Synopsis:

KMG was responsible for assisting Champion International in reaching its goal of 400 million USD in profit from 1998 to 2005, with Champion International's executive board requesting that the company take steps to ensure the transition of the company from production-oriented to marketing-oriented. KMG was able to win the trust of the clients as they were very experienced in this field of work.

The first step was to take a 'marketing audit' of the company from four different angles, with these being:
Information: Does the company possess any information on the market? Is it what they need? Is the amount of information sufficient? How is the quality of the information?
Organization: Is the company's structure capable of ensuring that working goals are met?
Roles and responsibilities: Is there a need redefinition in working roles, marketing responsibilities and other departments?
Process: Is the process correct (Marketing research, product development, market segmentation)? Is it effective?

The audit's goal was to determine the Champion International's marketing structure, not to evaluate whether it was correct or not.

To complete this audit, KMG began an inspection all of Champion International's internal files, including marketing plans and production plans. Most of the results from the audits however, came from internal interviews with Champion International and shareholders. KMG interviewed almost 80 people in the company. KMG also interviewed 20 board members, Wall Street analysts and clients.

The audit lasted two months, with the end result being KMG's report and related advice to Champion International's board members and shareholders. KMG's suggestions were accepted by Champion International, and for the next 18 months, KMG provided assistance in the implementation of these suggestions. Some of the most important events were:

Improving the marketing department and marketing professionalism:

Despite the fact that Champion International did have marketing personnel, their work was not proving to be of help to company operations. In order to promote a well-rounded marketing system, Champion International created the job of Vice President of Marketing (it was advised that the VP of marketing should report directly to the CEO, with one of the responsibilities being to support each department in marketing activities). KMG also advised Champion International to create new marketing positions in each departments. In the offset paper department for example, two new marketing positions were created, these being Flat Paper Marketing Manager and Web Marketing manager. KMG also assisted in the process of filling these positions. All of these positions were filled externally, by use of professional techniques (Champion International's marketing personnel were often picked internally, with most of these marketing staff lacking experience).

Marketing planning process:

With assistance from KMG, Champion International developed and implemented a series of marketing planning processes as Champion International did not have a true marketing planning process before (their existing marketing process documents were insufficient for practical usage). KMG also created a template for business units to assist in the planning process, with several courses being introduced to help them in learning and improving the planning process.

Reasonable pricing:

Uneven pricing strategies and other errors were responsible for Champion International's losing millions of dollars per year. KMG was able to identify the sources of the problems by working with Champion International's largest departments (Offset paper department and overlay paper department) and make adjustments to said sources.

Customer value analysis:

As with many paper and wood product corporations, Champion International mostly tried to implement Cost Leadership as a method of competition to beat competitors. With cooperation from Champion International's departments, KMG began a systematic appraisal to determine the worth of each department's products and services, with the results of the appraisal being expressed in currencies. In many cases, Champion International's product delivery was actually superior to competing products, with quantifiable value, which also justified the pricing of the products. This project was of immense help to Champion International, which saw its income increase by millions of dollars.

Within two years (1998-2000), KMG and Champion International's departments undertook a large amount of work, with the main departments involved including 1. Offset paper department 2. Offlay paper department 3. Wood products departments 4. Pulp department

Changes to the wood products department and pulp department were extremely helpful to Champion International's second revenue improvement project (a value improvement project worth 225 million USD was announced in 1999). The management process as designed by KMG and professional techniques used in the projects were detailed in two books as case studies, these being: Teams at the Top，Jon Katzenbach，HBR and what Works: A Decade of Change at Champion International，Richard Ault，Richard Walton and Mark Childers，Jossey-Bass

AVIC-JONHON's main clients deal in telecommunications machines and parts, with AVIC-JONHON being one of China's top three telecommunications machines and parts suppliers. In 2011, KMG provided assistance by helping AVIC-JONHON redesigning and optimizing its entire B2B marketing system and sales system, thus affirming its marketing ability and yearly marketing project templates. Details include:

• 1.Redefining customer demographics and creating customer models
• 2.Redefining corporate value proposition and end results based on new customer demographics.
• 3.Optimizing the marketing process and supporting tools
• 4.Optimizing the sales process and tools
• 5.Achieving marketing and sales integration
• 6.Optimizing and supplementing marketing and sales KPT
• 7.Formulating an annual marketing planning process and template
• 8.Formulating a 'competitive marketing' model and appraisal figures

In June 2011, KMG assisted Baosteel in creating 'Baosteel Corporation Brand Strategy Planning and Implementation plan'. The corporate brand was a core component of Baosteel's choice to achieve corporate transformation. A new brand positioning, brand core value, brand structure, brand management structure, brand management process, brand promotion management and brand equity detection were included in KMG's final report to Baosteel. The new SVM methods (Stakeholder management) as implemented by KMG were integral in setting the bases for Baosteel's continued brand development.

In November 2011, KMG assisted Baosteel in creating a new strategy and implementation plan. This was noted as being the first systematic attempt at creating a brand factor for industrial brand.

From 2011 to 2012, KMG assisted AVIC International in creating a Corporate Brand Strategy and International Market oriented brand creation and implementation plan. As a child company of AVIC industries, AVIC International is responsible for International Affairs and consumer affairs. AVIC International operates in 7 different business sectors, has 8 public companies under its umbrella along with over 100 different lesser companies, with a yearly sales figure of 110 billion RMB. This brand project redefined AVIC International's business concept, business model, value creation, shareholders and corporate culture. This in turn helped to refine AVIC International's brand positioning, brand value, brand structure, brand management system and international market value proposition. AVIC International is the first corporation in China to use 'beyond sales' as a shared value.