Independent Strategic Advisory

Where strategy meets reality.

The pressure test…

Strengthening retail and FMCG strategy.
For marketing teams, brand leads, and agencies who need experienced judgement without the cost of a permanent hire.

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About

meeting, conference, business, office, team, collaboration, agreement, handshake, partnership, corporate, professional, discussion, presentation, chart, graph, laptop, notebook, documents, strategy, negotiation, success, leadership, workplace, formal, ai generated

OVER THREE DECADES

inside retail & FMCG

24

Years at Woolworths Foods Marketing

4

Core service disciplines

What We Do

Four disciplines. All rooted in the same place.

“The point where marketing decisions either hold up in practice or quietly unravel.”

01

Strategic Advisory

Independent strategic counsel as a senior thinking partner strengthening strategy, challenging assumptions, and de-risking decisions before sign-off.

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02

SA Retail Safari

A guided, in-store immersion that moves teams beyond theory and into how retail actually performs across product, environment, and shopper behaviour.

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03

Agency & Stakeholder Facilitation

An independent hand in the room, at exactly the point where competing priorities, agency dynamics, and stakeholder complexity need one clear, experienced voice.

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04

Billboard Connection

Curated introductions for people who need the right connection, not just another meeting.
Twenty-six years inside South African retail and FMCG have taught me to recognise the patterns, understand the landscape and identify with precision who the right connection would be

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Confidentiality is fundamental to every engagement. We understand that our clients often share commercially sensitive information, strategic plans and competitive insights. Every engagement is handled with strict confidentiality, and where required, we are happy to sign a mutual NDA before work begins. Read more…
About Claire Braithwaite

Over three decades inside South Africa’s most demanding retail and FMCG environments

“Most of that time spent was at Woolworths Foods Marketing, not on the outside looking in but deep inside the business.”

Leading brand strategy, shopper marketing, retail innovation, sponsorship , partnership, and purpose-led campaigns that delivered measurable commercial impact.

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Why It Matters

The best work starts long before
the brief leaves the building.

The stakeholder politics. The trading calendar pressure. The agency dynamics. The exco expectations. Claire Braithwaite has been inside all of it.

“An independent perspective. At the point in the process where an independent perspective changes everything.”

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