ABOUT
EXPERIENCE & IMPACT
INSIGHTS
TEAM & TALENT
CONTACT
STRATEGY
GROWTH
DIFFERENCE
IMPACT
INSIGHTS
ACTIVATE
The leading strategy and technology consulting firm for media, technology, entertainment and information businesses.
Activate works with CEOs and senior management teams to drive growth and position companies to win in the dynamic media-tech ecosystem.
We help optimize businesses and capture the opportunities arising from the innovation and invention reshaping these industries.
As a firm, we believe in the power of real-world connections and networks.
ABOUT
STRATEGY
Our entire focus is on helping our clients address their biggest challenge: Growth.
These are certainly exciting (and challenging) times for media, technology, entertainment and information companies. New technologies, platforms, distribution models, marketplaces, editorial models and advertising formats are creating growth opportunities. But capturing those growth opportunities isn’t going to be easy. As the business environment gets more competitive, there is a critical need for new strategies and approaches.
That’s where we come in.
Leading companies turn to us to find ways to grow their revenues, take advantage of digital opportunities and get ahead of the forces transforming their businesses.
We also act as advisors for a number of early- mid-stage startups. Our clients benefit from our real-world collaboration with entrepreneurs and tech innovators.
GROWTH
Our entire focus is helping our clients grow and increase revenues:
BREAKOUT GROWTH STRATEGY
SALES ACTIVATION AND GO-TO-MARKET
DIGITAL STRATEGY AS BUSINESS STRATEGY: REINVENTION AT SCALE
VALUE CAPTURE AND
DUE-DILIGENCE FOR PRINCIPAL INVESTORS
CREATE NEW MEDIA PRODUCTS AND BUSINESSES – INSIDE OF LARGE COMPANIES
PRICING OPTIMIZATION
Identify and exploit new opportunities, define new strategies and create a road map and plan for sustainable growth, for an entire corporation or for key business units.
Drive sales: reinvent the customer value proposition, improve sales force effectiveness, develop new advertising categories and customer segments and improve advertising yield.
Formulate strategies and identify opportunities to enable established companies to create new and engaging user experiences, products and services that underpin new high growth businesses, revenue streams and audiences.
Once businesses are optimized for cost (which is relatively easy), value is created from growing the top line. We help principal investors and their management teams identify and implement growth strategies that leverage existing customer relationships, products and services – into new digital products, markets and customer segments.
Strategic due diligence – providing insight in to how well targets are positioned for growth and whether they are advantaged given the likely evolution of their industry sector.
Take advantage of the native capabilities of devices and platforms to redefine content, editorial and storytelling for a new generation of audiences.
Identify opportunities to create new businesses that take advantage of a company’s assets and capabilities.
Tap new sales revenues from optimizing yield and sales volume from marketers and consumers – including dynamic pricing, bundling products, packaging audiences and new sales stewardship approaches.
DIFFERENCE
We bring a distinct set of capabilities and a radically different approach than legacy consulting firms.
In the same way that companies need to be reinvented for the years ahead, we’ve reinvented the consulting firm for the challenges of this new era: native to the digital world, experienced business builders, industry experts, practical strategists, creative innovators and fast movers.
What’s the Activate difference?
• Team with business operating track records, tech startup experience and blue-chip management consulting backgrounds
• Extensive knowledge, relationships and credibility in the media, technology, information and entertainment industries
• Deeply involved in the creative and content development process
• Expertise and credibility with marketers, agencies, ad platforms and advertising decision makers
• Hands on experience in creating advertising products, packages and activating advertising sales
• Ability to infuse start-up culture into established culture
The name ‘Activate’ defines the spirit of our firm: we create and set into motion practical strategies, rooted in the realities of how people will use and enjoy media, information and technology into the future.
EXPERIENCE & IMPACT
Industry
depth across all businesses we
serve
Our clients judge us by the only measures that matter: results
We are successful if our clients are successful. That means we help them create strategies that are real and actionable and create value – top line and bottom line growth and value creation.
• Doubling shareholder value for a Fortune 500 company
• Building a new consumer division for a Fortune 500 business information and media company
• Increasing advertising sales by 25 percent for a cable television company
• Developing the strategy for a new education division for one of the world’s largest entertainment companies
• Exploiting technology to create a new paradigm for storytelling and narrative for a major entertainment company
• Improving advertising effectiveness for a leading magazine company
• Optimizing pricing and sponsorship revenues across a multi-business entertainment company
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INSIGHTS
THINK AGAIN: MEDIA + TECH 2014
Trends in media and entertainment are causing us to wonder and to think again about the evolution of the media and tech ecosystem – and how media and tech businesses will grow their companies.
