Rethinking Consultative Brand Services for the 21st Century

Key Takeaways

Client: Landor 
Challenge: Need to extend client relationships and offer an alternative to declining interest in traditional service offerings
Solution: Redeveloped the implementation and activation service offering
Result: New business wins and an immediate increase in overall company revenue

Widely considered to be the original branding firm, Landor remains one of the largest and most successful consultancies in the world. Following a strategic realignment of the offices, I took on the role of Director of Brand Implementation, New York. I was tasked with rebuilding the services and department  from the ground up. I modernized the offer to be less executional and more consultative in nature. 

At the time, the industry was all too aware of client concerns that branding firms wanted to deliver “a $500,000 PDF” of brand guidelines. Instead of having an implementation department that operated like an ad agency studio, I ran the department as an advisory service that helped clients plan and manage their brands. By working with clients to assess their needs, resources, and plans for their brands, the offer was transformed into a fully featured consultative service with a suite of products and offerings. 

As the head of the department, I was responsible for the P&L of the department and ensuring it met growth targets. The new offer was a major shift for the company, and required that I develop a value proposition and services overview for internal and external audiences. This led the way to easily securing organic growth from existing clients (Altria, Janssen), new business wins (S&P Global, Delphi), and extended engagements (FannieMae, Leviton, and New York Life). Following the success of the department, the offer I developed became a model for other Landor offices including San Francisco and Mexico city.

To meet the new expectations and value proposition, I planned a new team structure and staffed it to be an agile group of consultants and specialists. Beginning with a negative P&L, I was able to grow it to be $1.5MM within 6 months. Multiple ongoing projects new business wins, and a deep pipeline led to sustainable growth in year-over-year income under my leadership with projections for significant growth.