Client industry report

Melanie Berkowitz, Liam Cotter, Addae Melhuish & Harding Fears III

UNCLE TREY & THE LOOSE CANNONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Describing the Industry

Background 3 Industry 3Firm 4

Objective 4

Audience 4 Target 5Messaging 5Communication Vehciles For St. Louis 5

Online 5Proposals 5Word of Mouth 6

Internal 6 Employees 6Geography 6Products and Services 6

External 7 Competition 7

Booz Allen Hamilton 7Deloitte 7Prospect Infosys 8Numerof & Associates 8

Community Service 8

Describing the Client

Target Audience groups 9 CLimbers 9Legacies 9

Demographics 9

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Age 10Income 10Household/Family 10Education 10

Psychographics 11 Religion 11Cultural Factors- Regional Characteristics 11Personality/Activities 12

Saint Louis Sports 12Grilling/BBQ 12Beer Culture 12

Motivators 13 Achievement/Drive 13Relationship 13Knowledge/ fulfillment 13Helping others 14

Summary of target audience 14 Climbers 14Legacies 14

Communication Strategy

Social Media 15 Virtual Assistant 15Vehicles 15

Facebook 15Twitter 17

Personal Interaction/ Networking Events 19 Vehicles 19

Personal Invitations 19Promoting the Company 20

Community Building 22 Vehicles 22

E-vites 22Phone Call to secretary 23

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Works Cited 24

DESCRIBING THE INDUSTRY

BACKGROUND

INDUSTRY

The Consulting Industry is a broad industry that helps companies solve internal or external problems. There are many different types of consulting, but the most common one is Management Consulting. Management Consulting started in the mid 1920’s by McKinsey & Company. These first companies pioneered the first uses of many analytic tools in business for problem solving (Consulting Industry Overview). By the 1990’s the consulting industry was growing, which led to the perfect opportunity for North Highland Consulting to enter the industry.

FIRM

North Highland Consulting is a company that was created to allow a strong work-life balance. Dave Peterson was tired of leaving his family for work. He worked for a large consulting company where he was constantly traveling. In 1992, he decided to start his own consulting company in his current city of Atlanta, GA. The general premise of his company was to “franchise” small boutique consulting firms. Dave and his partners decided they were only going to work with clients who were a reasonable distance away. Since they stayed in the same area, it helped them create strong, long lasting relationships with many companies within their city. Their concept proved extremely successful and they decided to expand to different cities across the United States, and eventually to different offices around the world. They currently have 24 offices in the USA and the UK (North Highland Worldwide Consulting).

OBJECTIVE

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North Highland consulting opened up their St. Louis office over 4 years ago, yet they are still relatively unknown. They have had many successful projects with well-known clients but they work to become the company that businesses who need consulting services go to. They want to be the preferred choice among successful businesses who need consulting services. They want a high ROI (Return on Investment) with the funds that are being put into the company to gain preference and presence. They also want to adhere to the standards of the North Highland brand (NH Presentation, 2015).

AUDIENCE

TARGET

North Highland’s Target Audience

Over $500 million in revenue. Looking for a personalized solution to their problem. Large companies that regularly need North Highland’s services. Smaller companies that need services every 3 or 4 years. Energy & Services, Healthcare, Financial Services, Life Sciences, Public

Sector, Media & Entertainment, Retail, and Transportation (North Highland Worldwide Consulting).

MESSAGING

Philosophy of putting their clients first. Goals are to inspire, transform, challenge

and disrupt to create the best solutions. Value interactions with clients and

guarantee their work. 100% recommended by previous

customers.

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COMMUNICATION VEHCILES FOR ST. LOUIS

ONLINE

Potential clients will likely visit its webpage before contacting the company. Overall feel of website will determine a client’s initial perception. North Highland website gives off a very competent, yet global feel.

PROPOSALS

North Highland can earn clients by winning proposals. Only 10% of the St. Louis’s office’s work comes from request proposals. (NH

Presentation, 2015).

WORD OF MOUTH

St. Louis business community revolves around word of mouth communication.

Relationships and the quality of work it gives to them will determine its reputation.

Most important communication vehicle to reach new clients in the St. Louis area.

INTERNAL

EMPLOYEES

Consulting Magazine’s “Best firm to work for” every year since 2006. 15 employees working there whom all own a share of the company. Maintain own profit and loss statement. Responsible for how a specific office operates. Allocate funds for their employees to attend training workshops. Dedicated group of employees in each office (NH Presentation, 2015).

