Marketing Strategy
Created Differentiated Marketing Strategy Based on Benefit that was Meaningful, Relevant and Not Yet Satisfied for Consumers
 CHALLENGE: T-Mobile had a product with a meaningfully superior set of technological product features, but no consumer value proposition or understanding of how to market and position the product to consumers.
SOLUTION: Lindsay identified a target consumer set that was robust enough to support the business objectives. She gained rigorous consumer insights from this group about how they related to this technology category, how they viewed it changing their lives, and why they would or would not purchase it. She then distilled these consumer insights to tapped the emotional benefit consumers eluded to (but weren’t able to articulate) during focus groups. She crafted marketing strategy for the client, including creative strategy, positioning statement and brand architecture. T-Mobile is now reaping the rewards of a differentiated and ownable position in the category that competitors have tried (unsuccessfully) to emulate.
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Consumer-Driven Innovation
Drove Growth through Consumer-Informed New Product Development
 CHALLENGE: Starbucks had been hounded in the press for its high-calorie food offerings, and its reputation was suffering. The company wanted to diversify its treat offerings with healthier menu items, but was concerned because (a) it did not want to get too far from its core offering and alienate current customers, and (b) did not know what "healthier" meant to current and future customers.
SOLUTION: Lindsay worked with a research team to uncover what the customers’ unmet needs were with respect to healthy menu options, and learned how they perceived these options in the context of Starbucks. Lindsay identified the key unmet need among customers, translated that need into 6 distinct new product platforms that would deliver on that need, and worked with chefs to create potential ideas for each new platform. Through her concrete, systematic approach, Lindsay enabled Starbucks to turn its PR problem into 10 newly-commercialized products that have delighted customers and differentiated the company from competitors. One of the resulting new products – "Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal" – has become Starbucks' best-selling food item ever.
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Messaging & Creative Strategy
Changed Consumer Perception with New Messaging and Communication Strategy
 CHALLENGE: Starbucks was launching a healthy new product, and there was concern that it would be polarizing.
SOLUTION: Lindsay conducted consumer research to identify the vulnerabilities and strengths of the new product, and learned that customers would be open to the new product as long as it was still positioned as a “treat” for them – albeit a healthy treat. With these insights, Lindsay developed for the client a messaging and communication strategy that resonated with customers. The new product and its accompanying messaging won praise in the media, and later informed subsequent messaging strategies.
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Market Development & Opportunity Assessment
Expanded Pipeline through Market Opportunity Analysis
 CHALLENGE: Continental Mills, a consumer packaged goods food company, needed to insulate itself from rising food costs. The company wanted to diversify into new categories, and did not know where to begin.
SOLUTION: Lindsay matched Continental Mills’ manufacturing capabilities with potential new products to drive profitable expansion. She conducted a situation analysis of the company’s current manufacturing capability, and then examined categories where those capabilities could extend easily. Ultimately, she identified two categories for which there was white space ownable to the client, and for which the client could use current manufacturing capabilities to commercialize. The two categories Lindsay identified are now in the client’s new product pipeline.
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Brand Strategy & Positioning
Crafted Positioning and Brand for New Product
 CHALLENGE: T-Mobile's competitors owned the most consumer-compelling smartphone brands in the category, resulting in a loss of customers and eroding margins.
SOLUTION: After identifying consumer white space in the category, Lindsay discerned insight that the existing blockbuster smartphone brands seemed to require “too much work” and a cluttered user experience for a sizable group of consumers. Based on this information, she created positioning strategy, branding, naming and logo for a new platform of smartphones that would deliver on this unmet need: the "MyTouch." She informed product development by identifying the key product features consumer wanted in this new brand. The result was a new business for the client that resulted in an estimated $130mm in annual revenue.
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STRATEGIC MARKETING SKILL-BUILDING
Leadership and Team Mentoring and Training
 CHALLENGE: T-Mobile had undergone an organizational restructure. The product development team became the product marketing team, which expanded their responsibility to include marketing without increasing their skill set.
SOLUTION: Lindsay conducted a SWOT analysis among product team members from senior to junior. She recommended new roles for the team to deepen strategic marketing acumen, created new job descriptions, recruited and interviewed candidates for the new roles, and helped ramp up the new employees. She trained the team on the fundamentals of consumer marketing strategy: how to write a value proposition and positioning statement, how to develop a product concept and creative strategy, and how to evaluate creative. She then mentored the team members as they practiced their new strategic marketing knowledge. The general manager now reports that his team practices strategic marketing with excellence and confidence, and there is a new vigor for using consumer insights to drive business choices.
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