Hi everyone. We hope that you’re having a great fall so far!
We’re excited to announce the arrival of Genevieve Guay as our new partner at PNR.
Some background on Geneviève
With over 20 years of experience in digital media and technology across a multitude of categories, she is recognized in the communications industry for her involvement and dedication to emerging technologies. She firmly believes that the alignment of media and data are key elements to propel the growth of brands.
She started her career at dentsu and rose through the ranks over the years to eventually be CEO of the media division in Canada. She has actively contributed to the growth and digital transformation of major brands such as Labatt, Loblaw Co Ltd, Jaguar Land Rover and DAZN. In addition to her client support, Geneviève acts as a strategic advisor to media and emerging technologies in order to accelerate their digital transformation, the evolution of performance measures and their revenues growth.
Today, she joins PNR as a partner. Her experience and expertise will contribute to the strategic thinking of clients and support their transformation projects.
We’re also proud to announce the arrival of Emma Kiener as an Analyst.
Emma obtained her Bachelor’s degree in International Business from ESCD 3A Business School in Lyon in 2018. In 2022, she graduated from a Master’s degree in Management at Grenoble Ecole de Management. During her studies, she led several humanitarian projects, including in the Philippines, Argentina and Tanzania. Having noticed a particular attraction for tech innovations and business strategy following her various internships, she got to know The PNR during her university exchange at McGill. She then quickly realized that the company’s values were perfectly aligned with her professional aspirations and ambitions. That’s how she started the journey with The PNR. In her free time, she enjoys sports activities such as boxing, running and downhill skiing. She is driven by the desire to contribute to a better, fairer and more sustainable world.
One big idea | Strategy Execution
CEOs and boards rank business strategy as the most important expertise of their job. But as we zoom in on the actions guiding strategy, things get a little fuzzy. All too often, business strategy is bolstered by lots of research and planning, yet when it comes to execution, there’s a disconnect.
Simply put, execution and alignment are the most crucial elements of any winning business strategy. And if your strategy is to succeed, you must get acquainted with the right processes and considerations to move things forward and not lose sight.
We’ve undertaken 100+ strategic planning mandates and have learned quite a bit along the way. We put together a list of best practices in a white paper that you can hopefully help you better execute your strategy.
You can download the white paper here
Our most popular content
Our most downloaded podcasts from the past quarter:
Battling the telco giants with Marc-André Campagna, CEO & Co-Founder @ Oxio | EP#218
We spoke with Marc-André Campagna, CEO & Co-Founder @ Oxio. Marc-André Campagna is from Baie-Comeau, Quebec and iis the CEO and co-founder of oxio. After helping his parents move and set up their internet, it sparked his interest in developing a more affordable internet provider that put Canadians’ needs first. This led him to drop out of Law School at Laval University to start Oxio along with his friend Francis Careau.
We spoke with Annick Charbonneau, Co-Founder and Managing Partner @ Accelia Capital. A serial tech entrepreneur, Annick Charbonneau has founded and managed two tech companies over the past decade. A fervent promoter of the presence of women in entrepreneurship, in 2021 she launched Accelia Capital, a venture capital fund whose mission is to invest in innovative companies, owned or led by women. At over $50M, it is one of the most important venture capital funds to propel female entrepreneurship in North America. Accelia Capital invests in Quebec or Canadian start-ups and other early stage companies.
We spoke with Alex Shee, Vice-President Corporate Development & Strategy @ Sama. Alex is an executive at Sama that leads Corporate Development and Strategy. He is working on building an AI business ecosystem around Sama’s platform. His role encompasses Partnerships, Corporate Development and Go-To-Market strategy. He was previously the Head of Partnerships and Corporate Development at Element AI (exited to ServiceNow | NYSE: NOW) where he opened and grew the business in Asia, signed major strategic partnerships and led the team that raised Element AI’s C$200M Series B. He was also the host of Element AI’s #1 rated podcast “The AI Element” which explores the biggest issues and toughest questions in artificial intelligence. He was also recently selected as one of top 250 upcoming leaders in Canada by the Governor General of Canada (equivalent of Presidential Award), one of the top 4 business development and sales leaders in tech by Floodgates in their Annual Anchor List and 2021 “Power Player” by The Peak.
Our favorite articles:
The Four Disciplines of Execution Julius Reizen (reading time: 9 minutes)
The four disciplines of execution is a great book about executing what’s most important for your organization. This post provides some great insights that we practice with our customers. For instance, having a regular cadence of accountability is a great way for a leadership team to focus on what’s important and course correct if need be.
Finding Power: How To Do Market Analysis Nathan Baschez (reading time: 18 minutes)
Understanding how competitive advantage is derived in your industry is fundamental. Conducting market analysis doesn’t have to be boring. This post by Nathan Baschez explains how you can analyze your market from a strategic perspective. We would pair this post with an overview of Wardley Mapping to better understand your value chain.
What Makes for a Great Strategist? Roger Martin (reading time: 8 minutes)
Great strategy is about creating a future that does not now exist. Not only is data analytics incapable of helping you make that happen, but it is also quite capable of convincing you not to try.
Roger Martin is the smartest strategy professor currently writing and working. His work is simple yet so powerful. He provides some great advice on what it takes to be a great strategist. Customers are the foundational part of any strategy. People will often neglect talking with operators who are closer to the front lines.
A Plan is not a Strategy Roger Martin (watch time: 9 minutes)
Read the above article with this short video from Mr. Martin as well. He demystifies the notion of strategic planning. He also adds a great explanation of what is strategy: It is an integrative set of choices that positions you on a playing field of your choice that you win.
Wishing you all the best,
The PNR Team
