A truly effective Strategic Plan centers on making strategic choices around the company’s most critical go-forward imperatives, and then aligning an executive team and resourcing around those choiceful imperatives. Only then will a strategic plan chart a path toward greater, sustainable profitability.

We are excited to announce the newest addition to our management team, a general manager and strategy veteran, Justin Moser. Justin joins us as Chief Operating Officer, taking the lead to enhance internal initiatives, and in parallel, work closely with HPA Partners to develop and execute service delivery and business development opportunities.

While I missed the annual meeting this year (after enjoying my time there in 2016 and 2017), I eagerly devoured all the related content pouring out of Omaha. I’m glad to report that Warren & Charlie are still at the top of their game, and I continue to be amazed by their desire and ability to engage on any and all topics, both intelligently and with insane levels of detail, for hours on end.

There’s no doubt our personal information, preferences, habits, dislikes and opinions are being collected and used by everyone from Facebook to florists. These businesses benefit from the data they collect on us – it’s time they used that data to our benefit as well.

There will be no escaping NBA fandom in the coming months – and that’s just the way the league wants it. When it comes to brand exposure, there’s a lot we can learn from the NBA’s successful approach to fan engagement.

Retailers like Aldi and Amazon are now challenging traditional CPG companies like Kellogg and Campbell Soup to transform the way they think about and approach both strategic acquisitions and their online offerings. It’s a new kind of competition that goes beyond your typical food fight.

Philly fans may not have made a universally popular name for themselves, but their approach to purposeful identity is something to consider.

You’ve heard the old saying “if it looks like a bank, swims like a bank, and quacks like a bank, then it probably is a bank.” Or something like that. Whatever the saying was, it isn’t true anymore.

While 2017 was many things to many people, our job is to make sense of it for our clients and collaborators. One of the ways we do this is through the voices of our Senior Advisors, the personification of our commitment to strategic and operational expertise within our firm.

Bob Kaplan is one of our original Senior Advisors. He works in the fields of strategy, organizational structure and processes, and IT. He acts as a counselor and sounding board for CEOs and other senior level executives. We recently sat down with him to learn more.