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Pushing for more senior consultants with an MBA. Opportunities also available to undergraduate students (North Highland

Worldwide Consulting).

GEOGRAPHY

The St. Louis market is filled with a high number of start up companies.

Major focuses of the St. Louis market are Financial, Healthcare and Life Sciences.

75% of the work done in St. Louis for North Highland is in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industries.

In 2011, St. Louis had a Gross Metropolitan Product of $133.1 billion, making it the 21st highest GMP in the United States.

Mississippi River and Missouri rivers make it a prime shipping location.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

North Highland solves their client’s problem by leveraging 5 different things:

1. Consulting2. Marketing3. Analytics

4. Managed Services 5. Staffing

North Highland has their own marketing company known as Sparks Grow and their job is to both market North Highland and do marketing work for their clients. The consultants use analytics to track the changes they made through concrete evidence, and in this case monitoring data. North Highland also can bring in specific individuals to work with the client and provide for certain needs of the client. While they use these specific tools to solve many of their client’s problems, they never solve the same problem twice (NH Presentation, 2015). North Highland Consulting offers services in a variety of industries including Energy & Services, Healthcare,

“The collaborative team is known for being Innovative, trusted advisors focused on challenging their partners to take their business to the next level while delivering superior work.”

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Financial Services, Life Sciences, Public Sector, Media & Entertainment, Retail, and Transportation (North Highland Worldwide Consulting).

EXTERNAL

COMPETITION

North Highland in terms of competitors is stuck in the middle; they are neither a huge “Big 5” consulting firm nor a local small boutique firm (NH Presentation, 2015). The main competitors they have within St. Louis are large consulting firms with offices based here, this includes Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Company and Deloitte.

BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON

Fortune 500 company. Leader in the fields of consulting,

technology and engineering. Provide services to US Government. Focus on strong client relationships due to their consulting background and

collaborative nature of employees (Booz Allen Hamilton Fact Sheet, 2015). Larger company than North Highland.

DELOITTE

60 offices around the world and approximately 29,000 employees. Vision is to “aspire to be the Standard of Excellence, the first choice of the

most sought-after clients and talent”. Cares about reputation and has high levels of

integrity in the work that it does. Culture of “borderless collegiality”, allowing

employees from different places to meet and Deloitte thinks of this as a competitive advantage. The commitment they have is on

Reach people far away and provide them with their services (Deloitte Consulting, 2015).

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PROSPECT INFOSYS

It seems as if many of the boutique consulting firms in St. Louis are being overshadowed by large consulting firms with multiple office locations. One boutique firm that North Highland may compete with is Prospect Infosys. Prospect Infosys is an

IT consulting company with its headquarters in St. Louis.

Connections within the St. Louis area that may compete with North Highland because of their presence and original location.

Learns about the business they are working with and then adapts their technology and creates personalized solutions for companies (Prospect Infosys About Us, 2015).

NUMEROF & ASSOCIATES

St. Louis based strategy consulting firm specializing in Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Devices.

Global company, but its St. Louis headquarters and focus within the major St. Louis industries make it boutique-like.

Focused expertise in the Healthcare industry.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Employees in the St. Louis area also enjoy giving back to their community. Nationally, North Highland is partnered with United Way. Every year, North Highland’s St. Louis office holds an annual kickoff event to tell the St. Louis communities what organizations they are working with. Their goal is to make the community a better place. This year on May 16, 2015, North Highland hosted its annual Day of Giving Back. Employees volunteered with local organizations for the day to give back to the communities they work in. The organizations this year that they chose to give back to were mostly shelters, food

“Giving back means everything to us.”

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banks and housing organizations (North Highland Hosts Annual Day of Giving Back, 2015).

DESCRIBING THE CLIENTOne of North Highland’s main keys to success in St. Louis is accurately identifying its target customer. North Highland wants clients who value their unique services and advantages over the competition’s. We believe that North Highland should focus its efforts on two unique personal demographics.

TARGET AUDIENCE GROUPS

The audience of North Highland is split into two groups. Each group has their own distinctive characteristics which influence north Highland’s ability to connect through marketing and communication channels.

