A past private equity client retained us to help them find a Chief Marketing Officer for a nutritional supplements business they had acquired. From approval of the spec to candidate acceptance – four weeks. Based on that performance we were retained to find: the head of supply chain, the Chief Science Officer and an additional marketing manager. Because we understood the needs of the company and the opportunity it offered, we not only delivered on all three of these searches in short order, the talent we found was such a good match that the company hired a second product development executive and a second marketing manager from the candidates presented.
Case Studies
We Know Our Clients’ Needs and Over-Deliver
Bringing Classic Marketing Skills To New Spaces
A Big Ten university's graduate business school recognized the need to bring marketing skills and disciplines to its own recruiting. Our partner was engaged to find a proven professional from the university space. However, by understanding the ultimate needs of the school, he recommended a much different approach -- a consumer products and services executive with a strong client service pedigree. The consumer skills gave the college what it needed. The client services skills equipped him to navigate the university environment.
Building Long-Term Relationships
A client with strong database capabilities decided it needed to do a better job of adding value for its customer base of high-end retailers. Our partner was brought in to find a Vice President who not only knew database marketing and analytics, but had also cut his/her teeth in classic packaged goods marketing in order to bring a strong brand perspective to the business. The winning candidate was so highly regarded and the process was so thorough that we have been retained to work in two other divisions for this client with continued successes.
Honest Counsel Leads To Better Selections
A major consumer hardgoods company considered several search consultants to help them find a new Chief Marketing Officer. The original spec called for someone with a long history in retail marketing. In discussing the business in more detail, however, our partner pointed out critical elements of their business and suggested a new direction – a direct marketing expert with strong, classic brand marketing experience to not only grow the core business, but also extend the business beyond its core.
Our partner won the search, identified the new CMO in a matter of weeks and then was retained to help develop the company’s strategic plan and build out the marketing organization.
Find The Right Talent and Then Deliver It
One of the largest brewers in the world believed that in order to turn around its once powerful business it needed to upgrade both its marketing and sales organizations. Our partner was brought in to find a new Chief Marketing Officer and several marketing directors/VPs.
We recognized that in addition to classic marketing skills, the candidates most likely to succeed would be those who knew (a) the issues facing “badge” brands with emotional sales, and (b) the ins and outs of multi-tiered distribution. As a result, we extended our search beyond other beer brands to include soft drinks, spirits, even direct-store-door brands.
We not only filled the first two director positions in a matter of weeks, but also identified a candidate who filled yet another group marketing role. Further, we were asked to take on three new roles, including key sales needs.
Beyond that, faced with the critical CMO search, we were able to win over the client’s number one choice… despite the fact that he turned down the job three different times. He has since been promoted to CEO of the company.
Taking The Broad View Adds Maximum Value
A major international industrial company decided it was essential to introduce market-based management to their broad and complex organization. They recognized they needed to bring in classically trained marketers to help teach and mentor the new marketing function. Our partner was brought in as the exclusive search consultant for three of the five divisions.
Before starting the search process, he identified a critical problem… company management had no experience in recruiting and selecting marketing talent. As a result, he developed a new marketing recruiting process for the company and it became a formal part of their Human Resources methodology.
Over a two-year period, he managed over twenty projects for the company across all of its divisions and continued to support the client for an additional eight years.