Data and strategy consulting that creates impact.
Sowen is an international strategy consultancy focused on the intersection of economic value and social impact.
headquarters
other locations
Focus
Portfolio
King's College (University of London), Bloomberg Philanthropies, Greater London Authority, British Airways,
Purpose | Mission | Goals and Objectives
A chamber of commerce for a large US city was struggling with its identity, operation and impact. It has been over 10 years since they last examined why the chamber exists, and how they execute and measure their work.
In this time, the city has seen drastic economic growth, and two mayoral administrations. The chamber no longer represented its core purpose in either spirit or action.
Solution:
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We conducted a wide audit to understand people’s perception of the organizational purpose, both within the chamber and with outside key stakeholders.
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We researched examples of successes and failures in multiple other markets to get a sense of both best practices and missed opportunities
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We conducted a 2 day workshop with relevant personnel and subject matter experts that aimed to answer three questions:
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Where are we today
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Where do we want to be tomorrow
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How do we get there?
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We landed on an organizational purpose that spans beyond a certain time limit, project or initiative, and that serves as a true north for all activities moving forward.
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We agreed on a mission statement that clearly defined our strategic path forward across all departments, and then segmented that into department specific mission declarations that ladder to a single common one.
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We identifies precise, measurable, actionable and meaningful goals for each department, project and individual that, when brought together, created our roadmap for the year.
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Finally, we identified specific measurement parameters and built a pulse page that was available to both the public and chamber members. In it we provided transparent reporting and measurable demonstration of our impact on both the city and the economic value created for and by our organization and its members.
Within 6 months the chamber completely rebranded around the new purpose, shifting favorable affinity within the stakeholder audience by +45% in NPS surveys.
In this time period, the chamber was able to turn around a 4-year negative trend of membership and revenue loss.
Within a year, the chamber was able to double its operational budget and increase its average member economic value contribution by 16%.
Predictive target audience modelling
A top 5 US insurance company was looking to create predictive audience segments for future targeting of home, automobile and life insurance policies.
Solution:Creation of a safe harbour data environment for advanced predictive modeling using multiple data sets.
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We created a 3rd party hosted safe harbour environment that can both digest and analyze multiple data parameters
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We aggregated multiple data sets into this environment, including purchase, search, behavioral, census, digital cookie based, location, and survey based data
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We anonymized all data from any Personally Identified Information and modelled relevant parts to adhere to all privacy regulations
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We modelled behaviors against relevant objective functions to identify behavioral predictors in future behaviors
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We created segmented audience groups based on likelihood of exhibiting future desired behaviors based on given past behaviors and data.
Results:
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Predictive audience groups had conversions rates that were 3.6X standard audiences without compromising scale.
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ROI on top 10% of audience group was 8X that of standard audiences
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ROI on top 25% of audience group was 5.75X that of standard audiences
Reviews
the project
Consulting for Regional Semi-Government Organization
“They encouraged us to take risks and pushed us to places we hadn’t been before.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the European programs manager for a regional semi-government organization.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sowen?
We wanted to improve the way we communicate with businesses because they struggled to engage with us online. We act more as a repository of support information, and a lot of the information on our website wasn’t clear enough, so we needed to revise our message and redesign our website.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We had some strategy sessions with Sowen where they took time to understand our business and target audience. We designed a long-term strategy in which they put our vision into an action plan and established the changes and future development we needed to do.
For the implementation phase, they were responsible for procuring new web developers, providing the design, and seeing the project to its completion. The website they delivered was a CRM system that allowed us to manage our beneficiaries. We launched it in September 2020.
What is the team composition?
I worked with one person from their team.
How did you come to work with Sowen?
We found them through another company that provides pro bono consultants to cities around the world.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent £100,000 (approximately $141,800 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in January 2019, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Members of the team and other colleagues gave us very positive feedback. We saw a 300% increase in traffic coming to the website.
How did Sowen perform from a project management standpoint?
They didn’t do project management, but they supported it on our side. We communicated through email and phone and had meetings face-to-face. When we didn’t have the time or capacity to do something, they stepped in and helped us out.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They felt like they were part of our team and not just consultants, so it was easy to engage with them. They encouraged us to take risks and pushed us to places we hadn’t been before.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No. There’s nothing I’d have them improve.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Prepare to have fun, work hard, and explore new avenues based on their recommendations.
the project
Strategic Consulting for City Government
"The blended understanding and Ori's leadership through it were the key to moving forward."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I worked at the City of Houston mayor’s office as an assistant director for one of his signature initiatives.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sowen?
We hired Sowen to help us uplift certain communities outlined with a specific plan. As the fourth largest city in the country, we made sure the plan was equitable. We also wanted to make sure the communities had the right resources, amenities, and opportunities as other areas of the city.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Sowen structured, organized, and put a plan together with timelines and stages for the ideas we wanted to accomplish. They helped us think through how to engage the stakeholders and how to use data and systems.
Sowen approached the project by working with the management and leadership team. They worked hard to engage our leadership and got buy-in, so when they instituted a process, they could get the people needed on board, including our internal departments — we relied on them heavily to execute on work.
Sowen also occasionally did workshops and walked us through them. The workshops were based on what they’d do and where they’d go. We didn’t necessarily redo it in the same way, but we were able to carry it on. It was more sustainable.
What is the team composition?
Ori (Founder &CEO) was our main point of contact. He was the one who led the workshop as well.
How did you come to work with Sowen?
We were engaged with Bloomberg Associates, and they were working with Sowen. Bloomberg brought them on board to help us.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project lasted from January 2018–November 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Sowen developed a survey on the satisfaction and effectiveness of the tool they implemented for us. By way of that success or not, and how effective the tool is, I would give Sowen a lot of credit because they rolled it out as far as the plan went.
I couldn’t imagine starting that role without Sowen’s involvement. Imagine joining a new company with them on board to help bounce ideas and have a space that allows you to think through an approach, strategies, and trust. The feedback would come back to you with the agenda of, “We wanted this to work and be successful.” We were on the same page, and that was a beautiful partnership for our team.
How did Sowen perform from a project management standpoint?
We had a structured meeting cadence, and it was great. We could also communicate by emails any time along the way. There were takeaways every time we had a call. Ori was very structured, consistent, and clear. He made sure we went step by step and kept moving forward and progressing.
We didn’t necessarily use a tool between us to help manage the project. It was mainly having the structure and the approach to make sure we were on point and track.That was incredibly valuable at a time when we had multiple competing priorities, especially coming at a high level.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We kept the partnership with Sowen because they had a unique and incredible balance of how to use data, beyond the numbers and the concrete approach to solve problems. They also knew how to apply it in a real-world environment with nuances of personalities, different communities, and leadership and management challenges.
The way Sowen executed actions and found solutions with people and stakeholders combined with the data they’d use was practical. That’s something that added value to them and stood out. The blended understanding and Ori’s leadership through it were the key to moving forward.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The comment I would say is not in Sowen’s hands. I think we could have been more strategic to effectively use their time and the opportunity.
Any advice for potential customers?
I recommend being more deliberate in your engagement with Sowen and making sure leadership is strongly engaged and bought-in to drive that desire to work with a company like Sowen.
Sowen brought professionalism and creativity to the project, integrating smoothly into the client’s team. Since the new platform launched, traffic has increased by 300%. The team’s out-of-the-box approach and willingness to help at any time have made this a fruitful engagement.