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Steve Boehler

Founder, Mercer Island Group: Marketing Management Consulting

Stephen Boehler is the founder of Mercer Island Group, a prominent marketing consulting firm based in the West Coast. He has been leading the firm since its inception in June 1990. Mercer Island Group specializes in strategic business consulting, organizational effectiveness, and enhancing client-agency relationships, helping companies navigate complex business challenges and improve their market positioning.143

Boehler's professional background includes significant roles at Weyerhaeuser, where he served as Division President and Vice President of Marketing, and a decade in brand management at Procter & Gamble, where he was notably the second youngest brand manager in the company's history. During his time at Procter & Gamble, he successfully managed well-known brands such as Tide, Pringles, and Jif, contributing to their market leadership.123

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, which he completed between 1974 and 1978. His extensive experience in marketing and consulting has established him as a key figure in the industry, particularly in facilitating effective agency-client relationships and strategic marketing initiatives.14

Highlights

Aug 29 · linkedin

Marketers and agencies have many options for support and counsel!

Ad Age's Ewan Larkin does a fine job reporting on the wide range of different agency search consultants in the article below.

A few things we've learned at Mercer Island Group over the past 30 years:

  • Agency reviews are critical to marketers' success. The wrong choice can have devastating impact on the business and even careers. Most marketers, recognizing this, opt for consultants with a track record that provide thorough and disciplined reviews. Ours happens quickly in a series of quick sprints.

  • Multiple opportunities for the client and agencies to interact is important. Our approach provides that. On top of that...

  • The feedback the agencies get after each session is the key variable that helps agencies present themselves in the best way possible. Our approach includes working with clients to consolidate feedback immediately after each session, which is then delivered both in writing and live within 24 hours and often within just a few hours.

  • To help counsel clients and agencies, Mercer Island Group consultants are present on each call and in each meeting.

  • Agency compensation that is fair to the agency and fits the client's needs is a core aspect of a successful review. We work closely with procurement, marketers and the agencies to find the right fit.

  • Aside from reviews, our other services like client workflow and briefing consulting preps clients to help themselves and their agencies succeed.

  • Agencies also need help in a variety of ways and we feel obligated to help. The agency world is very much like the shoemaker's children, lacking distinctive positioning, not understanding their customer's journey, and needing help writing better proposals and developing better, more strategic pitches. We are proud to help agencies succeed with this kind of support - of course not during or as part of one of our reviews that may include the agency. Our clients know which agencies we have counseled - it's all transparent.

Despite the amount of change underway in the industry, we are bullish on the business and happy to help clients and agencies succeed.

4A's Agency Management Institute Association of National Advertisers American Marketing Association

Aug 28 · linkedin

New research highlights a triple threat challenge to agencies: AI, inhousing and overall mistrust...

I found this research mentioned in the wonderful Mi3Australia, despite the focus on US and Europe (Mi3 is a great read!). Research in the US and Europe found:

  • Less than a quarter of marketing agencies are concerned about the rise of AI and the trend towards in-housing, while 43% of marketers are claiming AI will reduce their dependence on agencies

  • More than half of marketers do not trust their agency partnerships

  • Few marketers are using advanced analytics forms like Marketing Mix Modelling (26%) and incrementality testing (26%). Only 15% have plans to outsource additional advanced analytics services in the coming 12-18 months

And there is much more in the research. Take a look below.

Some Mercer Island Group takeaways:

  • Agencies need to address the trust issue. Recent declines in transparency (principal buying, hidden fees and upcharges, etc.) are casting a wide shadow. More top to tops, more transparency on costs and agency profit models, more third-party client-agency 360s, etc.

  • Marketers need to fix their own homes. The advanced analytics and modeling capabilities are tragically limited at many advertisers. Invest in staff and tech, and concurrently get your people trained up (try the great data and analytics training at magic works)

  • In the meantime, agencies have an opportunity to elevate their analytics offerings in an affordable fashion.

  • The associations (4A's, Association of National Advertisers) need to help raise the water level for everyone. The agency compensation issue is huge and there is no practical solution today. We need the big dogs to bark here.

Your thoughts?

Brian Bonilla Ewan Larkin Andrew Tindall Matt Kasindorf #marketers #advertising Drew McLellan

Related Questions

What are some of the key projects Steve Boehler has led at Mercer Island Group?
How did Steve Boehler's experience at Procter & Gamble influence his approach at Mercer Island Group?
What makes Mercer Island Group stand out from other marketing consulting firms?
How did Steve Boehler and Robin Boehler meet and start Mercer Island Group together?
What are Steve Boehler's predictions for the future of marketing agencies?
Steve Boehler
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Location

Mercer Island, Washington, United States