Case study: getting marketing moving for Roger Steare Consulting
Roger Steare Consulting is a leading UK business ethics consultancy. Its clients include scarily large investment banks, global IT firms and numerous heavyweight financial institutions. Each client has a similar objective: to ensure the ethical rhetoric described in their brochure/on their website/through their values is reflected in the actual behaviour of their people.
Roger Steare and accredited associate consultants deliver the proprietary ‘ethicability’ approach to businesses through masterclasses, coaching and via the recently published book, Ethicability.
Whilst Roger Steare Consulting grew steadily by word of mouth, a clear need emerged to systematise the process by which potential clients become engaged in the business and ultimately convert into paying clients.
The challenges of marketing an innovative consultancy
- Like many who are rapidly developing a ‘guru’ status, Roger Steare Consulting benefited from lots of referrals but couldn’t control the volume or type.
- The subject of ethics in business is highly topical and of great interest to big businesses. This ensured a steady stream of interest but resulted in relative difficulty in gaining agreement to go ahead with specific projects involving Roger Steare Consulting’s innovative programme and consultancy. The sales cycle in some cases is as long as 3 years!
- A finite budget and time bank meant that a good marketing plan was required to make the best possible use of the resources available.
- Busy consultants needed a simple activity plan which was realistic and not too noisy among important client responsibilities
How we created a grand plan
Onefish Twofish was commissioned to draw up a marketing plan which would address the client acquisition challenge without bringing the whole business to a standstill. Because of its deep insight into B2B consultancy marketing, Onefish Twofish was also tasked with bringing innovative ideas to the table which would engage the specific target audience in a fresh way.
The first step was to brainstorm a wide range of ideas and options; the more diverse the better. From here a shortlist was created. Great ideas with immediately clear value were explored more deeply (for example, creation of an alumnus for all ethicability delegates). Ideas which were not a good fit for this year’s plan were held over (for example, hiring actors to read and loudly discuss supersized copies of the ethicability book in Canary Wharf).
Equal emphasis was given to marketing strategy and tactics, including consideration of whether a strong positioning statement should be created before approaching the market or after a period of testing.
The next step was to create a work plan for Roger Steare Consulting based on the short-listed activities. Onefish Twofish has no templated ‘house style’ for creating a marketing plan. Of the nine complete plans produced in 2006, no two have been similar in format or content. All are created in the most culturally acceptable way for each specific business. From highly visual to ‘choose your own adventure’ spreadsheets to detailed reports, Onefish Twofish marketing plans are intended to help organisations make good decisions and execute their plan in a way that suits them.
Roger Steare Consulting received an Excel work plan which made budget and resource allocation easy. In addition, a supporting Word document outlined options for achieving each objective (for example a range of ways of sending email newsletters, specifying cost and functionality trade-offs).
Is it working?
The brainstorming and shortlisting process was a great way to shape the marketing plan. Some of the front-runner ideas lost their sparkle as the budget and resource considerations were compared with other options. Conversely other ‘mousy quiet’ ideas gained confidence and are proving strong communication channels. The Roger Steare Consulting marketing plan punches above its weight and outclasses the approach of many larger players in sophistication and innovation.
And for any given day, the business is clear about what should be happening and how. Good stuff.