We help our clients navigate the ever-changing media landscape, capitalizing on major shifts across consumption behaviors and preferences, the new content creation paradigm, and transforming the distribution ecosystem enabled by technological innovation. Our experience spans the full set of media verticals, technology, and providers that power these services. Our industry expertise allows us to help our clients position themselves to win and drive profitable growth.

What we do

Comprehensive revenue growth strategies

Near- and long-term revenue growth plans, capitalizing on the full set of revenue levels (e.g. advertising, subscription, transactions, partnerships, affiliation, data, events)

Programming strategies and audience development

New programming verticals, formats, and distribution plans to maximize audience reach and engagement and support the development of major media brands

Advertising sales performance improvement

Completing advertising go-to-market and commercial execution plans (e.g. ad-unit enhancements, targeting capabilities, platform partnerships, data partnerships and clean rooms, prospecting and commercial strategy, inventory management, ad operations, reporting, etc.)

New video offering development (services, aggregators)

End-to-end support, including opportunity identification, value proposition development, business model development, competitive positioning, pricing structure and levels, product development and technology execution, organization structure, distribution

Pricing structure optimization (ad-supported, paid)

Designing optimal pricing structures for new products and offerings as well as enhancing existing pricing approaches to maximize long-term value capture for profitable growth

Operating model transformation and organization development

Redesigning organizations, processes, and operating models to meet the requirements of major industry shifts

Customer acquisition and retention programs

Helping our clients develop a durable competitive advantage from capabilities to identify, acquire, and retain the highest value customers to maximize scale, engagement, monetization, and customer connections

Data stack and audience insight development

Developing major data and insights capabilities (technology, vendors, partnerships, processes, etc.) to allow our clients to drive continued audience and revenue growth in the challenging digital environment

In an ever-evolving technological landscape that touches every aspect of business, our team is committed to guiding our clients toward seizing new opportunities, whether evolutionary, disruptive, or incremental.

We guide our clients' transformation, enabling them to thrive in this dynamic environment by reinventing business propositions and operating models, determining the optimal way to acquire and serve demand, maximizing market reach, driving profitable growth and long-term customer value, and fostering positive impact within their ecosystems.

Our experience spans technology companies, software developers, platforms, infrastructure, service providers, and enterprise and SMB clients, helping them keep pace with technology to drive successful business outcomes.

Growth Strategy

Developing multi-year strategic roadmaps and initiatives (opportunity identification and assessment, new business development, organic growth performance improvement drivers, M&A)

Value Proposition Development and Product Roadmaps

Optimizing near- and long-term product-market fit by realigning and future-proofing product roadmaps and investments with major market and customer needs, in light of competitive and ecosystem dynamics

M&A Strategy & Value Creation Roadmaps

Buy-side support

• Investment thesis development
• Target identification
• Due diligence
• Deal execution support

Integration support

• Pre-acquisition integration planning
• Synergy identification and planning
• Post-merger integration

Sell-side support

• Investment narrative
• Company positioning and roadmaps
• Management presentation
• 3- to 5-year financial models to support investment narrative

Value creation roadmaps

• Growth strategy design aiming at maximizing value creation and shareholder outcomes

Go-to-Market Strategy and Execution Plans

Determining optimal way to acquire and serve the demand – building optimal combinations leveraging channel opportunities, field sales approaches, inside-sales motions, and product-lead growth – and creating specific strategies, customer and channel propositions, and execution playbooks

Pricing Optimization

Driving profitable growth and long-term customer value by helping technology and software organization create differentiated pricing capabilities to roll out optimal pricing structures, metrics, and processes.

Channel and Ecosystem Strategy and Program Development (Including Managed Services)

Maximizing market reach and commercial impact through the identification of high-potential channel and strategic ecosystem partners and the development of partner propositions and programs that foster long-term mutually beneficial partner connections

Customer/Buyer Insights and Development of Sales Playbooks

Capturing the voice of customers across decision-makers, influencers, and end-users to develop highly actionable leads and sales insights, and deliver detailed playbooks (narrative, stakeholders, proposition, pricing)

Customer Economics and Route-to-Market Optimization

Maximizing long-term growth and profitability by developing customer-level economic KPIs to optimize acquisition channels and costs, service models, and overall customer segment prioritization

Marketing Effectiveness

Supporting CMOs as they determine how to optimize spend, especially given new user challenges and the changing role of technology platforms and major media companies (data and segmentation, evaluation of existing solutions, KPIs, budgeting and mix, optimal partner ecosystem, organization)

