New consultancy offers part-time CMOs to mid-market corporates

A new executive-as-a-service consultancy is offering up part-time CMOs to mid-sized companies to help them propel their go-to-market strategies.

Sydney-based Orange Sky is being pitched as a cross between a marketing consulting firm and an executive placement service, and has four senior corporate marketers on its books, with three more to come. Founding partner, Raz Chorev, said he established the business after completing a 13-month project last year around strategy formulation and implementing.

Chorev has held a host of marketing roles over his career, both client and agency side, including global marketing director and then managing director of CXC Global, general manager of social business strategy at Kinship enterprise, social media and marketing positions with Socially Acceptable, Razor Brand Agency and Orange Line. Most recently, he was a marketing consultant to equity service firm, Stylequity Advisory.

Chorev said the new service will enable business owners to get access to large enterprise, cross-industry expertise by leveraging the knowledge of its consulting CMOs. The team boasts of experience across FMCG, B2B and fintech, and currently consists of Annie Walsh, Holly Locastro, David Goldman and Chorev.

Chorev said consultants must have a minimum of 15 years’ experience in a marketing field, with extensive corporate experience. Orange Sky’s target market, meanwhile, includes mid-sized organisations with up to $100 million in turnover and up to 300 staff in any industry.

Key challenges the team is keen to help with include growth strategies, tackling disruption, market and product expansion, and strategic roadblocks to innovation.

“The mid-market is struggling with technology adoption, so it’s a great opportunity for former corporate marketers to help those companies with adopting new tech,” he told CMO. But Chorev stressed the expertise of Orange Sky’s consultants, and the means by which organisations harness digital disruption for growth, go well beyond technology tools.

“Yes, technology is the enabler of that disruption, but it is the shake-up of old industries, changing of business models and the lack of patience consumers have for slow-moving companies, which is the major threat to incumbent market players,” he commented. “Our CMOs not only understand, but in many cases faced disruptions in their own roles, and can guide clients through the innovation process.”

A key consideration in setting up the service was the realisation that there was a lot more tangible impact that experienced marketers could have with less experienced clients, Chorev continued.

“In addition, giving the global trend of senior executives finding themselves sick of the slow decline of the corporate world, there was an opportunity to round up these highly experienced people, and let them fulfil what they really love – marketing,” he said.

Orange Sky will give its marketing consultants the opportunity to get back in the trenches by helping smaller firms, Chorev said. He also noted a rising global trend, reported on by Deloitte in 2014, which states that 40 per cent of the workforce will be contracting by 2020.

“Once you climb up the corporate level, and get to a head of marketing level in a large corporate, you find yourself going from meeting to meeting, dealing with people and budget issues, and doing less and less of what you’re really passionate about,” he said.

“Not only do we provide strategic insights, but as a collective we manage technology implementation, organise expansion and rapid growth options, preparing for potential digital disruption, and mobilise our own networks of service providers. These are benefits which a full-time junior marketer won’t be able to bring to the table.”

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