“I have now worked with Saul across three different businesses, both domestic and international.
Without doubt, what he makes appear simple is a sweet science, one that Saul has in spades.
He brings clarity, insight and challenge, grounded in real methodology and the grist to understand the problems brands are facing.”
Oliver Black, Founder and Investor.
There are times in every business when it's not clear what needs to happen next.
You know the business can go further, but are unsure what will take it there.
There is real potential in the business. Yet the next stage will require more than repeating what has worked so far.
Assumptions that once worked no longer feel quite right.
The market has moved. Customers have changed. Technology is opening new possibilities and lowering old barriers to entry. Yet the thinking behind the business has not fully caught up.
You are unsure where the next opportunity will come from.
Some opportunities lie in improving what already works. Others may require a new market, offer, category or business model. The challenge is knowing which possibilities deserve serious exploration.
The hard choices keep being deferred.
There are credible, competing views around the table, but no shared basis for deciding what to prioritise, protect, stop or pursue.
Value is too hard to explain.
The business creates meaningful value, yet people do not understand it quickly, clearly or strongly enough to choose it.
Demand is not what it could be.
Existing demand is not converting as well as it should. Future demand is not being created at the pace the business will need.
These are the moments when a business needs to see more completely.
To understand what has shaped its success so far. To identify what is changing around it. To distinguish the opportunities worth pursuing from the ones that merely distract.
That requires better questions, asked in the right places, before the answers become obvious to everyone else.
You need strategy with full sight.
This is the work I do: helping businesses find clearer direction, build a more compelling story, and give their marketing something substantive to build from.
“Saul was instrumental in helping us navigate building a practical and ambitious strategic direction as a newly scaled philanthropy. His unique perspectives, inquisitive coach-don't-tell approach and ability to weave theory and reality, was a refreshing offering for myself and my trustees who've had our fair share of consultants and 'strategic advisors.'
He met us where we were as well as helped drive us to where we needed to be in a short span of time. Working with Saul to bring it all together felt like a real partnership, with the process just as valuable as the result. It's also especially rare to find someone who can so seamlessly blend what's valuable and what's not between the logics of business and impact. ”
Felicity Tan, Founding Executive Director, The Risman Foundation.
How I can help
My work spans business, brand, marketing and leadership. These are distinct disciplines, but they are rarely separate problems.
A business cannot grow sustainably with an unclear, unique theory of value. A strong brand will struggle to compensate for a weak business strategy. Marketing cannot create demand for something the organisation has not yet made meaningful. Leadership determines whether any of it becomes possible.
The strategic work done on the business really compounds, I use the Eight Strategic Sights to help leaders see their business better, and seeing better makes the brand naturally more compelling, and the marketing more effective.
Business Strategy
For organisations that know they can go further, but need greater clarity on where growth will come from and what will make it defensible.
I examine the assumptions shaping the business, identify the opportunities that deserve serious attention, and develop a clearer theory of value for what comes next.
Brand Strategy
For businesses whose value is real, but not yet expressed with enough clarity, distinction or force.
I define the role the brand can play in people’s lives, the conviction it can stand for, and the story that makes its difference easier to recognise and choose.
Marketing Strategy
For organisations that need to turn strategic intent into stronger demand.
I build the bridge between what the business wants to become and what customers need to see, understand and feel, creating a more coherent basis for growth, communication and activation.
Executive Leadership
For leaders and teams making consequential decisions in conditions of change.
Through retreats, executive sessions and advisory, I help teams surface assumptions, think more rigorously together, and develop the confidence to move.
The exact shape of client work depends on their needs: it can be a focused project, a leadership retreat, a keynote, an executive session or an ongoing strategic partnership.
