The Optima Process
Our process works. For three decades, we have continually fine-tuned our disciplined, rigorous method for getting to the heart of our clients’ challenges, enabling us to create insightful, competitive solutions that energize their businesses.
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Intake
To craft an informed and practical strategy, we need to know a client’s business from the inside out. Our senior consultants design and execute a customized client intake process for each project. This process typically includes in-depth interviews with key management, relevant staff, and customers, as well as detailed examinations of marketplace and brand strengths, product lines, distribution, marketing and sales.
Live Brand Experience
Effective strategies are always defined in a competitive context. Our research specialists perform detailed competitive audits on key client competitors. These include in-person test shopping across client touch points, as well as reviews of product sets, promotions, pricing, brand strength and positioning.
Market Insight
Projects frequently call for new market insights. Our research staff custom designs and implements highly targeted primary research programs. These programs vary in nature and scope, and each one is carefully built and executed to provide objective and actionable intelligence. Our research staff also regularly tracks a broad range of secondary market research and applies this knowledge to guide the thinking on our projects.
Strategic Directives and Vetting Process
Empowered with a deep understanding of an audience’s behavior, needs and expectations, an integrated team of specialists carves out strategies that are differentiating and compelling. Each idea is vetted across multiple screens to determine viability.
Creative Concepting
The big ideas now transition into creative concepts that will connect and motivate a client’s target market. We present a range of concepts, each delivering a distinct and compelling visual translation of the strategy.
Actionable Consulting and M&A
Our management, organizational and product recommendations are articulated clearly and succinctly, and the benefits of implementation can be realized in a short time frame. When M&A is the answer, our dedicated M&A team works to optimize value and complete transactions efficiently and confidentially.
Communications Development
The selected creative concept is translated into all the elements of the communications program, whether it is a single core brochure, or a comprehensive, multi-piece program. Designers and writers, with extensive financial industry experience, create each piece with thoughtful insight into how it will be used and the best way to produce it.
Project Management
While keeping your budget and schedule on track, we execute all the deliverables with one thing in mind: excellence. Throughout the project, we keep our clients fully informed and connected with Optima Group’s senior management.