CLIMBERS

The first demographic is a younger client aged 30-45. This demographic is mostly short term result driven, and cares a lot about efficient and professional service

LEGACIES

The second demographic is age 45-60 and is more focused on their legacy. Having been an important player in their respective industries for a while, this demographic is more concerned with keeping their firm relevant in the future.

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DEMOGRAPHICS

AGE

The age groups of St. Louis are similar to those of the United States (Demographics).

INCOME

Median income within St. Louis county: $58,910 Mean value of owner occupied housing units within St. Louis County:

$174,500 (United States Census Bureau)

HOUSEHOLD/FAMILY

Average household in St. Louis County: 2.43 people Average family size in St. Louis County: 3.15 people Percentage of people living in St. Louis county for over a year: 86.2%

(United States Census Bureau).

EDUCATION Percentage of people in St. Louis County ages 25+ with a high school

degree: 92.1%

6%13%

14%

13%13%

14%

12%

13%

Age Demographics in the U.S.A.

Under 5 5 to 14 15 to 24 25 to 3435 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+

6%13%

13%

13%

13%

15%

13%

14%

Age Demographics in St. Louis

Under 5 5 to 14 15 to 24 25 to 34

35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+

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Percentage of people in St. Louis County ages 25+ with a bachelor’s degree: 40.6%

Percentage of people nationally ages 25+ with a high school degree: 86.0%

Percentage of people nationally ages 25+ with a bachelor’s degree: 28.8% (United States Census Bureau).

“Climber” Client Smaller than average family size. Looking to increase income and move up in the business world. More likely to take risks.

“Legacy” Client Late high-school age or college age children Want to leave business world on a positive Looking forward to retirement

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

RELIGION

St. Louis has a large Catholic population. Taking 15% of the population belonging to a denomination, Catholicism is the most prevalent group in St. Louis. Additionally, 51% of Catholics make above $75,000 per-year which makes them one of the highest earning religious groups in St. Louis (Pew Forum, 2008). There has been an 80% increase from 2000 to 2010 in those who don’t associate with a particular religion (City Data). There has also been a 54% increase in the amount of religious congregations within St. Louis, which could increase the amount of those practicing any religion within the St. Louis area in the future. The Faith Church is a protestant church in St. Louis that has 25,000 members, making it one of the largest protestant churches in the United States (Faith Church).

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CULTURAL FACTORS- REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

St. Louis’ location in confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and on the Mason/Dixon line provide a unique economic environment. Being at the confluence of three rivers makes St. Louis a major port city. As the “Gateway to the West”, St. Louis sits right in between the South and the Midwest, creating a unique culture for the metro area. There is a large emphasis on the community and relationships within St. Louis as a whole. The relationships within the St. Louis area are vital to many businesses, which is very similar to an element in southern culture. Another emphasis is on the Midwestern hospitality that St. Louis prides itself on. Comfort is being given to individuals who visit the city, however, long-term residents have a reputation of being “cliquish” and exclusive.

PERSONALITY/ACTIVITIES

Saint Louis’s strong sense of community creates an excellent environment for creating and fostering strong relationships. The community culture rewards firms who embrace and support their community. Three cultural epicenters to target are:

SAINT LOUIS SPORTS

The Cardinals are the backbone of the Saint Louis Identity. Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals, seats 3.5 million people per year. That’s roughly 10 times the population of the City St. Louis. and half of Missouri as a whole (United States Census Bureau). North Highland can use the infrastructure surrounding sports to reach out to new clients and maintain bonds with past customers (St. Louis Cardinals Attendance Data).

GRILLING/BBQ

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Saint Louis has a well established Barbeque culture. This year, Tripadvisor, put two Saint Louis restaurants in their top ten barbeque destinations nationwide. Missouri also ranked 3rd in the Nation for barbeque statewide (Wires).

BEER CULTURE

Anheuser Busch’s Brewery opened in 1852 and is considered a National Historic Landmark. It is a huge part of St. Louis culture, as is Anheuser Busch InBev in general. Anheuser Busch announced in late 2014 that it would be moving its Sales and Marketing to New York.   Bill Finnie worked for AB for 26 years and states that he “feels that AB's production at the brewery is one of its most valuable assets and would likely never leave St. Louis. He says if anything, the sales and marketing success in NYC will ensure production job security at the brewery.” Anheuser Busch InBev’s beer and other beverages are a St. Louis staple (Seith, 2014).

