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Philosophy & Competitive Advantages

Who we are
We are a boutique consulting firm with a highly specialized focus: marketing agency supplier management. Our approach is high-touch, high-service delivered by a team of seasoned professionals with diverse backgrounds. We measure success not by project volume but by the quality of our work and the results we achieve for our clients – which happen to include many of the world’s leading brands.

We gravitate towards complex projects that require intellectual rigor. We are not process managers; we are consultants and realize that we are not right for every marketer and that every marketer is not right for us.

Why we are different
Marketing agency management is growing more complex by the day and often requires a holistic, high-level approach to problem-solving. Having a number of levers to pull simply leads to better solutions. While half of our business comes from agency search, we don’t view client – agency relationships solely through the lens of divorce. Our cross-functional disciplines of agency search, agency relationship management, compensation consulting and process reengineering reinforce one another making us stronger in each practice area. 

Ethics and Values
We are a gatekeeper for billions of dollars in marketer billings. We take that responsibility very seriously and do not leverage our position in the agency community for personal gain. While we have the utmost respect for agencies, our business is focused on supporting marketers. We do not charge agencies for registering in our database or for participating in searches. 

Background

For nearly 15 years, Russel Wohlwerth has been advising companies around the world on all aspects of marketing agency supplier management. He is a serial entrepreneur who was an owner of Select Resources, a founding partner of Ark Advisors, and the founder of External View. His intellect, broad experience and innate curiosity have made him one of the most highly regarded consultants in the field. 

Experience

Alcoholic Beverages
Mike’s Hard Lemonade
Pernod Ricard
Remy Martin

Automotive
BMW
Hyundai
Jaguar
Land Rover
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Porsche

Education
National University

Entertainment/Travel
AMC Theatres
Mohegan Sun Casino
San Diego Zoo
Silversea Cruises

Financial Services
21st Century Insurance
Aflac
Barclays Global Investors
Charles Schwab
EMPLOYERS
H&R Block
Santa Barbara Bank & Trust
Visa
Wells Fargo Bank

FMCG
Diamond Foods
Emerald Nuts
Foster Farms
Kettle Chips
Krusteaz
Pop Secret Popcorn
Pringles
Procter & Gamble
Sunkist
Yogi Tea

Pharma/Healthcare
GSK

Retail
Hallmark
Timberland
Wawa

Restaurants/QSR
Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen
Checker’s & Rally’s
El Torito
IHOP
Rubio’s
Subway
T.G.I Friday’s
Taco Bell

Technology
Activision Blizzard
Adobe
AMD
Clearwire
DIRECTV
Epson
Hewlett Packard
Intel
Juniper Networks
Leap Wireless
LinkedIn
Match.com
Microsoft
newegg.com
Oracle
SanDisk
SAP
Sony
Sprint
Veritas 

Practice Areas

Agency Search & Selection (domestic and international)

Agency Relationship Management & Evaluation

Compensation & Contracts

Process Reengineering

Network Description

A significant portion of our projects are international. We have strategic alliances with Agency Assessments International of London (with offices on four continents) for marketing agency search and glue2020 of London for media search and selection. Our association with Agency Assessments dates back to 2001 and we have been working with glue2020 since its founding in 2008.