BUSINESS EXPERTISE
Strategy & Business models
How we support our clients
We are convinced that there is not “one way”, but many ways of “doing” strategy, conceiving it, developing it, formulating it and managing its development process. These ways must be adapted to the circumstances, the specific issues to be resolved, the particularities of an organization, and even its culture and modus operandi. In some instances, this might mean carrying out a strategic audit to evaluate an investment strategy and draw up business plans and associated acquisition strategies; in others, it might mean using foresight to develop a position in the face of weak market signals, or drawing on the organization's intangible assets to build a sustainable singularity; finally, in others, and more particularly in multi-stakeholder organizations, it might mean designing and implementing strategic dialogue approaches, one of our methodological innovation axes for designing a shared strategic course. All of this without forgetting to place the customer at the heart of our concerns.
Discover the Kea approaches and tools developed during our assignments: intangible assets, strategic dialogue, customer centricity and labs.
"The only way to resist the global is to be singular"
Jean Baudrillard
On one hand, the business plan enables clear trade-offs to be made and defended and the results managed. On the other, a well-designed model should serve as a compass for action, clear enough on ambition and flexible enough on means. In practice, it is probably not necessary to choose between them, but rather to play on their complementarity and adapt according to the situation. This is what we do in our consulting work, taking into account the nature of the shareholder base (family, public, private equity, not-for-profit, etc.) and the objective pursued (search for financing, project ROI, development plan, Leverage Buy Out, etc.) by our customers.
Will there be strategy departments by 2025 ?
Our know how
STUDIES & STRATEGIC PLANS
Should we favor the “planned strategy” or the “emergent strategy”? The business plan or the strategic model?
![[PODCASTS] Stratégie et transformation à l'heure de l'économie souhaitable [Revue 25]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bbc9ed_7d4887d1295e453cb27b721ce8d4a311~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_512,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/bbc9ed_7d4887d1295e453cb27b721ce8d4a311~mv2.jpg)
Our projects on subjects of studies & strategic plans
We provide strategic studies & plans in all the sectors we operate in (industry, consumer goods, distribution, services), applying robust methods covering all the components of this kind of exercise: drawing up business plans and multi-year strategic plans, opportunity studies and market sizing, development models (including international), innovation and business model transformation. To do so, we draw on our dedicated information center, our international network The Transformation Alliance, and our ecosystem of French and international sector experts.
As far as our strategy consulting practice is concerned, the systematic application of “classic” methods of strategy development seems unsuitable for many organizations, particularly in flat hierarchies. In such contexts, a top-down or overly participative strategic approach proves ineffective, which is why we conduct certain projects in the form of Strategic Dialogue. This topic is a constant source of inspiration for our work on innovation in the service of our customers, and for our publications in La Revue.
MEET OUR TEAM
We've been working for a long time on vision and collective strategic storytelling as pivots and “passers” from strategy to transformation. The way in which this vision is written, shared, amended and disseminated is (almost) as important as its content: far from being a hollow slogan, we work with teams to build a complete storytelling, nourished by the 7 pillars of the vision, in order to write a shared future.
The issue is to synchronize three time horizons for different work processes, on which strategists, financiers and operational staff are all accustomed to working: the time of the prospective strategy; the time of the modeling strategy; and the time of the strategy put into action, which is the daily routine for many operational staff. Added to these three stages is the need to convince and engage teams around a shared and understood meaning.
3 time horizons to (re)reconcile
VISION & STRATEGIC STORY
Successful transition from strategy to transformation
Our projects on topics of vision and strategic narrative
We regularly conduct strategic visioning and storytelling exercises in organizations of all sizes, and have made them the foundation of our sociodynamic transformation approaches.
Renewing the vision of a textile brand to capture growth
After repositioning the brand, Kea accompanied the updating of the vision and the definition of the axes of differentiation on the market to boost growth. The strategic story has integrated elements of the market, foresight, mirrors with the stakeholders… taking care to preserve the brand's intangible assets.
Building the new positioning of a service brand in a declining industry
Kea accompanied the company in a 'visioning' exercise to reposition the activity: strategic diagnosis, involvement of key employees without hierarchical consideration, prospective analysis... made it possible to build this new vision, shared by all employees, and revitalizing the attractiveness of the company externally.
