Introduction to Sprout Strategy

1. Introducing: A little place called Sprout
Germination Date: April 2007

2. A glimpse at what’s inside
A little place called Sprout pg. 3
Here you’ll find out a little bit about why we created Sprout and our
belief system
A peek inside Sprout pg. 10
Meet the people that make Sprout, Sprout; and get a glimpse into who
we’ve been working with and what we’ve been doing lately
Working with Sprout pg. 22
The highlights of Sprout’s approach to brand cultivation
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3. A little place called Sprout

4. A little place called Sprout
Sprout is a BrandGrowth Boutique specializing in brands
committed to making people’s lives better through health,
wellness and sustainability.
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5. A little place that cultivates brands
We believe that great businesses blossom and grow from well cultivated brands.
Approaching every brand and business opportunity from a very human perspective
can make the difference between a brand that just survives, and a brand that
thrives. From recruiting to research to brand strategy development to ideation and
communication planning, each project starts by respecting and understanding the
people who are going to make the biggest decision in whether your brand lives or
dies - your buyer/consumer/shopper/customer…
. . .because after all, it’s people -- their perceptions, values and behaviors -- that help
create meaningful brands, not businesses.
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6. A little place built on human sense
We believe brands are born and grow from the passion, care and attention that can
only come from what we call, human sense. Unfortunately, it’s all too often we forget
about the impact people and their human sense can have on a business and its
success, so we work particularly hard to ensure every aspect of what we do employs
a human perspective, working to actually touch people, and learn from them on a
“human” level.
Through our 25 collective years of experience, working on a wide variety of business
problems with clients such as P&G, Wrigley, Dial, White Wave Foods, Nintendo,
PetSmart, The US Army, Unilever (Promise), Nike, Peet’s Coffee, and Coors, we’ve
come to realize it’s people’s passions, and the tensions those passions create in our
daily lives, that are the real drivers turning smart businesses into revered brands. And
because this metamorphosis is so inextricably linked to the ever-changing dynamic of
human sense, we believe it’s more important than ever to utilize creativity and
ingenuity in order to uncover those important insights that can help us understand
and navigate the volatile competitive and consumer landscape.
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7. A place where human sense starts with our clients
It means you will always get what we consider to be the three most important
requirements for new ideas and insights: collaboration, creativity, and humility.
You’ll find our approach and process is far from traditional, and even further from the
expected “consultant” experience. We see consultants as those that pride
themselves on giving you the answer. You know the ones. They walk into the room
believing they’re the smartest one in it. This will never be the case with Sprout.
Through years of working in many different ways with clients of all levels and a variety
of different backgrounds, we’ve come to understand the best way to create the
most motivating ideas for consumers requires a more collaborative relationship, one
in which we all sit down and roll up our sleeves, one where we work to inspire and
motivate each other, uncovering the answer together.
So we think It’s probably best to think of us as coaches working side-by-side with you
in an atmosphere that’s designed to cultivate inspiration and ideas for you, your
team, your company, your brand, and most importantly, your consumers.
In other words, we’re not churning out cookie-cutter focus groups or ‘fill-in the blank’
Brand Blueprints. With Sprout you’re getting dedication bubbling with creativity and a
true desire to work with you to make a difference and help people live their best
possible lives.
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8. human sense permeates everything we do
You’ll find this idea of human sense doesn’t just apply to what we believe, it drives
everything we do with you, and for you…
From how we run our business
To how we build our teams
To how we interact with research respondents
To how we uncover insights and build strategies
To how we develop BIG Ideas
And how all that results in what a brand says to its consumers and what it does to
create a lasting relationship
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9. When all is said and done, Sprout is a little place that exists for
one thing, and one thing only…
to help people live their best possible lives
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10. A peek inside Sprout

11. Let us introduce the core team
Melissa Wilhelm Carrie Dolan Alison Billingsley
Creator & Chief Cultivator CPO & Sr. Cultivator CRO & Assoc. Cultivator

