speech copywriting, gifts and give-away design, event agenda, invitations, tent cards, and the list goes on.  The brand re-invention was a huge success.  The client was delighted with the level of detail and depth of understanding for this global project by Concision.

03 Jul 2017

Concept
Marketing

The client wanted to pull together a portfolio of finished product concepts using their pre-blended nutritional mixes.  Numerous smaller customers were seeking turn-key solutions and the client had a filing system full of recipes.  There was no comprehensive, organized and appealing library of concepts for clients to browse.  Concision was enlisted to create a common brand identity for these concepts, allowing a client to readily visualize their brand using the client’s premixes.  Concision has the experience in marketing and food science to be able to quickly convert formulations across various applications and suggest appropriate finished product packaging motifs and label claims in compliance with industry regulatory requirements.  This branded library deliverable reduced the time to marketing for the clients’ customers, thereby creating customers more quickly for the client.

03 Jul 2017

Innovation Collaboration

The client requested support to manage an innovation collaboration day that was requested by a customer.  The client suspected this was a one-time opportunity to step up with the client to retain their business in a highly competitive market.  But the client had never conducted multiple-party innovation workshops and their staff was already lean and stretched.  Concision supported the client by creating the Innovation Day Agenda, gaining approval of the agenda by providing enough detail behind each step of the process.  The agenda extended before and beyond the workshop day to include pre-work, non-disclosure agreements, and pre-reading each other’s goals and conceptual offerings to start the creative process prior to the day.  During the day, Concision facilitated the entire workshop, including break-out sessions aligned to creative clusters which had traction before the event.  In addition, Concision documented the results commensurate with over 20 years industry experience.  The result was a solid partnership of cooperation and real projects with tangible deliverables.  The client was not only delighted with the coordination and facilitation, but this enabled them to focus on the creative and innovative process rather than the mechanics of the workshop.

03 Jul 2017

Commercial and University Collaboration

The client identified a 3-way partnership opportunity in which the client (an ingredient manufacturer) would invest in scientific research to be conducted at a selected University, with the participation of the branded food in which the ingredient was consumed.  The University would benefit by enabling their staff and students to conduct clinical trials which advanced human nutrition scientific knowledge and provided hands-on experience for students.  In return, the client would be able to research specific outcomes related to the ingredients they promote, while the brand marketer would receive clinical evidence for label claims.  Concision was enlisted to support in the meetings in which the 3 parties would collaborate.  The brief was to create visual (backdrops, presentations, posters), verbal (speech writing, key messages, Q&A), and written (agendas, invitations, certificates, press releases) collateral material to ensure all three parties interacted with a common understanding of the partnership framework of the partnership.  The client has conducted the partnership for the past three years with great success and recognition for the endeavour.

03 Jul 2017

Capital Investment for Research

The client was being asked to provide two new powdered products to an incumbent customer.  The spray drier and agglomerator in service at their USA facility was not sized to handle the additional demand from the customer.  Instead of simply investing in the equipment on their own and potentially over or under-sizing it, the client enlisted Concision to evaluate and prepare a proposal for the customer in which they would jointly invest in the equipment.  This proposal required confidentiality agreements, volumetric contracts and supply guarantees by both parties, plus technical scope to be detailed and agreed.  The project spanned 6 months to get all aspects of the agreement finalized and co-investment approved. Concision assisted by interfacing with both parties and documenting all aspects of the agreement for approval.

03 Jul 2017

Government & Industry Co-Investment

The client had a fantastic research concept that would leverage a production nuisance to create a revenue stream, but was unable to draw together a funding pitch package.  It was critical that the investment pitch be seriously considered by the board, given that the idea was outside their target market.  Several research experts were involved in the project, both employees and external parties and government agencies.  As a result, the project had several captains.  Concision was brought in to untangle the threads, and create a concise and compelling story for board members to approve.  The finished document, only 14 pages in length, comprised the refinement of over 380 pages of reports, condensing hours of expert interviews and detailed technical documents into a simple, yet thoroughly comprehensive and fully referenced document that garnered the trust and approval at the highest levels in the organization.  The project was approved and went on to with the Western Australia Premier’s Award for Developing the Economy.

03 Jul 2017

Partnership Value Supplement Industry

The client was faced with an on-line reverse auction for supplying their ingredients to a dietary supplement brand marketer.  Based on all the value-added services they provided, this reverse-auction opportunity felt more like a disaster.  The client had a prescribed time in which they could enter their value-added services into character-limited fields.  The forms would be opened 2 days prior to the reverse auction.  They had the option to leave fields blank, but they needed each word to express volumes about the value they deliver.  Concision orchestrated the submission by conducting a key staff audit of services, products and offerings from the client including numerous items the client regarded as standard, but which were not standard across their competition.  Concision drafted all the form fields prior to access day and the content was internally approved.  When the forms were open on-line, the client had exactly what was required to fill in the forms, allowing them to focus solely on creating a mutually-beneficial price offering.  At the end of reverse auction, the client retained his volume with the customer and were praised as the only supplier that seemed to understand the entire process.  Concision is called concision because it concisely conveys immense value, but only by first listening very carefully.

03 Jul 2017

Total Partnership Value Food Industry

The client was presented with an opportunity to win over 3 Million AUD in annual business with a leading Australian food manufacturer.  They understood they would likely lose the bid if it was purely based on price.  The client utilized Concision to create a Total Partnership Value bid package.  This package was not only based on the current business at stake, but summarized a decade of partnership touch-points between the client and the customer.   Historical relationships are not always relevant in today’s “what have you done for me lately” market, but the relationships between the client and customer that went all the way to the board level surprised many of the decision-makers.  In addition, the total value offering to the client, when distilled to dollar valuations, clearly outperformed the competition.  The cherry on top was the element of future strategic alliances that, until the advent of the bid package, the client had not fully considered.  The client won the contract for the business and was absolutely delighted with the accurate, creative and inclusive nature of the bid pitch package. Format of deliverable, 34-page PowerPoint deck, plus presentation video with scripts from Concision to coach those who would deliver it.

03 Jul 2017

Strategic Business
Transformation

The client expressed the need to cease running from one urgent project to another within marketing.  They lacked a cohesive game plan for the next 5 years in terms of highest potential segments upon which marketing and sales should focus.  Concision mapped out a 5-year marketing strategy in line with the overall business strategy, which was purely financial in nature.  The plan included the best segments to focus upon given their portfolio, strengths, geographic coverage, supply chain constraints, plus current and future human resources.  Where opportunities existed, but were outside their reach, they were highlighted with a framework of investment required to win.  Based on the brief, this strategy focused heavily on short-term wins in marketing to enable the existing sales staff to sell the existing portfolio.  The clarity delivered to the client was a “breath of fresh air” due to its pragmatic approach.  The client reported having, for the first time, a specific plan with very achievable stepping stones upon which to outlay employees’ goals.  Delivered in Word document and PowerPoint format for pitching the implementation to business management. Both documents were conveyed personally by Concision to management.