The Bedford Group
The Bedford Group 3343 Peachtree Road NE Suite 333 Atlanta, GA 30326 USA |
Phone 1: (404) 237-4565 Fax : (404) 846-2172 Country Phone Code: 1 WebSite: www.bedfordgroupconsulting.com New Business Contacts: Jane Bedford, President and Founder E-mail: bedford@bedfordgroupconsulting.com Anne Wittle, Director of Client Services E-mail: awittle@bedfordgroupconsulting.com |
|
Overview The Bedford Group is a strategic marketing management consulting firm with practices focused on strategic marketing management, agency search, agency relationship assessment and management, agency contract negotiation and marketing organization. Our solutions impact the fundamental business strategies of the clients we serve. The Bedford Group has served senior marketing executives of Fortune 500 companies since 1986, helping CMOs solve some of the knotty challenges on the CEO’s agenda. We look beyond traditional marketing disciplines to answer complex enterprise-wide issues for optimizing marketing communications impact and improving ROI. We help leverage our clients’ assets through integrating cross-functional teams and partners, and we break down the “information silos” that plague corporate environments where fresh air and transparency can be harnessed for more efficient resource management. Why The Bedford Group? Simple. We give you... 1. "Smart Empathy." The Bedford Group understands that decision making is not purely analytical. We put ourselves in our client’s shoes and gain the level of understanding only empathy provides in order to recommend a solution that is not only optimal "on paper," but also practical. 2. Results. We employ a proprietary system of tools – organized, methodical and efficient to maximize intelligent choices. Our advice and strategies are rooted in deep experience across hundreds of clients and situations. 3. Added value. We deliver more than you expect. Our philosophy is to give back to clients more than is asked in terms of service, information, and stewardship of their business. 4. Partnership. Our senior partners are hands-on. You always have a seasoned partner working on your business, integrated into your operation to the degree needed. 5. Agency Neutrality. We take no fees from the agency community whatsoever. We represent corporations and non-profits, not a particular agency. This is a contributing source of our reputation as objective and unbiased in the agency search discipline. Practice Areas Our broad scope of service practices is tailored as required to meet the specific needs of each individual client. Our skills adapt to both urgent and immediate concerns, as well as long-range planning. The Bedford Group provides the following on an engagement or retainer basis:
Industry & Client Experience The Bedford Group has worked with a wide range of companies on a variety of projects including complex agency searches, contract negotiations, relationship reviews and strategic marketing management optimization strategies. Our clients are Fortune 500 organizations that span a range of industries including:
Federated Department Stores (Macy’s), Bank of America, Coca-Cola Company, Cox Communications, PNC, Novartis, Newell Rubbermaid, Bush Brothers, Orkin, IBM, Reily Foods, SunTrust, SCANA Corporation and USAA. For a full list of clients, click here Agency Search and Selection Searching for a new, compatible marketing partner can be extremely time-consuming and disrupt current marketing initiatives. The Bedford Group's goal is to simplify the search and selection process to create the most strategic match of partners while minimizing any disruption of daily business. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the client’s needs, we "prescreen" candidate firms and present our client with a set of candidates that are both compatible and qualified. Our intervention minimizes the duration of the search and ensures the partner selected is aligned with our client’s objectives and culture. This alignment, across a wide range of dimensions, is the foundation of a successful alliance. We can help assess and select any number of marketing partners including:
Client-Agency Relationship Evaluation Inevitably, many relationships encounter rough terrain. Poor leadership or strategic advice, diminished creative quality, bottlenecks, and management restructuring are a few of the issues that contribute to the deterioration of a partnership. Some relationships will not endure. But, difficulty does not necessarily mean the partnership must be abandoned. Sometimes, it is in the best interest of all parties to terminate the relationship. If necessary, we can assist in negotiating terms of the termination. More importantly, we help you select a new, more compatible marketing partner and provide transition tools to be used in the move from old partner to new. We can help evaluate and improve your client-agency relationships through:
Strategically focused communication is vital to the success of any organization. Over time, the internal and/or external communications efforts may become unfocused, internally focused or simply poorly executed. The Bedford Group can provide an objective, independent analysis of the impact, consistency, and appropriateness of your internal and external messages. In addition, we can evaluate the staff, structures, processes, and agencies you rely on to create your communications messages and materials. Services include:
Your marketing structure directly impacts the ability to respond quickly to the unique dynamics of your industry, marketplace, and corporate objectives. Far too often, marketing organizations find themselves less effective because they are disconnected from the business they are supporting, are structured to meet yesterday’s demands, or have experienced a talent-drain. Over time, the function can lose touch with the marketing knowledge and skill levels needed by the company, becoming distanced from those driving the business in sales, the market and executive management. Many companies struggle with the balance of centralized vs. decentralized marketing resources and the reporting relationship between the two. Unresolved, these issues can lead to inefficiencies that influence the overall corporate structure. Noticeable gaps and redundancies may propagate throughout the company. Our areas of expertise include: Marketing organization assessment and design
The Bedford Group’s review of Internal Marketing Resources provides an evaluation of your internal marketing department against Best Practices of other corporate organizations. Our assessment includes:
|
