We work with enterprise clients at the business unit, initiative, or leadership team level—delivering strategic clarity and execution infrastructure with the depth of a major transformation firm and without the overhead, complexity, or timeline.
Our engagements are typically scoped around specific moments: a BU navigating a market shift, an initiative that needs to move faster than the organization’s default pace allows, a leadership team that needs to align on a small number of high-stakes decisions. We bring 30 years of cross-sector experience and deep familiarity with how large organizations actually work in 2026—the formal structures and the informal ones—which lets us move quickly to the insight that matters and the decisions that unlock progress.
The output is connected to execution: prioritized goals, clear ownership, and the systems and processes that link strategy to daily work. We stay engaged through implementation when needed.
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“Mark’s customer strategy and marketing expertise have been invaluable for me and my team a number of times. He led a 20+ member leadership team through a strategic planning and customer positioning workshop that resulted in significant improvements to our customer service and product alignment strategies. I have since consulted with Mark on marketing communications, web development, mission statement development, and rebranding projects. He is professional, efficient, smart and trustworthy. I feel lucky to be able to tap into his insights and recommendations.”
Case studies
Leapfrog Toys
The Next Us helped this beloved educational brand articulate a vision as bright as its past, and deliver strongly against that vision.
In 2007, Leapfrog had many successes to celebrate. But the electronic educational toys space the company once pioneered was now rapidly changing, with new technologies, market entrants, and consumer expectations. Over a two-year period, The Next Us worked with the Leapfrog executive team and across business units to revitalize its consumer value proposition. The long-term bets made during this project were re-evaluated three years later, and all were found to be fully correct and successful.
Sundance Channel
The Next Us helped the Sundance Channel generate significant online buzz for its new environmental content and smartly test hypotheses about the company’s audiences and long-term growth.
The Next Us worked with Sundance Channel over a two-year period on strategic planning and digital media strategy. Highlights of this work included the company’s innovative buzz marketing efforts in Second Life, which were profiled in the Time magazine 2006 Person of the Year issue and the New York Times.