When:
Your business is stalling or in decline and the current team either lacks the experience to architect the turnaround or doesn't have the bandwidth to lead it while running the business. You need someone who's done this before, at scale, to come in and own it.
How:
I embed with your organization as a fractional leader - diagnosing root
When:
Your business is stalling or in decline and the current team either lacks the experience to architect the turnaround or doesn't have the bandwidth to lead it while running the business. You need someone who's done this before, at scale, to come in and own it.
How:
I embed with your organization as a fractional leader - diagnosing root causes, building the repositioning strategy, aligning cross-functional teams and stakeholders, and leading execution through the turnaround. This is not advisory from the sidelines. I operate as a GM. I own the P&L, manage the team, present to your board, negotiate with your retailers, and make the hard calls on what to cut, what to build, and where to concentrate resources.
This is how I led the SVEDKA and Woodbridge turnarounds — from the inside, with full ownership, across every lever of the business.
When:
You know the brand needs to be repositioned or restructured, but you need the strategic architecture before your team can execute. You may have a capable internal team that can run the play once it's drawn up or you may be evaluating a brand asset and need to understand the repositioning path and its economics before making an inves
When:
You know the brand needs to be repositioned or restructured, but you need the strategic architecture before your team can execute. You may have a capable internal team that can run the play once it's drawn up or you may be evaluating a brand asset and need to understand the repositioning path and its economics before making an investment decision.
How:
I lead a structured engagement to diagnose the brand's situation, identify the strategic repositioning required, and deliver a comprehensive roadmap - covering positioning, portfolio architecture, growth model, route-to-market, investment framework, and commercial sell-in narrative - that your team or a future operator can execute against.
When:
You're not sure what's wrong - or you suspect you know but need an experienced outside perspective to confirm, challenge, or reframe your thinking before making a significant decision. This engagement is common among PE operating partners evaluating a brand asset, boards considering a leadership change, and marketing leaders who've
When:
You're not sure what's wrong - or you suspect you know but need an experienced outside perspective to confirm, challenge, or reframe your thinking before making a significant decision. This engagement is common among PE operating partners evaluating a brand asset, boards considering a leadership change, and marketing leaders who've inherited a portfolio and need to understand what they're working with before building a plan.
How:
I conduct an independent, thorough assessment of the brand's health - consumer, competitive, commercial, and financial - and deliver a written diagnostic that identifies root causes, quantifies risks and opportunities, and outlines the strategic implications and recommended path forward.
I spend Weeks One and Two inside your data - sales performance, consumer insights, category dynamics, brand health, competitive landscape, and the P&L - while running parallel conversations with your cross-functional leads, sales partners, and key stakeholders to understand the organizational terrain and what's been tried.
By Week Three, I've identified the root causes behind the underperformance and begun separating what's structural from what's symptomatic. By the end of the first month, I present a preliminary strategic direction to leadership for alignment and begin making early stabilization moves- pausing ineffective spend, redirecting budget toward what's working, and addressing any team or process issues that are compounding the problem.
Week One is a structured data immersion: I pull and analyze sales performance, consumer and category data, brand health metrics, competitive positioning, and financial trends to build the diagnostic foundation. In parallel, I conduct stakeholder interviews - leadership, marketing, sales, finance, and any external partners - to understand both the business reality and the organizational context.
By the end of Week Two, I present initial diagnostic findings that reframe the problem - separating root causes from symptoms and identifying the 2–3 strategic issues that need to be resolved. Weeks Three and Four are spent building the repositioning strategy and roadmap, with regular check-ins to pressure-test direction and build alignment before the final delivery.
This engagement is designed to move at the speed of decision-making. In Week One, I immerse in the data: sales and distribution trends, consumer insights, brand health metrics, competitive landscape, and P&L structure. In week Two, I supplement the data with targeted stakeholder conversations - your team, your sales partners, your agency — to round out the picture and test hypotheses. Weeks Three and Four are synthesis and delivery: a written diagnostic that names the root causes, sizes the opportunities and risks, and gives you a clear view of what's fixable, what's structural, and what the next move should be. The deliverable is designed to be shared with a board, an investment committee, or a leadership team.
Send me a message to request more information, discuss your marketing and business goals, get an estimate or book an engagement.
Connect with Me: www.linkedin.com/in/simonejburke/
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.