12. The human sense within Sprout
Melissa Wilhelm, Creator & Chief Brand Cultivator
“Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a private investigator like Charlie’s Angels,
but my career path took me in the direction of marketing and advertising, getting my
start with KBCO Radio and The Colorado Lottery. Not until I went to the Miami Ad
School to get my Strategic Account Planning Certificate did I realize there was an
opportunity to actually realize my dreams. As a Senior Account Planner at Leo Burnett
and the Integer Group, and a VP Account Planner at BBDO I worked to uncover the
mysteries of why consumers do what they do and how brands can form stronger
relationships with them for companies such as Coors, Nintendo, Airwalk, LifeSavers,
Nike, Dial, P&G, and Unilever. Upon returning to Denver in 2007 I knew I needed and
wanted more, I wanted take my creativity and innate ability to understand
consumers and turn that into something that truly made a difference in peoples lives.
At that point I knew it was time to try my hand at owning my own “Charlie Townsend
& Associates” and Sprout began to take root.”
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13. The human sense within Sprout
Carrie Dolan, CPO & Senior Brand Cultivator
“After 13 years in the advertising industry and reading one book, Marketing That
Matters, I realized I want to be about more than great advertising, I want to help
make (support) GREAT companies, companies that people actually love! Great
companies whose values drive, and are at the forefront of, everything they do. I want
to infuse my marketing know-how with greater purpose. And lucky for me, Melissa
wants the same thing for Sprout… and she just so happened to be VERY open to the
idea of having a “Chief Purpose Officer” come onboard to help her continue to
further her vision. With Sprout I’m able to take the knowledge I’ve gained at the
Integer Group and Gardner as an Account Manager and Director on Coors,
WhiteWave Foods, and as Integer’s corporate liason for social responsibility and
sustainability, and fuse that with my passion to bring clients solutions that go beyond
their pocketbook and actually make a deep and meaningful impact in their lives.”
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14. The human sense within Sprout
Alison Billingsley, CRO & Associate Brand Cultivator
Melissa invited Alison to join Sprout, not because of her marketing experience, but
because she’s great at engaging people and getting them to talk to her about their
most sacred secrets within minutes, which is exactly what Sprout needed in a Chief
Recruiting Officer.
“After 15 years of retail management I realized that running a successful business was
really about the people who worked for me. I loved the challenge of finding the right
people. Along the way I realized that sometimes it wasn’t necessarily those who were
the most qualified that would be the best, but rather those who had the passion,
those who wanted to do something a little more meaningful, those who believed
they could make a difference. I apply this philosophy to every recruit we recommend
to our clients, because most of the time it doesn’t matter how many times a week
they use a certain brand, but rather the relationship they have with that brand and
how they articulate their feelings about their relationship. Becoming a member of
Sprout has meant I can continue this crusade of finding great people, those who can
truly help us inform our clients and their brands. I’m proud to work for a company that
implements a more human and real way of doing business.”
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15. Our core competencies
STRATEGY
A collaborative approach to cultivating brand and marketing strategies
Brand Blueprint, Portfolio Strategy, Big Idea, Creative & Contact Strategy
Gem™ RESEARCH TRENDS IDEATION/
RECRUITING
Non-traditional
TRAINING Sprout
Proprietary methodologies
focused on Uncovering Applying Core
process that finds cultural and innovative
real people not illuminating approaches to
respondent’s category insights
professional focus through dialogue drive the creation
group ‘human sense’ to of ideas and
uncover honest, and observation
respondents teams that make
actionable insights a difference
CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT PLAN
BRAND IDENTITY
Sprout
+ Partners
CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT EXECUTION
(Website, collateral, traditional & non-
traditional communication, media buying,
etc.)
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16. The experience that got us here
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17. What we’ve been up to lately
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18. Working with Sprout

19. Our approach: Five distinct phases
PARTICIPANT
RECRUITMENT
INSIGHT
While the phases always remain
MINING consistent, it’s the breadth, depth
and techniques applied that
BUSINESS/BRAND change based on the situation and
STRATEGY opportunities facing the brand, the
category, the consumer, or the
company.
BIG IDEA
ACTIVATION
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20. That does it!
From all of us here at Sprout…
Thank you for your desire to get to know us
We look forward to the chance to be your Brand Cultivators,
and the opportunity to help your consumers live their best possible lives.
Melissa Wilhelm :: Creator :: 949/351.6559
melissa@sproutstrategy.com
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