The Firm --- a quick snapshot:

• A California corporation, founded in 1997. CMC is headed by Bill Cummins, a marketing professional since 1970.
• Consulting with major corporations in the U.S. and Japan (see Client List).
• Consulting on both Business-to-Business (“B2B”) and Business-to-Consumer (“B2C”) assignments.
• Client-centered results = high rate of repeat business.

Ideation Consulting:

Building new, innovative solutions for our clients. We define “solutions” as “new ideas that achieve two goals simultaneously”:

1. The ideas must be creative, i.e., original, clever, differentiating, bold.

But also…

2. The ideas must gain traction on 4 levels (like “4WD”):

• Advocacy by the client task force
• Approval by all other relevant management/staff at the client company who have approval authority or “veto” power
• Acceptance by B2B intermediaries/customers
• Desire by B2C end users. The ideas must capture and own the core motivator that will drive the “next” (forward looking) market. Ideas must “grab the consumers’ motivator and own it”.

Only when both of the above goals are met do ideas evolve into solutions. CMC has developed a proprietary method called NAV*EXT™ to build solutions for our clients (see Types of Consulting Services)

Ethnographic Market Research:

Acquiring deep insights into our clients’ customer behavior. CMC has developed a proprietary method of ethnographic-type market research called Joint Field Investigations (“JFIs”) to uncover key insights that lurk “under the radar” of traditional market research methods (see Types of Consulting Services). The JFI method is used either in conjunction with other research methods to “triangulate” an issue, or to provide the “missing pieces” that other methods cannot deliver.

Bill Cummins: Expert Marketing Consulting

Lengthy experience on “all sides” of marketing provides a solid foundation for general marketing consulting assignments:

• 7 years at large market research companies
• 12 years at major advertising agencies
  – Research Director, Needham Harper Worldwide, L.A.
  – SVP, Director of Account Planning, RPA
    (accounts: Honda, Disney Channel, U.S. West, et al)
• 8 years at manufacturers
  – Long range market planning manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.
  – Market research manager, Hunt Wesson Foods
• 13 years running Cummins Marketing Consulting, Inc. (see Client List)

MBA (Marketing), Northwestern University, Chicago
BBA (Marketing), Loyola University, Chicago

Speaking engagements:

• MGI global private banking conference, Geneva
• Kobayashi Institute of Advertising, Tokyo
• Pacific Coast Builders Conference, San Francisco
• Creative Problem Solving Institute, extension sessions, Chicago
• Aoyama Gakuin University, School of Business, Tokyo

Cummins Marketing Consulting, Inc. is a member of the American Marketing Association and the Santa Clarita, CA Chamber of Commerce.