STRATEGY LETS YOU SEE AROUND CORNERS.

Welcome, friends. 

At Lapidarius, we help companies grow and change. 

This site is intended to present our service offerings and evidence for their usefulness to brands and the teams who live them.

WE ARE

  • A full services strategy consultancy, from brand creation to implementation. 

  • Fractional CMO/VP Marketing and Creative Directors.

  • CEO and Board support and coaching, on-demand. 

  • Outsourced strategy and brand management. 

  • Please reach out us at ben@lapidarius.co or isabel@lapidarius.co for more information and to schedule some time with us. 

__Lapidarians

  • LAPIDARIUS WAS BORN FROM THE NEED TO SUPER-SPECIALIZE: YOURS. OURS.

    The vast majority of global economic growth will come from start-ups and small- to mid-cap firms. None of which can afford the slightest error in strategy, and most of which cannot entertain the thought of hiring big consultancies to help them. We exist to fill the gap. We have always specialized in consumer strategy. We’re taking it a step further to focus on the firms who most need it and could – until now – least afford it. If this sounds like you or someone you know, read on, or get in touch.

  • GROWTH & CHANGE, ON YOUR TERMS.

    We exist to create growth platforms with our clients. We act as guides to help CEOs and their teams move ahead with focus and clarity. We’re most successful with those who want deep, decisive strategy, done swiftly and well. We help leaders in companies ranging from pre-funding start-ups to billion dollar brands.

  • FRIENDLY, TOUGH OBJECTIVITY.

    We build diverse project teams who call for the greatest rigor in analysis, inside and out. Our work is deep, but never mired. We question pat answers and faulty reasoning, we look for long causal chains, we build algorithms for decision making.

  • STRATEGY THAT ADDS VALUE QUICKLY.

    We hold ourselves to a high standard of effectiveness. You and your board should recognize the work we help you do as value-added from the start. The best indicator of this is excitement and buy-in from the wider team.

  • ABOUT

    Lapidarius refers to the cutting of stone.

The lapidary who reveals the faceted gem. The engraver, sometimes, who must sweat out every letter of every word with chisel and hammer. Thus, when someone says of speech that it is lapidary, they mean it is elegant and concise. High praise when almost all speech is neither and very little both.

 

The cultural tension we are taking on is the seeming limitlessness of noise in markets and the obsession with creating more and more. Our thesis is that if we hold each other to a very high standard from the start for the images and speech that speak of what only a certain thing is, everything else falls into place.

WHY?

Because too much effort is wasted without any clear strategy behind it to unite and bring order. Much of what passes for work is ephemeral or is simply forgotten in an instant. At Lapidarius we focus on the work that will last.


  • CAPABILITIES

    Less ego, more ergo.

WE PUT THE RIGHT
TEAM TOGETHER.

CEOs and their senior leadership teams typically commission projects with us and stay closely involved all along the way. Good strategy requires focus, sacrifice, and commitment that can only come from decision makers, whoever they are.

WE FOCUS ON THE WORK THAT MATTERS MOST.

We would sooner help our clients up a short, steep, summit than take them on an endless analytic journey across a huge valley. Projects with us are intense, difficult, and unforgettable. But, we will stay engaged to advise on implementation and performance to the degree desired.

WE WORK WITH WHAT
YOU ALREADY HAVE.

We make use of all existing research and data before seeking to create more. We often reveal what is already there – a pure, focused idea that exists in a 250-year-old brand, or an entrepreneur’s unrealized vision. Permanent, unlikely to be easily improved upon.

WE SEEK
PERMANENCE.

Pursuing outsized growth requires constant change and adaptation. Yet, without durable strategy with which to pursue growth, chaos ensues. We help you create the constants for the business, because there are already enough variables. Your unique story: the gem-like constant that gives beauty to what varies.

  • FIRST-ORDER STRATEGY

    Market assessment

    Business models and plans

    Operations & infrastructure design

    New product development

    Innovation

  • BRAND CREATION

    Corporate mission, vision, purpose & values

    Positioning

    Naming

    Competitive Audits & strategic insights

    Visual identity design

    Brand expression

    Brand Guidelines

  • GO-TO-MARKET & IMPLEMENTATION

    Commercialization & marketing

    Acquisition & exit strategies

    Insights

    Creating & developing new businesses

    Portfolio optimization

    Repositioning and relaunches

    Communications & key messaging

  • TESTIMONY

    How we make our clients feel

“Ben Auld worked with Little Caesars to evaluate our culture and help define a unifying brand strategy. He took a deep dive into our business to define a brand purpose that respected our history while positioning us for the future. This brand strategy has been adopted by colleagues worldwide and continues to be a driver for our chain. Ben’s work certainly made a positive impact on Little Caesars.”

DAVE SCRIVANO, CEO
LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA

“The College Board has enjoyed a seven-year partnership with Lapidarius and I look forward to continuing it. They have helped us with a broad variety of matters core to the College Board’s mission to connect students to college success and opportunity. In each, they have demonstrated an acute awareness of our priorities as a not-for-profit education organization. They have helped us develop insight-driven strategy and craft effective communications for the students and educators we serve. They are a pleasure to work with, and have consistently gone above and beyond in their work.”

TREVOR PACKER, SVP AP & INSTRUCTION
THE COLLEGE BOARD

“I have worked with Lapidarius for much of the past decade, and each time with a positive outcome. Via their rigorous, objective, and collaborative approach they have been real value-added partners to our business. They adapt their work to the needs of the client and put client interests ahead of their own. They go above-and-beyond to help CEOs and their leadership teams make excellent decisions about growth and change. They don’t just move businesses forward, they help move people forward with thought-provoking insights and strategies. We look forward to continuing the relationship with Lapidarius.”

TODD SIWAK, CEO
FERRARA CANDY COMPANY

“Lapidarius have a unique ability to look at a business in the fullest competitive context, and working side-by-side with the client, lead the team to answers that will drive commercial value when executed. They know how to deliver a sustainable solution to any problem. And, they do it in a way that makes the client feel all that much smarter for having gone through it. They are strategy doctors with great bedside manner, they know how to prescribe value-creating remedies. They work with the mindset that they have as much skin in the game as you do to get better, and get results.”

KRISTIN KOHLER BURROWS, SENIOR DIRECTOR, ALVAREZ & MARSAL
FORMER RETAIL PRESIDENT & CEO

“Lapidarius helped us create a strategic plan for revenue growth, broken down into manageable timelines with measurable results. Ideas ranged from a mini-refresh in the stores to an overhauled POS. We are now halfway through the year, and the strategy is paying off. Comp sales are up; the customer experience has been enhanced; and the entire company is working as a team, toward a common goal.”

KATHLEEN PERKAL, CEO
CARTOON CUTS

“I can heartily endorse Lapidarius as a force that helped us change and grow. They are as creative as they are strategic. Their help with ZEP’S allowed us to hone in on what we alone can offer guests — and showed us a path to get there. The results have been stellar, our business has grown rapidly. They are consummate professionals. We look very much forward to continuing the relationship with Lapidarius.”

CHRIS RUSZKOWSKI, SVP MARKETING
QUIZNOS