industry thoughts from Clarteza

I love Marcel Proust’s quote: “The Voyage of Discovery Consists not in Seeking New Landscapes but in Having New Eyes”. It describes the way we look at business issues.

What we do:

Our team focuses on finding innovative solutions to meet clients’ marketing and business needs. In our work we apply design thinking and we recognize that creativity is a collaborative skill. We function as a think tank of highly specialized experts to evaluate the business issue and create custom tailored solutions. Our lenses allow us to see issues from variety of different angles and, as such, we can better “connect the dots”.

How we work:

For example, we are involved in a new product development process where our team has become a “chaperone” of the idea from the initial meta-analysis to learn where the client’s opportunities may be, through articulation of the idea to its consumer evaluation. We get multiple people involved from different departments to get a broader buy-in of the idea.

Another type of our custom solution would be re-signifying previously conducted research studies to understand if there are other ways we can look at the data. Given different specialties we have on the team from research, management consulting, marketing and advertising, we are able to paint a picture for a client that is more clearer and easier to understand as we focus on the executive audience to communicate it properly. We have also used those analyses to help the sales and shopper teams find the benefits of brand presence in certain stores.

As we get familiar with the internal processes of our clients’ teams, we start thinking more broadly about what other needs the teams may have to improve an existing process and we recommend a solution.

Given our highly experienced team, the nimble nature of our business and focused solutions, Fortune 500 companies see us as valuable partners. We serve as “force multipliers” for clients and help them see the forest through the trees.

Why we do it:

I believe in doing well by doing good.

My vision for the company is to grow by building new relationships and foster existing ones by having great relationships within Clarteza.

My business model allows Clarteza team members to be more involved with their families and in our communities. I maintain a flexible hour arrangement for my entire team and as a result I have amazing fierce loyalty and commitment from my team members. I broke the “rules” by creating a business model that empowers employees to enrich their communities and have influence over their schedules.

Our entire team volunteers: at our children’s schools, as Girls on the Run coaches and ESL teachers. This spring we started an initiative “Kids in the Kitchen – Inspiring Healthy Student Bodies” to increase awareness of healthy eating and wellness at schools, partnering with a celebrity chef and Whole Foods.

Our team and services evolve. It is consistent with the design thinking principles. We get better every time we deliver a project or a service. Our goal is to make sure we create value for our team by being able to do what we love and by delivering value to our clients. We believe that for successful relationships to exist, both sides of the equation should benefit.