MOTIVATORS

ACHIEVEMENT/DRIVE

Every client North Highland works with is looking to increase their company’s performance. A CEO that reaches out to North Highland may want to increase profit to secure his or her position in front of shareholders. A mid-level manager who contacts a consulting firm may be looking for promotion. Either way, North Highland’s job is to develop strategies to increase company performance. Before beginning work on a project, North Highland

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should outline a company’s specific goal and align all work to reaching that. Again, more Group 1.

RELATIONSHIP

St. Louis’s cultural environment and “old money” economy creates a business atmosphere dependent on relationship quality. As a motivator, relationships emphasize integrity and consistency above all. North Highland should focus on creating a sustaining, long-term partnership with firms that will reap benefits in the future. Beyond business quality, this requires that North Highland consultants act as personable as possible and treat everyone from the janitor to the CEO with utmost respect. “Don’t be a jerk” needs to be taken a step further. Transform this into “be a gentleman/lady.” Probably more Group 2, as they look to find trustworthy colleagues to pass their legacy on to.

KNOWLEDGE/ FULFILLMENT

North Highland teaches as well as advises. North Highland encourages its employees to continue learning about the consulting world. This is also true for many of the companies that North Highland works with. Their clients want to gain knowledge to further their career. The North Highland clients also want to have large amounts of knowledge in their current position at work to achieve maximum performance. Group 1 is going to be looking for knowledge to further their career.

HELPING OTHERS

Contributing to the community creates a positive identity among St. Louis businesses. Clients care strongly about the St. Louis community, and would value any efforts by North Highland to get involved. Nationally, North Highland is affiliated with United Way. At the local level, North Highland

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chooses one or two community service organizations to work with. By doing this, North Highland distinguishes itself from other national consulting firms. More Group 2, as they will be looking to give back to the community.

SUMMARY OF TARGET AUDIENCE

The audience of North Highland is split into two groups. Each group has their own distinctive characteristics which influence north Highland’s ability to connect through marketing and communication channels.

CLIMBERS

The first demographic is a younger client aged 30-40. This demographic is mostly short term result driven, and cares a lot about efficient and professional service. This demographic is also socially active in the Saint-Louis community, allowing North Highland to use the Cardinal games or similar public events to connect to the consumer.

LEGACIES

The second demographic is age 50-60 and is more focused on their legacy. Having been an important player in their respective industries for a while, this demographic is more concerned with keeping their firm relevant in the future than boosting short term profits. North Highland can target this demographic through the creation of long lasting relationships and innovations through technology.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY There are three main platforms we plan on using for the communication Strategies.

1. Social Media

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2. Personal Interaction/Networking Events3. Community Building

SOCIAL MEDIA

We plan on creating a Facebook and a Twitter page for North Highland STL. The Facebook can be used for advertising the events that North Highland STL puts on and posting pictures from this event. The Twitter account will be used for a more personal interaction. This account can follow potential clients, post updates on the St. Louis office and talk about current events or post links to interesting articles. It allows for that initial and hopefully continuous connection North Highland has with their clients.

VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

We’ve identified a variety of solutions for North Highland to increase its presence and preference in the St. Louis market including Social Media, Networking Events, and Community Service. The most efficient and cost effective way to communicate through these vehicles would be to hire a virtual assistant.

All of the work needed to operate these vehicles takes up around 5 hours a week. The creation of our invites and updating of social media pages can easily be done remotely. For a quality virtual assistant, costs would be around $16 an hour. (Virtual Assistant Salary)

VEHICLES

FACEBOOK Statistics:

58% of users are Facebook friends with their work colleagues 73% of people aged 30-49 use Facebook (Duggan, 2015)

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Example Page:

Example Posts:

73%

27%

30-49 Years Old

Use FacebookDon't Use Facebook

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TWITTERStatistics:

6 already established North highland accounts, with 1,000s of followers and almost 5,000 tweets on the main account

o The new North Highland STL will add to their already established network.

27% of people with an income of $75,000 and $50,000-$74,999 use Twitter (Duggan, 2015). This is a large increase from last year showing that twitter is a viable Social Media platform that North Highland can use.

2013 20140

5

10

15

20

25

30

% of People Making $75,000+ who use Twitter% of People Making $50,000 - $74,000 who use Twitter

Example Page:

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Example Posts: 1.

2.

3.

