Improving branding - A case study of a small, niched, management consulting firm

Abstract: The competition within the management consulting industry is increasing and many of the smaller consultancies are having trouble attracting new business and achieving company growth. In order for smaller firms to be able to compete, many choose to focus on a niche market. However, firms are still having trouble growing and attracting business from new customers. A way for these firms to increase their market share and sales is to build and maintain a strong brand by working with branding. Greenlight Project Management is a small management consulting company focusing on project management. The company has set a target to double its revenue within two years. For a company with such growth ambitions, branding could be considered a powerful weapon that could be used to attract new business. This report examines how Greenlight Project Management, a small, niched, management consulting company, can improve their branding efforts in order to strengthen the brand. The process starts with a breakdown of the concept of branding. Several areas are examined in order to construct a model of the branding concept. The model consists of six branding functions, and within each function is a set of activities. The success of the company’s branding is determined by the performance in these activities. The model is then applied to the case company and a gap analysis identifying and evaluating rooms for improvements is performed. The findings suggest that the constructed model could be used for assessing the case company’s current branding efforts and assess the room for improvement within each defined branding function. The report concludes which activities the case company needs to improve and gives recommendations on how to do so.