The Full Effect Company is a community of experts covering all the disciplines required to transform and run a business in the digital age. We are spread across the world and connect in the cloud.
We are bound together by a common understanding of the way business works today, how successful organisations operate in the digital economy, the role of marketing and in particular brands and adherence to a straightforward approach to building and running businesses that delivers the efficiency that separates successful organisations from unsuccessful ones.
About Phil Darby
Founder and lead strategist, Phil created and continues to develop the approach to marketing, brand and transformation that binds together the members of The Full Effect Company.
From a background in advertising where he occupied key roles at McCann Erickson, Grey Advertising and a number of independent marketing services firms, and sat on the board of Saatchi & Saatchi in London, he has travelled the world as a consultant helping marketing services firms tackle transformation and grow their businesses.
As an advisor to major brands across a wide range of sectors Phil has worked with senior executives in numerous countries unlocking hidden potential, developing and launching new products, creating new brands and reviving existing ones, building business units and helping smaller businesses tackle the challenges of IPO, raise finance and open up new territories.
Phil is also a public speaker and author of many articles and white papers on business marketing and transformation.
For years I’ve advised senior management teams around the world, helping them develop brands, marketing and business strategies that align their organisations to growth opportunities. I’ve evolved an end-to-end business process that’s right for the digital age and gathered a community of world leaders on the myriad of specialist disciplines today’s organisations need to compete in the digital paradigm.
Each member of The Full Effect Company of experts is fully committed to the principles upon which our programmes and processes are founded. We understand that brands are the centre of successful organisations, and marketing drives winners. And we come together in unique project teams tailored to the needs of our clients to fill the gaps in their resources and work shoulder-to-shoulder with them to create the success your organisation deserves.
How we do things
Every business challenge is unique, so we don’t deal in cut and paste solutions,
but there are a few lessons we can share with you.
Between them, our community of experts around the world have the skills and experience
to address pretty well any business problem, but we really shine, and you will too, when we are engaged to develop a cohesive, end-to-end solution.
This starts with a discussion with Phil, to identify your objectives and assess the task.
He’ll produce an outline of the steps you need to take to get your business in shape. This will give you a fairly good idea of the process, the phases, the timescale and the costs involved in achieving your objective. If you are OK with that we hit the “start” button.
Our 9 step process
Discovery
1Discovery
A combination of desk research, workshops and interviews with your stakeholders and if necessary online or field research and sometimes focus groups that our community research team design and run.
Analysis
2Analysis
Our own hybrid formula of logical and robust analyses of our discovery findings that will lead you to an inescapable conclusion and clear requirement.
Planning & Strategy
3Planning & Strategy
A realistic plan of action that takes your resources into account and drives you along the fastest and most efficient route to your objectives.
Full Effect Company Brand Model
4Full Effect Company Brand Model
Twelve coordinates that define your brand, including the all-important brand promise and the pillars that support it. This is the most important document your business will produce and will play a vital role in every decision you make from this point on.
Brand Design
5Brand Design
There’s more to a brand identity than most people think.
It’s not just about a logo, but even that is a bigger subject than most people realise. A great logo plays an important role in your front-line communication. It can contribute significantly to your “elevator pitch” and if it works as it should it will be the gateway to your all-important pipeline process.
Take it from us, most logos don’t measure up, but don’t worry, we have the understanding and expertise to tackle this for you and we’ll go on to develop your identity and create the “Brand Book” at the core of your on-going strategy.
Internal Marketing
6Internal Marketing
We’ll work with what you have and create an internal marketing programme to gain the total commitment of all your internal stakeholders – that’s real brand development.
Business Transformation
7Business Transformation
The Full Effect Company boasts some of the world’s most successful transformation consultants and an entire tribe of supporting specialists. They all share our philosophy and process, so you’ll be sure of a seamless transition from strategy to execution.
Business transformation these days is all about digitisation, but it’s not an IT project. Nor is it a process that takes place in the boardroom. It’s the people on your shop floor and in your offices who will make it happen, but they need the understanding, commitment, a clear process and experts to support them as they make your business fit for the digital economy.
Our transformation managers take our strategy and teach your employees how to make it a reality. They’ll learn how to build a case for individual initiatives, how to measure and monitor their success and how to keep up with the digital pace. They will have access to our specialists, like our business analysts, process designers, and developers, to turn their ideas into innovations that will place your organisation ahead of your competitors.
Campaign Planning
8Campaign Planning
You’ll have two main campaigns to plan – internal and external – both of which will require new infrastructure. Remember, this is the digital age. From now on you’ll do things differently, with new media driving a dis-intermediated pipeline that will deliver highly qualified leads or even close sales on-line.
Deployment
9Deployment
The Full Effect Company has world-class experts in any area of marketing you will need to put your launch plan into action, who come together in whatever combination of skills your strategy demands.
The way we see things
Like any strong brand The Full Effect Company is bound together by a common
understanding of how things are.
Today’s successful businesses are built around brands and driven by marketing. They are about relationship with stakeholders, who share values and beliefs. That’s not just customers, but investors, suppliers, partners, distributors and, of course, employees.
Business transformation is nothing new. It’s been a fact of life since the invention of the wheel, with each successive change representing a bigger step than its predecessor. Then came digital …
Digital may be the biggest step-change we have encountered to date, which is why it’s such a struggle. Younger generations born into an already digital world have an entirely different perspective to their predecessors. They are independent, sceptical, enquiring, impatient, selfish, and now they are calling the shots. We call the world they are creating the “more for less economy”. And that’s what all the fuss is about.
Digital natives want better products and services, delivered simply, on their terms and in their time – which is fast. It’s no use telling them it can’t be done, they’ll just write you off as irrelevant. That’s the challenge to traditional organisations.
It is estimated that 40% of the business names we know today will disappear in the next few years simply because they failed to transform into digital businesses.
With truly digital start-ups emerging in every sector every day traditional businesses can’t compete. A traditional business simply isn’t capable of delivering the quality in the time and at the price demanded while still making a profit. To ignore this reality means certain failure. It is estimated that 40% of the business names we know today will disappear in the next few years simply because they failed to transform into digital businesses.
In 2017 more than 60% of businesses stated they were aware they had to change, yet only 20% had a plan. What’s more, at least 70% of those plans are failing. Transformation isn’t just about the mechanics of a business. Until you THINK digital, any changes you make can only be superficial and certainly won’t be radical enough to save you.
In 2017 more than 60% of businesses stated they were aware they had to change, yet only 20% had a plan.
The two key ingredients of successful transformation are focus and a clear and realistic plan. You also need all your stakeholders, internal and external, to understand exactly what you are trying to achieve and commit their efforts to making it happen, which is why we place so much emphasis on internal marketing.
Business in the new paradigm is about achieving “more with less” and that applies to your approach to transformation as much as it does to the way you operate once you’ve brought your transformation home.
At the heart of The Full Effect Company is a clear and straightforward programme that provides clear focus from beginning to end. In fact, of course, it never ends, because the digital paradigm is a state of constant change.
Get in touch to start the conversation
Tell us what your challenges are and what you want to achieve and we’ll work with you to plan your success.
Or write to us: Unit 20077, PO Box 15113, Birmingham, B2 2NJ