Activate or reactivate internal development levers, detect external growth relays in the face of a difficult economic climate: creative strategies, unique brands, different customer relations, renewed sales organizations... in short, original, on-the-ground approaches and solutions. We think these are the answers to the strategic, marketing and sales questions that organizations and brands ask themselves every day. Singularity above all!
Development of a 5-year strategic plan for a food producer-distributor
Kea has carried out a diagnosis of the situation to date, identified strategic opportunities in France and internationally, broken down into 3 major detailed scenarios. This work led to the choice of a strategic path, broken down into vision, strategy and clear and singular inflections for the company.
Accompaniment of a leisure player in his strategic plan
Kea has co-designed with the Comex a shared vision and a 10-20 year ambition, which are based on an assessment of the group's intangible assets and prospective work : qualification of scenarios offering room for maneuver locally, launch of a strategic dialogue approach with 40 managers to develop a strong sense of belonging and promote ownership
Due diligence for a food retailer
As part of a Strategic Due Diligence analysis, our investment fund client called on Kea to challenge the target's growth potential and assess the brand's level of differentiation with clients and compared to competitors. .
Preparing to merge two agribusinesses
With the aim of creating a strong player in France and internationally, Kea supported the COMEX in developing the vision, assessing synergies, designing target organizations and preparing the 3-year strategic plan for the new entity.
At a time when business models are being profoundly disrupted by the digital revolution, disintermediation, and the current global crisis, strategic due diligence takes on added importance to ensure the long-term relevance of investment decisions. However, once the decision has been made, achieving the defined business case is often complex. The integration strategy is at the heart of the value of the operation and we support it with several biases: to quickly design the 360° integration strategy (speed, spirit, scope, tactics); to break it down into a roadmap scheduled over time (short, medium and long term); to measure and anticipate the problems of cultural gaps very early on; and to create a new dynamic within the management bodies.
Inform the decision, concretize and maximize the value of the operations
FROM DUE DILIGENCE TO THE POST-MERGER INTEGRATION (PMI)
Support M&A operations
Our projects related to M&A operations
For investment funds as well as for manufacturers, we carry out due diligence and support PMI (post-merger integration) in reference sectors: B-to-B and B-to-C distribution, textile-clothing sector, mass consumption goods and brands or even industry (agro-food, chemicals, capital goods, etc.).
More specifically, during due diligence, we develop a point of view on all the key strategic and operational issues:
-
Sizing & market development
-
Offering, pricing, distribution channels
-
International development and winning local distribution strategies
-
Innovation & business model
-
Network expansion potential
-
Sales performance & operating cost challenge
-
Supplier portfolio balance & purchasing performance
-
Economic Modeling & Business Plan
Our recommendations are based on our industry focus and the digital due diligence expertise of Kea Euclyd, a Kea Group company and specialist in digital strategy and acceleration.
In case of closing and integration, we make sure to reconcile a double vision of the company (integration project & day-to-day business) through good structuring and management of the PMI:
-
A strategic projection of the business after the integration and the creation of new teams...
-
... at the same time as the daily management of the teams, sometimes destabilized by the changes in progress.
Defining the strategic program of an intellectual services player
Kea helped to consolidate and prioritize the projects that had been launched or were about to be launched, to define their respective ambitions and roadmaps, to structure the program and its management system, and to get the management team and key players up and running.
Designing a management model for a real estate player
Together with the client, Kea designed a 3-level management model (operational, financial, risk management) and structured the governance of a pre-LBO strategic program comprising more than 15 projects.
Strategic exercises often result in a flurry of initiatives. Resource constraints (time, financial, human, etc.) make it impossible to do them all at the same time and with the same energy. We also approach the strategy as an exercise in sacrifice, establishing the criteria for arbitration between projects to allocate resources to the right place at the right time, with a balance between short and long term. With the customer at the center of the process. From this necessary prioritization, the program emerges at the service of the strategic intent, with each project expressing a quantitative and qualitative ambition, as well as a roadmap. With extensive experience in complex strategic programs, from their structuring to their management, we place two concerns at the heart of our approaches:
Strategy, an exercise in renunciation ?
