Strategic plan for a marketing agency
Our client, a marketing agency in the hospitality industry, needed a new strategic plan. The prior plan was five years old, and the board was asking for a new plan as the organization began to recover from the near-death experience of the global pandemic.
The pandemic had cut the business in half. To stabilize itself, the organization had drastically reduced budgets and staffing. As travel and industry growth began to return, the CEO wisely wanted to make sure her reinvestment choices reflected the new normal, versus just defaulting to the old pre-pandemic resource allocation scheme. As a small (and still financially challenged) organization facing a still evolving external environment, they needed an efficient and focused process to quickly deliver a high-quality plan.
In response, we designed a series of one-day immersion sessions, including a specific board feedback session, to quickly uncover the leadership team’s collective wisdom about their organizational purpose, their customer focus, and their strategic priorities for resource reinvestment. From the first team kick-off to final board approval, the entire process took only 8 weeks.
The team had some important breakthroughs, and the new plan will require changes, but change is easier when you can clear away some of the clutter and get a leadership team (and board) fully aligned and energized. We are excited and confident to see their progress in 2022.
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“We were severely impacted by the pandemic. I needed a consultant who would help my team assess our new reality, and then focus on our opportunities as we recovered and looked to the future. McDonald Strategy Partners was recommended by a board member, and after meeting with Peter I knew I had found the right partner. Peter and Jessica were professional, efficient and timely with their follow up, and overall easy to work with. Most importantly, they delivered on our needs in their scope of work and with their diverse portfolio of expertise. We are continuing our work together into 2022, and I would highly recommend them as strategic partners.”
– CEO