Services|Channel & Digital Strategy

OVERVIEW

Clients leverage Stax’s expertise on channel management to better understand emerging changes, and how best to manage that given the revenue and risk involved. There is often limited knowledge of the end customers and how well channel partners are doing when meeting the end demand and market potential. The traditional questions for any company that sells through retailers or distributors are: “What does the end customer want; which distributors meet customer needs and how do we align ourselves with the right distributors; how do we give distributors the right incentive, and/or prepare our distributors to meet those end customer needs?”

The new question, for both consumer and industrial companies, is how best to leverage the Internet, social media and mobile applications. While many think that social media is useful just for B2C interactions, Stax sees tremendous opportunities for B2B companies because so many people look for specifications on the web before they buy; yes, even in business. With judicious use of new media, your reach can go global and the costs of incremental sales can be lower than it would be with new physical infrastructure—even if it calls for fresh thinking and additional resources on your team. We help companies understand the immense potential and threats, because if you’re not scooping up those customers, someone else will.

In both B2C and B2B situations, Stax brings suitable frameworks and a collaborative process to bear. We then conduct substantive research and analysis on customer and channel behavior, intent and trends to quantify the opportunities and risks, and develop actionable answers along with your team.

Examples of Engagements:

  • New Channels. A client in the craft and hobby industry was able to capture an entirely new customer base in both core and adjacent markets by following the customer-centric digital strategy developed by Stax. We recommended the use of an integrated e-commerce B2C ecosystem that could tap into millions of dollars more in revenue potential. Our team used top-down (defining appropriate models for monetizing digital content) and bottom-up (testing viability of models) approaches in conjunction to quantify the opportunity and build the best business case.
  • Digital and Media Mix Strategy. In support of a potential investment, Stax investigated an industry-specific online classifieds company to pinpoint the secular, cyclical, operational and competitive forces influencing the sustainability and growth trajectory of the company. We analyzed the company’s costs for online advertising and media mix shifts over time. Our insights enabled Client to increase customer spend and convert more non-users.
  • Marketing Effectiveness. A national provider of store-based financial services—concerned that marketing cost increases were outpacing revenue growth—engaged Stax to determine the efficacy of each type of marketing. We helped the Client to optimize spending by acquiring the greatest number of customers at the lowest cost possible, thus maximizing profits. Marketing elements included TV, radio, direct mail, e-mail, and calling programs.
  • Digital Strategy. Prioritized growth opportunities for the online real estate section of a leading national financial journal. Stax developed a strategy for rapidly growing the user base of the Journal by conducting a detailed assessment of the current market and competitive set; identifying unique growth opportunities; setting up models for developing necessary capabilities; and drawing up a development plan for selected capabilities such as partnering, acquiring, and building.

OPINIONS

With nearly two decades of experience across varied sub-sectors and geographies, Stax is able to analyze the latest market trends in real time. See more case studies.

For recent opinions, also visit our blog.

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