STRATEGIC PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
Integrate financial ROI and create leadership team dynamics
Our strategic program management projects
In France and abroad, we support major players in the service, industrial, distribution and consumer goods sectors in the design and operational and financial management of their strategic project portfolios, relying on the know-how and methods of Kea's development consultancy (individual & collective) and coaching - to make the implementation of the program a joint project of the management team.
Defining the new offer of a banking player
Kea supported the redesign of the value proposition of a B to C mass market financial offer, from the customer promise to the multi-channel distribution model, through a diagnosis (market analysis & trends, performance of the current offer, study of customer expectations & perceptions, European benchmark), offer scenarios and target P&L.
Developing a strategy to diversify a specialized distributor's offering
Kea has co-designed a turnkey international diversification offer that ensures the sustainability of the distributor's activity and that of its independent customers, based on differentiated B-to-B and B-to-C value propositions.
Digitization, the reconfiguration of customer journeys, the new relationship with time, the accelerated evolution of customer needs, the convergence of business-to-business and business-to-consumer experiences... so many changes that are forcing companies to rethink their approach to the market. The challenge is then to develop the company's capabilities to deliver the right offer, in the right place, at the right price, at the right time. Distribution strategies and commercial performance also remain a critical driver of growth in many industries. If the elements of the vision are key, the transformation of the commercial and distribution model must be considered at the same time: with the redefinition of the model and its economic equation, today often omnichannel, it is essential to anticipate the transformations to come (businesses, behaviors, culture, etc.).
Exploit new possibilities to better meet your market
GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY
A continuous and accelerated reinvention of go-to-market strategies
Our projects on go-to-market topics
We support our clients in all aspects of their go-to-market strategies: defining the target market, understanding and targeting customer segments, defining the offer and positioning, pricing, distribution strategy and customer journeys by mobilizing our expertise in each of these areas (commerce, marketing & positioning, distribution) and our B-to-B and B-to-C benchmarks.
Defining the brand strategy and platform of a ready-to-wear company
Kea supported the identification of the changes to be made to the brand strategy and their translation on each of the brand platform dimensions (offer, distribution, human, communication, digital strategy) in order to regenerate desirability according to customer objectives.
Loyalty through a luxury player's relational signature
Kea has co-constructed with the field a target relational signature platform (knowledge, know-how, interpersonal skills) on customer contact points under test in 5 pilot countries, as well as the implementation of management levers (tools , training, etc.) to promote the deployment
At Kea, we believe that the brand and the marketing organizations and processes that support, nurture and embody it are increasingly important in a digital world. In fact, the brand (or brand portfolio) is more than a simple component of strategy. Strong, it reflects the internal/external consistency of the positioning as well as the robustness and agility of the organizations that carry it, organizations that are all the more tested as they are torn between the local and the global, between the digital and the human. Weak, the brand weighs on the relational signature and the human and digital customer relationship, another field of action and development in which we innovate.
It is on its power that the customer preference depends
BRAND & RELATIONAL SIGNATURE
Brands, much more than a simple component of the strategy
Our projects on brand and relational signature topics
Whether in retail, services, business-to-business or business-to-consumer, competition for our clients is fierce and pure-players are changing the rules to become the new champions of customer relationships. To deal with this, we work with our clients to define their brand strategy and its incarnation on the ground up to customer relations. Our goal? To leverage the brand and make relational excellence a true differentiator. Once the brand is positioned, our approaches combine operational delivery of the brand promise and transformation of the marketing and customer organizations to :
-
Reinvent service values to create a distinctive relational signature.
-
Turn every touch point into an embodied and memorable customer experience, supported by digital.
-
Create a research and development laboratory within the organization (the lab mode) to stimulate a continuous process of relational excellence.
Maintaining, over time, the direction, consistency and meaning in relation to the initial strategic intention, including in its quantified expression (ROI, contribution to the economic trajectory, etc.).
Taking into account the human factor, and in particular the dynamics of the management teams, in the management of the project portfolio.
Likewise, sales performance is often driven or influenced by sales team performance: how are they organized, motivated, evaluated, managed, etc.? So many issues on which we provide long-term support to our clients, in France and abroad.