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PERSONAL INTERACTION/ NETWORKING EVENTS

There will be two Networking events: one is “Cocktails on the Track” and the other event is the Live Game Event. The “Cocktails on the Track” event is a formal event to advertise North Highland as a company and invite potential and current clients. The “Cocktails on the Track” event is run by the St. Louis Cardinals. It will be a 2-hour event with cocktails and live music for approximately 150 people (Cocktails on the Track). It fits in well with their relaxed environment and create an an opportunity for relationship building and getting to know those present on a personal level. The event space is $3,000, the food and beverage is $4,000 minimum, the personal invites will be approximately $100 and the promotional items will be $500. The other event is a Live Game event for 20 people. This is a relaxed environment for North Highland to get to know clients personally. The tickets for the game will cost about $2,000 and the promotional materials will be $600. The approximate cost for both the events is $10,200 including ticket posts, event space rental and promotional materials.  

VEHICLES

PERSONAL INVITATIONS

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The core of north highland’s success as a company Allows for that personal connection that North Highland thrives on Classic and sleek way to reach out to high level executive at other

companies Example invite:

PROMOTING THE COMPANY 1 Pint Beer Glass with embossed North Highland Logo

o Connects with the Beer culture of St. Louiso Allows for North Highland to be memorable and give their

potential and existing clients something physical to associate with their company

o Example:

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Business card with a voucher for “Next Drink on Us”o Good opportunity for follow up with potential clients and to

continue current clients’ relationshipso Goes well with their already established coffee dates o Example card:

Front-

Back-

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COMMUNITY BUILDING

Currently, North Highland St. Louis runs 2 community service events per year. The goal is to increase this number to 6 events per year. The focus is going to be on art and children. Some possibilities for this event are a 5K, a volunteer day with St. Louis Art Works, a volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity, and finally working with Kreative Arts for Kids which works with disabled children and a part of St. Louis Arc and United Way (a current partner of North Highland). North Highland can build new relationships and create a positive presence in the lives of St. Louis citizens.

VEHICLES

E-VITES Get a general response of who can attend the event, both clients and

employees of North Highland Example E-vite:

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PHONE CALL TO SECRETARY

Allows for that personal connection with clients and North Highland because of the direct approach to inviting them

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WORKS CITED

(n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2015, from Faith Church: http://faithchurch.com/

Booz Allen Hamilton Fact Sheet. (2015, September 28). Retrieved from http://www.boozallen.com/content/dam/boozallen/media/file/Booz_Allen_Fact_Sheet.pdf

City Data. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2015, from St. Louis County, Missouri Religion Statistics Profile: http://www.city-data.com/county/religion/St.-Louis-city-MO.html

Cocktails on the Track. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2015, from Cardinals Special Events: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/ballpark/events/experiences.jsp?content=cocktails_on_the_track

Consulting Industry Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from Street of Walls: http://www.streetofwalls.com/finance-training-courses/consulting-interview-training/consulting-industry-overview/

Deloitte Consulting. (2015, September 29). Retrieved from deloitte.com

Demographics. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2015, from St. Louis Regional Chamber: http://www.stlregionalchamber.com/regional-data/demographics

Duggan, M. (2015, January 9). Demographics of Key Social Networking Platforms. Retrieved November 7, 2015, from Pew Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms-2/

NH Presentation. (2015, September 24). St. Louis, MO.

North Highland Hosts Annual Day of Giving Back. (2015, September 29). Retrieved from North Highland Worldwide Consulting: http://www.northhighland.com/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/north-highland-hosts-annual-day-of-giving-back

North Highland Worldwide Consulting. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2015, from http://www.northhighland.com/

Pew Forum. (2008). U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Retrieved October 26, 2015

Prospect Infosys About Us. (2015, September 29). Retrieved from http://prospectinfosys.com/nw/about-us/

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Seith, G. (2014, December 10). Anheuser-Busch: From STL to NYC. Retrieved October 8, 2015, from KSDK: http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/12/10/anheuser-busch-stl-nyc/20223739/

St. Louis Cardinals Attendance Data. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2015, from Baseball Almanac: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cardatte.shtml

United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from St. Louis County, MO: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29/29189.html

Virtual Assistant Salary. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2015, from PayScale: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Virtual_Assistant/Hourly_Rate

Wires, C. (n.d.). Two St. Louis BBQ Restaurants Named Best in the US. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from Fox STL: http://fox2now.com/2015/05/20/two-st-louis-bbq-restaurants-named-best-in-the-us/

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