About Avenir
Avenir, the French word for Future, was founded by David Clark with a mission to guide organizations in driving growth and long-term success. With 30+ years of FMCG experience, including 5 years as CEO of a Swiss-based global company and ongoing engagement as a private and public company independent board director, David provides firsthand consultation and facilitation services which help clients of all sizes build breakthrough strategic plans.
Strategic
Planning
Insource Your Strategy. Outsource Your Process.
Building a great strategic plan is hard work. The intensity comes as much from leading the process as doing the strategic thinking. Consider these three points to get the most out of your strategic planning effort:
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Don't rely on outsiders to think for you. There is no group more capable of building a winning strategic plan than your own team. Still, leaders often outsource this important work to consultants or agencies in hopes of getting “breakthrough thinking”. The result usually misses the mark because it lacks the deep knowledge, intuition, and engagement that only your team can bring. What’s needed to deliver a great strategic plan isn’t different people, it's a different process.
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A strategic plan is more than just a strategy. Getting a strategy down on a page is just one step towards making it happen. Determining the implications for organizational structures, processes, resource allocation, capabilities, and incentives are critical for moving from presentation to action. Finally, communication and effective change management are essential for flawless execution, and strategy without execution is just a hallucination.
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Managing stakeholders matters. Surprises are great for parties, but not for board rooms. Implementing change requires thoughtful engagement of key stakeholders to bring them along on your journey but without inviting interference. Stakeholder management is often overlooked in the strategic planning process, but it can be the difference maker between acceptance and rejection of a strategic plan.
At Avenir, we leverage a proven methodology of strategic consultation and facilitation to guide teams through a structured process, from problem definition to execution planning. We organize the project, lead the process, and provide strategic consultation at every step. This enables your team to focus on possibilities, not process.
Magic happens when teams work together to solve big problems and define their destiny, unencumbered by the need to manage the process. Avenir helps build knowledge, alignment, and trust across the team. The outcomes are a clearly articulated and stakeholder-aligned strategy, an execution plan, and a motivated team ready to make it happen.
Experience That Can Help
An experienced global CEO and board director, David has led successful enterprise transformations and unlocked creative solutions that delivered breakthrough top and bottom-line results. Adept at fixing broken business models and brands, David has been at the helm of marketing and product innovations that meaningfully changed the growth trajectory of some of the world’s most iconic billion-dollar brands like Häagen-Dazs, Yoplait, Cheerios, and Nesquik. His experience and impact span the globe, from his early sales and marketing career in the U.S. to his extensive international operating experience driving profitable growth across Europe, Latin America, Greater China, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Let's talk about your challenges and develop a path to success. Areas of expertise include:
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Growth Strategy
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Brand Positioning
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Business Model Transformation
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M&A Advisory
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Stakeholder Management
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Leadership Coaching
Advisory
Services
Let's Talk
Within the US: +1 (612) 220-4470
International: +41 76 245 2576