WHAT MATTERS: IDEAS THAT WILL SHAPE THE YEAR IN MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY & ENTERTAINMENT
From privacy to policy, sensors to subscriptions, data to design, these are the ideas that Activate identified as mattering most in building business growth in 2012.
REDEFINERS: CAPTURING MEDIA GROWTH DOLLARS
In 2011, Activate’s perspective on how established media companies can create new growth businesses set a new agenda for many in the industry.
EXPLOITING THE POTENTIAL OF BIG DATA
How are companies creating value from big data? They're developing a meaningful understanding of the users they're working to connect with through data from publishers and advertisers, and not just in real time.
WHAT WILL MATTER FOR MEDIA-TECH
The user is what matters for media-tech
TEAM & TALENT
MICHAEL J. WOLF
Co-Founder/Managing Director
READ BIO
Michael has extensive experience in strategy development for media, technology, entertainment and information businesses. Formerly, he was President & COO at MTV Networks and Global Media and Entertainment Practice Leader at McKinsey & Co. Prior to that he was a senior partner and head of the Communications, Media and Technology Group at Booz Allen. He is a former board member at Yahoo! Inc.
FLAVIO MURAROTTO
Managing Director
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Flavio develops strategies and improves business operations in revenue areas such as advertising, pricing, marketing and strategic development. Formerly, he was SVP Corporate Strategy and Development at IMG Worldwide and Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co.
ROBERT JONES
Senior Associate
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Robert works with Activate’s clients to develop growth strategies and respond to technology opportunities within their ecosystem. Formerly, he was a video software engineer at Apple.
MICHELE ANDERSON
COO/Managing Director
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Michele focuses on developing growth strategies and improving revenue performance, as well as helping companies build new businesses. Formerly, she was SVP of International at iVillage and a Principal in the Communications, Media and Technology Practice at Booz Allen.
CHRISTOPHER MORF
Managing Director
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Chris positions b-to-c and b-to-b companies for growth and develops go to market strategies for new businesses. He has extensive experience in analytical research to identify growth opportunities. Formerly, he was Director of Corporate Development at IGA Worldwide and at McKinsey & Co’s media and internet team.
SEREF TURKMENOGLU
Senior Associate
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Seref works with media and entertainment companies to develop growth and go to market strategies, focusing on pricing, digital product development and competitive positioning. Formerly, he was on the Consumer Products and Publishing team at Disney.
ANIL DASH
Co-Founder/Managing Director
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Anil focuses on technology innovation and digital transformation. He founded a number of companies and also works with successful startups as an advisor and board member.
SAMANTHA LYNCH
Senior Associate
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Sam helps both client management teams and principal investors develop and execute growth strategies and conduct strategic due diligence. Formerly, she was a media and entertainment investment banker at Goldman Sachs and on the corporate development team at News Corporation.
TEAM
TALENT
Must be fluent in both CEO & Startup.
Our clients demand cutting-edge thinking, industry experience, and deep expertise. The work we do requires a different background than other leading strategy consulting firms. Our clients like that we’re different. If that sounds like you, get in touch.
KNOW YOUR STUFF
ITS NOT ABOUT THE
ORG CHART
THIS ISN’T “POWERPOINT BY THE POUND”
We help our clients capture their most significant business opportunities and stay in front of the major changes in their industries. To accomplish this, each and every Activate team member has considerable industry experience that’s grounded in developing strategy.
Fair warning: If you believe that developing business strategy is about helping companies “re-engineer processes” or streamline supply chains or simply cut costs, then Activate is not for you.
At Activate, you’ll join a highly collaborative and non-hierarchical culture. Teamwork is critical to doing our best work. We are committed to mentoring and as a young firm we can offer a career development track not possible in more established organizations.
We strive to build a team that is diverse not just in background but in outlook. And the most rewarding part of being part of the team at Activate is getting to fully engage with meaningful work that provides measurable results every day.
We’re looking for people who are smart and practical. Our biggest value to our clients is in finding the non-intuitive and most innovative answers. Being firmly rooted in the reality of the media and technology businesses today informs our insights. And lessons from the most successful emerging companies and user experiences are incorporated into our strategies. That means people who join our team must be experts, either in established media companies or as technology innovators.
CONTACT
+1 212 316 4444
New York City
156 Fifth Avenue, Penthouse 1
New York, NY 10010
Los Angeles
8383 Wilshire Blvd.
#240
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Copyright © 2014 Activate. All rights reserved.