The Branddriven Consulting Firm Ponte Vedra Beach FL

The Brand-driven Consulting Firm… Ponte Vedra Beach, FL November 13, 2014 PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL

SUBSECTION TITLE Polling Question… To what extent would you say your firm has “a brand? ” 1 2 3 We don’t really have a brand. It’s basically our company name 4 5 6 7 We have a brand. It has meaning beyond merely the name of our company 8 10 We have a very strong brand. It differentiates us in the marketplace Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 9 2

SUBSECTION TITLE Myths I hope to debunk … Brands are just for the big guys (Mc. Kinsey, BCG, Accenture) Brand is all about communications (logo, tagline, visual identity) Building strong brands costs millions of dollars…takes many years Being highly specialized is suicide for a small consulting firm If we’re small, it’s all about personal brands—not the firm’s brand Social Media is not relevant/effective in professional services Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 3

SUBSECTION TITLE Recent Full. Surge Research Q: Compared to your competitors, how would you rate your company’s brand-building capabilities? A: A great deal stronger than our competitors 79% more likely to agree B 2 B >15% 3 -year CAGR Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 4

SUBSECTION TITLE A brand is NOT A Name A Logo A Symbol A Product A Tagline An Ad Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 5

A brand is…your strongest initial “reason to believe” SUBSECTION TITLE Relative Influence Awareness Consulting Firm’s Brand Consideration Engagement Loyalty Partners’ Relationships Advocacy Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 6

A brand is…a filter for strategic decision-making Questions Brand Strategy Filter SUBSECTION TITLE Answers Which clients/prospects should I target? High-growth, middlemarket companies in the technology sector What should my service offerings be? Business strategy, supply chain, change management What is my ideal engagement model? Highly iterative processes, deep client integration What kind of experience do I want for my clients? High-touch, senior partner involvement, knowledge transfer Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 7

SUBSECTION TITLE A brand is…the basis for operationalizing your strategy Practice Areas Human Capital Knowledge Management Thought Leadership Brand Strategy Intellectual Capital Expertise Marketing Client Experience Market Offerings Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 8

Operationalizing brand strategy—Illustrated SUBSECTION TITLE Cross-functional talent capable of working with ambiguity and across complex issue sets… Proprietary IP and methodologies that are flexible enough to accommodate multiple (often conflicting) issues… Lateral, big picture thinkers who “connect the dots, ” and see multidiscipline integration opportunities not evident to others… Provocative points of view that challenge conventional wisdom and that break down artificial, crossfunctional silos… “Comprehensive Solutions…” Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 9

SUBSECTION TITLE Case Study “How we’ve begun to build our firm’s brand” Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 10

SUBSECTION TITLE Our Journey… Brand Strategy Target Selection Due Diligence Voice of the Client Brand Positioning Brand Operationalization Practices & Offerings Client Experience Engagement Model Pricing Structure Content/A ssets Performance Management Strategic Intent Go-to-Market Strategy Professional Associations Speaking Engagements Proprietary Research Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL Content/ Social 11

SUBSECTION TITLE Due Diligence Client Interviews Strategic Review Mapping & Mood Boards 2014 Full. Surge Business & Marketing Plan Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 12

SUBSECTION TITLE Polling Question… How would you describe your approach to “targeting clients? ” 1 2 3 It’s broad—we sell to pretty much anyone willing/able to buy 4 5 6 7 So-so…we target companies, but not individual buyers (or vice-versa) 8 10 It’s very specific—we pursue certain buyers w/in select companies Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 9 13

SUBSECTION TITLE Target Selection “The essence of strategy is sacrifice” —Michael Porter Our Target Client Sectors Companies • Professional Services • Middle Market Businesses • Consumer Goods • Fortune 1000 Levels Mindset* • Marketing • VP and above • General Management • Corp/BU Leader • Obsessed with driving business growth Functions • Healthcare *This dimension has the potential to trump all others Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 14

SUBSECTION TITLE Brand Positioning Target Growth-driven brand marketing executives Frame of Reference A strategic consultancy Benefit Helps clients achieve enduring business growth through brand-building, marketing and innovation Reasons To Believe Strategy-first Philosophy on Brand • View brand as a lens for business strategy Zero-in on Issues that Matter Most • Relentless focus on only core business issues Dedicated, Senior-Partner Teams • Highly experienced and engaged delivery team Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL Flexible Business Model • Adaptable to clients’ organizational realities 15