Sales Effectiveness

Maximizing ROI of sales investment by enhancing the full sales funnel management, processes (prospecting, lead generation and qualification, customer engagement strategies and coordination, etc.) and organization (territories, goal-setting, incentives, etc.), delivering high impact performance improvement plans

Operating Model Transformation and Organization Development

Redesigning organizations, processes, and operating models to meet the requirements from major industry shifts and digital transformation

Specialized Capabilities for Technology and Media Companies

We bring distinctive strategy development capabilities and industry perspective to help position companies for growth. Strategy is core to our work as we help our clients identify and capture their greatest growth opportunities, leading to sustainable increases in shareholder value. Quite simply, clients hire us when they want to own their future.

Unique Industry Challenges

Executives in technology, internet, media, entertainment and eCommerce businesses face unique challenges. They must navigate a rapidly changing environment characterized by competition from both traditional rivals and insurgents, rapid innovation cycles, and ever-evolving user behavior.

Winning the Future

Success hinges on defining specific strategies to address these unique challenges, changing direction, and expanding their businesses by identifying their highest value opportunities, addressing their greatest challenges, and aligning their capabilities to deliver growth. We help our clients re-invent their businesses to win in the dynamic technology and media ecosystem.

Activate's Growth Strategy Focus

Our strategy work for corporate, business unit, and product organizations includes:

• Capturing user, audience, and customer insights
• Determining the addressable market and growth trajectory
• Identifying priority growth opportunities, expanding upon the strongest assets in companies' businesses
• Evaluating the strategies, positioning, and roadmaps of competitors, and actions to take in response
• Determining how to direct the company's assets and capabilities to deliver against the growth opportunities
• Determining where internal investments should be directed to accelerate organic growth
• Defining M&A and partnership strategies to expand and diversify the business
• Developing major initiatives for management and teams to ensure execution
• Providing execution support and capability building at every stage of the roadmap to deliver against the growth strategy

Key Strategic Questions

As we help our clients create their roadmap for growth, we answer a set of key questions:

• How should we enhance our product, user experience, and functionality to drive engagement and revenue capture?
• How can we maximize growth of the existing business (e.g. expanding to new customer groups, increasing engagement, launching additional product areas)?
• Which adjacent markets should we enter to both complement and future-proof our existing strengths?
• How can we win against both traditional competitors and new insurgents?
• How should we use marketing and sales channels most effectively to drive awareness and adoption of our products?
• How do we align capabilities, technology, products, programming, and distribution assets?
• What inorganic growth opportunities can we pursue through M&A or partnerships that will expand our business or change the rules of the game?

How We Support Our Clients

• Develop tactical implementation roadmaps (e.g. initiative sequencing and phasing, execution timeline)
• Determine resource requirements to execute (e.g. capital, talent, technology, infrastructure investment)
• Identify and manage key partners and vendor relationships (e.g. vendor and channel partner review process management)
• Formulate the relevant KPIs and proof points (e.g. proactive monitoring, success management, continuous improvement)
• Implement feedback and iteration loops (e.g. proactive and systematic feedback collection, adaptation to new internal and external information)

Your Partner Throughout the Implementation Process

We believe a strategic agenda is only as good as its execution plan. We work with our clients to build realistic strategic plans and serve as a partner throughout the execution. Key considerations for successful execution include:

• What are the major milestones required to prove progress against the strategic initiatives?
• How significant is the time investment and opportunity cost of the reallocation of stakeholder bandwidth?
• Who are the preferred vendors/partners (e.g. identification of vendors to build an internal engine or platform, ideal channel partners)
• What are the relevant KPI’s associated with each initiative (e.g. traffic, engagement, retention) and which teams will be responsible for tracking and reporting?
• What steps can be taken to ensure the team is able to adapt to new technologies and market conditions?

Companies Come to Us When They Need Support in…

• Entering new business areas (e.g. new business lines, new geographies)
• Building out new tech-enabled solutions (e.g. AI-enablement, data solutions)
• Implementing go-to-market initiatives (e.g. channel partner programs, marketing initiatives, updated pricing structures)
• Executing against value creation roadmaps for private equity clients (e.g. growth strategy implementation, new business development)
• Ensuring sales force effectiveness (e.g. marketing collateral development, sales org chart development, incentive structures, objection handling)