Strategic Advisory
Experienced, independent judgment, without handing over the function.
Usually 1–2 days per month, or a recurring executive cadence, from three months.
What it is
A standing relationship with the person carrying the commercial decision. Not a project, not a report: a recurring conversation with someone who has run the function, has no internal stake in the answer, and will say the uncomfortable thing early enough for it to be useful.
Who it's for
- A CEO whose marketing function reports well and moves slowly.
- A CMO who has no peer to pressure-test a direction with before it goes to the board.
- A commercial leader inheriting marketing without a marketing background.
- An investor who needs a read on whether a portfolio company's commercial plan holds up.
The mandate
I advise; you decide. That distinction is the point of this model. I take no operational ownership, which is exactly what makes the advice independent; I have nothing to defend.
In scope: direction, positioning, commercial priorities, marketing investment, the capability question, and reading whether what you are being told internally matches what the market is doing.
How it runs
It starts with a proper diagnosis; a few weeks of interviews and a look at the numbers, so the standing conversation has something solid underneath it. After that, a fixed rhythm: prepared sessions with an agenda you set, and availability between them when something needs a second opinion before it hardens into a decision.
What stays behind
A sharper set of choices, and a leader who has argued them through with someone who has no reason to agree. Written where writing helps: a positioning rationale, a priority framework, a note to the board. Never a deck for its own sake.
What it is not
Not implementation. Not a fractional CMO by the back door, if the honest answer is that the function needs leadership rather than advice, I will say so and we'll change the model. Not a permanent fixture: advisory relationships should have a reason to continue, reviewed openly.
Where it usually leads
Two directions. Either the choices sharpen and your own team executes them; the best outcome, or the diagnosis surfaces a gap that advice cannot close, and the conversation moves to a Transformation Sprint or a Fractional CMO mandate.
What I need from you
Access to the real numbers, including the ones that are not flattering. Willingness to hear that the constraint sits outside marketing. And a decision-maker in the room; advisory without the decision-maker is expensive commentary.
Engagement model
A monthly advisory retainer, set against an agreed cadence and level of access. For a single defined question, a fixed fee against a written scope.
The cadence you need, the seniority of the forum, and whether the work is standing or one-off. Most advisory arrangements run one to two days a month, from three months.
Fees are exclusive of VAT and travel. Terms, notice period and invoicing rhythm are agreed in writing before the work starts.