Advisory
Optima provides senior advisory support for organisations rethinking how category thinking connects to commercial growth, whether that is a strategy question, an operating model question, or a decision about where to focus.
The advisory work suits organisations that have a clear challenge but an open brief, where what is needed is a rigorous external perspective and the confidence to act on it, rather than a prescribed methodology.
Who this is for: MDs, commercial and category directors facing a live commercial challenge.
Advisory ranges from a single focused session to an ongoing commercial partnership.
Grounded in commercial reality
Optima's advisory perspective is shaped by direct experience inside retailers and supplier organisations, combined with an ongoing research programme into how category and commercial decision-making are evolving. The work stays close to the questions that actually matter: what to prioritise, what trade-offs to make and how to help leadership teams move from analysis into action.
What we advise on
Our advisory work is focused on practical commercial decisions such as:
Category and retailer strategy
Clarifying the role category should play in customer strategy, retailer priorities and wider commercial planning.
Category and portfolio decisions
Making better choices on range architecture, P&L logic and where to place sustainable growth bets.
Decision-ready narratives
Turning complex evidence into a simpler, commercially usable view that leadership teams can align around.
Trading logic and action
Helping teams connect insight, strategy and day-to-day commercial decisions in a way that holds up in real trading environments.
Profit pool and commercial analytics
Finding where value is leaking across pricing, mix, promotion and trade spend, and what it is worth recovering.
Retailer and buyer-side strategy
Sharpening the category story and the commercial ask from the buyer's side of the table, ahead of key retailer conversations.
How we typically work
Many engagements do not start as a large, fully defined project. Depending on the question, they may start in one of three ways:
1. Focused advisory session
A short, senior discussion used to sharpen the question, test options and bring clearer structure to a live issue.
2. Advisory sprint
A more concentrated piece of work designed to help a leadership team move from complexity to a clearer point of view, decision path or action plan.
3. Ongoing strategic support
More flexible support for organisations that want a commercially grounded external perspective alongside key planning, decision-making or operating moments.
"Simon was integral to our go-to-market strategy. His analysis was always insightful and to the point, and played a pivotal role in developing a strategy that helped us grow market share in the UK."
Do you have a live commercial challenge?
You don't need a formal brief to start the conversation.
Most of our partnerships begin with a short, confidential diagnostic discussion, a chance to stress-test current thinking, explore the friction you are facing and assess whether Optima's perspective would be useful.
No pitch. Just perspective.