Wharton Strategic Services' work has covered virtually every aspect of consumer and b-to-b direct marketing strategy in customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty.

Projects ranged from just a few days to an entire year. Most required our analytical expertise and our ability to deliver key insights into our clients’ situations. Very often, we needed to apply best practices and recommend state-of-the-art techniques, and connect our clients to our large network of contacts at major brands, vendor companies, and specialized service providers.

   Analyzed competitive post-sale services for a consumer products company. We researched offerings across multiple companies and categories, and identified and prioritized gaps in the client’s lineup. We also recommended direct marketing techniques for building awareness and trial of client’s offerings among customers most likely to respond.

   Identified factors common to the best customers of a financial institution and assessed their implications. We hypothesized reasons for these customers’ behavior and recommended market research strategies for confirming them. We also recommended direct marketing strategies for ensuring these profitable customers remain loyal and for identifying other customers with the potential to become the best.

   Led the market research effort for a new financial data service. We hypothesized the reaction of decision makers in several key segments and created in-depth one-to-one interviews to validate them, recruiting dozens of our personal contacts as participants. We found and prioritized the drivers of purchase behavior and recommended steps for our client to sell more effectively.

   Created a direct-to-consumer marketing plan for an early-stage consumer services company with a challenging cost-per-customer acquisition goal. We analyzed existing primary and secondary research and recommended positioning, messaging, and cost-effective advertising and PR testing techniques.

   Headed a year-long strategic planning process for the CRM division of a consumer products company. Used competitive and industry trends to propose a vision for transforming how consumer data was gathered, cared for, and used in the organization and improving the ROI on the company’s CRM expenditures. We built a cohesive plan for achieving the vision in the company’s call center and in customer communications.

   Managed the creation of a comprehensive online direct marketing “university” for a multi-billion dollar company whose marketing staff had little experience in theory and practice. We developed the curriculum, sourced content, and created tutorials.

   Devised customer acquisition strategy, including market research, positioning and site development for a service aimed at very high net worth individuals. We analyzed competitive offerings and online customer experiences, reviewed secondary research, interviewed top-performing brokers about their lead generation needs. We also briefed and managed the company’s ad agencies and market research firms for several million dollars’ worth of projects.

   Defined a consumer research strategy for a popular consumer rewards program. We audited several years of consumer research and interviewed key agency and client staff to identify and analyze knowledge gaps.

   Led strategic planning process for around twenty B2B direct marketing projects given to an ad agency by its most important technology client. We researched the competitive strengths and weaknesses of the client’s products and identified key drivers of purchase behavior by the targeted customer group. We created briefing documents to ensure that creative teams devised on-strategy advertising that was cohesive with the client’s overall positioning.