SUBSECTION TITLE Practices/Offerings Brand Marketing Innovation Establish and maintain meaningful and longlasting customer relationships Reinforce the value customers see in your brands and boost financial performance Ensure brands maintain relevance, even in the face of challenging marketplace dynamics • Brand Positioning • Segmentation • Demand Generation • Brand Architecture • Value Proposition • Product Development • Brand Extendibility • GTM Strategy • Brand Metrics • Experience Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 16

SUBSECTION TITLE Client Experience Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 17

SUBSECTION TITLE Engagement Model Project Approach: Client Integration: • Voice of Customer (VOC) orientation • High degree of client integration (vs. “black box”) • Iterative processes • Senior-level sponsor and ongoing involvement Staffing Configuration: • Small teams of highly experienced and deeply engaged senior partners • 25 -50% dedicated core team member Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 18

SUBSECTION TITLE Pricing Structure/Fees Philosophical Approach: For Innovation Work: • Price based on value of work to client (as opposed to cost of work to Full. Surge) • Consider contingency-based fee structure Terms: • Fixed Fees based on agreed-upon SOW (as opposed to Hourly Rates) • Based on pre-determined in-market metrics • Accounts for downside and upside potentials Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 19

SUBSECTION TITLE Content/Assets Case Studies Articles/Papers 32 28 Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL Presentations 16 20

SUBSECTION TITLE Content/Assets (cont’d) Blog Guest Posts Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 21

SUBSECTION TITLE Performance Measurement Behavior Metrics Perception Metrics Performance Metrics Articles/Papers Awareness Revenue Presentations Consideration Profitability Intellectual Property Brand Associations Bus. Development Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 22

SUBSECTION TITLE Go-to-Market Strategy 1 2 Professional Associations 3 Speaking Engagements 4 Proprietary Research/IP Content Marketing/Social Media Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 23

SUBSECTION TITLE Polling Question… How well does your firm market itself today? 1 2 3 Not well…we don’t do very much in the way of marketing 4 5 6 So-so…we speak and write, but don’t do much online (or vice-versa) 7 8 10 Extremely well…we’re active in both traditional and online marketing Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 9 24

1) Professional Associations Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL SUBSECTION TITLE 25

SUBSECTION TITLE 2) Speaking Engagements Keynotes, Presentations, Workshops, Tutorials, Webinars Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 26

SUBSECTION TITLE 3) Proprietary Research/IP Target: Brand Marketing Executives Research Objective: How do Brand, Marketing and Innovation drive Growth? Cost: ~$7, 500 541 Respondents 16 In-depth Interviews 79% + 21% Growth Gurus >15% 3 -yr CAGR All Others Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 27

SUBSECTION TITLE 3) Proprietary Research/IP (cont’d) 6 -month Editorial Calendar Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 28

SUBSECTION TITLE 4) Social Media Groups Analytics Content Events Blog Posts Content Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 29

VERY Preliminary (2 -month) Results SUBSECTION TITLE Since social campaign began in September 2014… Online and social activity has driven NEW visitors • 81% increase in session traffic in September • Total referring domains improved 200% in September and October • Total referring pages improved 150% in September and October • Backlink domain rank increased from 36 to 46 (30– 70 = average) • Domain rank is equal to or greater than competitive benchmarks • Several high-potential, qualified client leads Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 30

SUBSECTION TITLE Lessons Learned • For a small consulting firm, your brand is your business o It should ultimately define and drive everything you do • Voice of the Client (VOC) is critical o You need independent, objective, and unfiltered input from the market • You need to “sacrifice” to win o Define your expertise narrowly…and dominate it • Choose your agency/consulting partners carefully o They need to really understand your business • You need to have a strong online/digital profile and presence o Although engagements aren’t won online, they can easily be lost online Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 31

SUBSECTION TITLE 1603 Orrington Ave. Suite 600 Evanston, IL 60201 T 312. 239. 8985 mduckler@fullsurge. com www. fullsurge. com Association of Management Consulting Firms PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL 32