The Shore Communications Inc. team
of highly talented and insightful consultants and industry
analysts provides the range of skills and experience that
information content producers and content technology
suppliers need to help them make their most important
decisions. Highly effective support for management
decisions that affect the very future of their
companies—valuation, strategy and planing, product
development and pricing, new channel development—is what
Shore is known for worldwide by
leading content industry executives.
With experience in both large corporate environments as well
as with fast-moving entrepreneurial companies, Shore
consultants and analysts have the creativity, keen analytical
skills, communications talent and broad knowledge of markets
and technology to make the high level contribution that our
C-level clients expect.
Whether it’s getting out in front of trends in the market,
getting behind what customers say they want improving
production processes or implementing strategies, Shore
consultants have the background and expertise that help you to
set a new and even better direction. How do we know this? Our
track record speaks for itself.
CASE STUDY PROFILES
Superior Analysis of Content Market Opportunities
As new publishing technologies altered the perceived value
of scientific publications, the top management of a major
scientific and technical publisher were forced to face up to
the “open access” challenge. If what had been premium content
was going to be accessed for free, what did that mean for the
business? To plan for the future, management turned to a Shore
consultant to understand market segments, the competition and
technology trends at a more detailed level than what the major
management consulting firms could offer. With the leadership of
an experienced Shore consultant, the publisher got just what
was needed: actionable information that could be used for
product and service comparisons, insights into channels for
delivery decisions, analysis of technology to guide investment
decisions, and fresh merger and acquisition ideas.
When sales stalled for a medical-legal publisher, identifying
and pursuing new markets was essential for future growth.
Company management was so focused on their traditional core
business that they were locked into a very narrow definition of
their market. After a comprehensive analysis of their
extensive publishing database, Shore expertise
identified and targeted additional distribution channels
that reached new markets for the existing data.
Moving from Print to Electronic Operations
Developing a successful strategy for a publisher of 300 print
journals to move into online distribution with minimal
investment was the challenge. To do it within a year set the
bar even higher. A Shore consultant conducted an exhaustive
investigation of possible partners, based on the client’s
criteria: the ability to move quickly, share the risk, and
provide marketing and branding support. The result was a
satisfied publishing client with an expanded business, free to
focus on always improving the content for their market.
Understanding Markets and Business Partners
How their value-added partners would respond to a new product
line was the question facing a $20 million enterprise-wide
software company adding value to internal
and external content. The goal was to reduce the risk
of new product development and decrease the lengthy sales
cycle. Extensive interviews with their partners and prospects
provided the answers and helped the company to clarify the
value proposition. They focused on what was most important
to partners and end users. This valuable research of a
Shore consultant drove home the importance of support and
training to this young company and motivated them to hire
additional support staff for a successful product introduction.
Making Content
Partnerships Work
To achieve maximum payoff from a newly-formed partnership, the
priority was to rapidly implement the new business model
between a major consumer publisher and a quality
business-to-business publisher. How to achieve that payoff
quickly? A Shore consultant used this process: delineating
areas of responsibility and accountability for each of the nine
departments involved in the partnership across the country,
conducting weekly meetings to review operations and financial
status, using rapid course correction when things weren’t
working to keep the team motivated and focused. The result was
on-time and on-budget implementation.
Designing and Tuning Market Segmentation Strategies
A top-tier consulting and publishing firm wanted to increase
the number of distribution channels but was fearful of
under-pricing its valuable information as it moved from a
premium subscription model to a la carte offerings. Shore
consultants were able to make the transition smoother by
helping the firm devise a segmentation strategy for both
services that maximized sales, satisfied the broadest range of
customers and did not leave money on the table! This strategy
was based on a clear understanding of the purchase and use
process for each segment and modification of the products and
pricing. Aligning workflow needs and willingness to pay enabled
the firm to penetrate the market more fully and at the same
time, retain the value of the content.
Company Valuation
Analysis
After on-site assessments of twenty publishing, cable and
broadcast operations across the country, a Shore Analyst
developed a detailed valuation for a major media
organization based on historical financial and operations
data, circulation and market evaluation, and trends in share of
market. The assignment was groundbreaking in that it affected
valuations for similar deals and challenged common Wall Street
wisdom. The valuation successfully withstood an IRS
challenge.
Analyzing and Selecting Channel Partners
The leading publisher in a professional market knew that
developing channel partners was important for future growth.
The company had some experience with the big search engines and
advertising online. They were concerned that the market was
passing them by and they weren’t doing enough under their
current plans. Using recent experience and comprehensive
industry knowledge, a Shore consultant was able to provide the
publisher with an audit of their current practices and how they
compared to trends in the industry. In-depth knowledge of the
company, their corporate culture and the market they served
meant a speedy turnaround for the project. As a result of the
audit, top management agreed that they were on the right path
and continued to follow their validated guidelines.
Tuning Online
Marketing for Success
Eliminating online purchasing barriers was the goal for the
Chief Executive Officer of a marketing information provider. At
stake was the success of an entirely new company strategy—from
reliance on subscription sales to selling information a la
carte. A step-by-step process analysis for the customer—the
searcher, purchaser and end user—by a Shore consultant was the
key to developing a data structure that was optimized for
search engines. This resulted in improved findability and
maximized sales opportunities.
It was essential to use savvy marketing and operations know-how
provided by a Shore consultant at
a technology startup founded and run by brilliant information
professionals to achieve their goals for their online product
launch. The company—a seller and distributor of valuable
intellectual property online—was facing well-financed
competition and needed to launch and build business quickly. Shore recommended a soft launch
and close monitoring of site traffic and customer behavior that enabled the company to
transform their cutting edge technology into a successful
business within months: Version 2 was launched, visitors and
sales doubled quarterly, with recognition as the top site in
its market.
Positioning Brands for Search Marketing
Google’s dominance in search raised concerns at a premium
content company serving the library market to be concerned
about how their services could be found, purchased and used in
the Google environment. A Shore consultant conducted hundreds
of searches, playing the role of the end user and provided an
objective perspective of the searching-finding experience. As a
result of this research, recommendations were made to re-brand
and re-launch the service with new marketing materials. This
meant greater brand awareness, a more robust service, and
satisfied customers.
Improving Product Planning and Performance
A $300 million marketing information company needed to make
limited investment funds work harder. An analysis of over 50
new product options and a re-formulation of strategic
priorities were the starting points for a radical redirection
of investment resources, recommended by a Shore consultant.
Senior operations executives were persuaded to implement the
plan leading to a 20% margin improvement.
Sales
and Marketing Process Improvement
At a growing $400 million information services company the
sales process was usually hit-or-miss, based on personal
relationships. Developing the roadmap for explosive growth
meant transforming the sales and marketing process to a
highly targeted effort. Based on a detailed analysis of
client value, industry segmentations, company size and spending
track record developed by a Shore consultant, the new strategy
was combined with a systematic, long-term and financially
disciplined approach to growth. The result was measurable improvements to both the top
line and the bottom line though more efficient management of
sales and marketing processes.
Listening to incoming 800-number phone calls over a week
provided valuable information needed to make improvements for a
publisher/information services company eager to increase sales
without investing in new products. From this listening-in
research, the Shore consultant determined that customers wanted
to buy, but were confused with too many product options. The
recommendation? Simplify product options to make it easier for
customers to spend and introduce compensation incentives to
encourage sales of high-margin products and profitable add-ons.
This resulted in a 20% increase in average sale size in one
month.
