Strategy that survives scrutiny.
CUSTOMER | MARKET | PROPOSITION | POSITION
Independent strategy support for difficult market, customer, proposition and positioning decisions, from evidence and diagnosis to a clear, defensible direction.
I’m Nick Barthram, an independent strategy consultant with 20 years’ experience helping organisations make better decisions across market, customer, commercial and brand strategy.
My work often starts when something is difficult to position, explain or prioritise. I bring together market evidence, insight and stakeholder perspectives to sharpen the choices and turn them into a clear proposition, position or strategic direction.
I work directly with leadership teams, or as embedded senior strategic capacity within consultancies and agencies.
Where I help
I can work directly with leadership teams to define the question, interrogate the evidence and arrive at a clear strategic direction. Or I can embed within a consultancy or agency team, adding senior strategic capacity to a live project, pitch or workstream with minimal run-in.
Engagements can range from a focused piece of independent analysis or challenge through to leading a strategic project from research and diagnosis to workshops, recommendations and delivery.
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Understand where opportunity sits, what customers actually value and which evidence should drive the decision.
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Turn complex capabilities, portfolios or offers into a clear market choice and a proposition people can understand and choose.
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Interrogate an existing direction, its assumptions, and its evidence before you commit significant budget, time, or reputation.
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Add experienced capacity to a leadership, consultancy or agency team: research, synthesis, workshops, recommendations and a clear strategic story.
My experience
I’ve spent two decades helping leadership teams and agencies turn complex business challenges into clear strategic direction.
My background spans data-led strategy, direct and digital marketing, CRM, customer insight and brand strategy. That means I’m used to combining hard evidence with human insight, rather than building direction on assumptions.
Across previous roles, that has included:
+100% YoY subscription growth by reaching a new audience
Audience growth strategy for a global digital product.
£3m+ entry into a new market, tripling average order value
Data-led positioning and acquisition strategy for a major retail brand.
Increased visits beyond established destinations
Audience and positioning strategy for a national tourism brand.
A global growth platform across new cycling segments
Market & audience strategy for a PE-backed global consumer brand.
Selected previous experience:
