Download Phil Trotman Bio - Diadem Partners

Philip T. Trotman
Partner, Business Strategy and Planning
Phil joined Diadem Partners in December, 2014 to broaden the
firm’s business strategy capabilities and its commercial
operating knowhow. Phil worked for Colgate-Palmolive for 15
years in various marketing leadership positions, in US, Latin
American, and global roles.
Phil is known as a disciplined strategic thinker with an outsized
drive to uncover the true levers of success of a business. He effectively balances the
tools of structured analysis, with a hard-earned respect for the complexity of consumer
behavior, market dynamics, and organizational realities, in order to find the real line
through the data.
Phil chose to join Diadem because the marketing world has been upended since first
joining Colgate-Palmolive. The linear formula of product + brand + message + creative
+ media = sales & brand equity growth has broken down for all but the largest
spenders. Diadem has a way through this wreckage, by building strategies grounded
in the primacy of the customer. Relational Marketing® creates or restores the brand
connection with customers, and then provides the blueprint for cultivating the
relationship.
Phil brings the following relevant experience to Diadem:
Business Strategy
•
As Regional Marketing Director for Colgate-Palmolive’s Caribbean Subsidiary, Phil
led a cross-functional, strategic planning task force to define the roadmap for the
future. The team first analyzed and mapped the growth potential of each category
and market, concluding that the region had significant and unique sources of future
revenue. Phil then led the development of a recommendation on how to structure
the organization – P&L, advertising investment, people, and process – to meet the
needs of the roadmap. The recommendation gained corporate approval and
resulted in a merger with the Dominican Republic subsidiary. Overheads were
reduced by 10%, enabling a 33% increase in advertising investment.
•
As Marketing Director for Colgate-Palmolive’s US$700mm US Toothpaste business,
Phil brought his skills of context, synthesis and strategy-development to the task of
leading the annual strategic planning process. He led the team that studied
consumer trends, market sales data, and cutting edge primary research results to
create a rolling five year plan with strategies and key initiatives. The plan was
presented annually for approval to the CEO.
•
After leaving Colgate-Palmolive, Phil worked for a year as a business strategist
advising Sterling Brands, a leading brand consultancy that provides top CPG firms
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with brand strategy, innovation and design services. He analyzed the scope of the
firm in the context of the evolving market for brand consulting and developed
detailed market entry strategies to achieve the firm’s 2020 financial objectives.
Brand Strategy
•
Phil has a deep background in brand-building, having led Colgate-Palmolive’s
largest and fastest growing brands, at various levels of the organization. He has led
brand positioning projects for Colgate’s US toothpaste business, first for its flagship
brand Colgate Total, and later for the overall equity. He was responsible for the
global brand strategy of Protex cleansing business, Colgate-Palmolive’s fastest
growing equity. He also has a detailed knowledge of how to bring strategy to life
through advertising having overseen the implementation of over 30 creative
campaigns.
•
Phil also has extensive experience in other key areas of brand strategy, including
innovation, portfolio architecture, and pricing.
Commercial Implementation
•
Throughout his career, Phil has been a marketing operator, with P&L responsibility,
in the fast-moving consumer goods environment. The power and sophistication of
retailers has demanded that marketing provide ongoing direction and support to
sales activities. Shopper Marketing evolved as the key strategic discipline to align
the goals of the company with its key customers. Phil is an expert in the analysis of
shopper insights and the development of campaigns to influence shopper behavior
that also meet the strategic needs of retailers.
•
As Regional Marketing Director for Colgate Palmolive's Caribbean Region based in
San Juan PR, Phil was tasked with overseeing all commercial execution for the
$130mm subsidiary. Phil led a redesign of the commercial process to better integrate
planning and execution across sales, marketing, finance and customer service /
logistics. The new process led to smarter, faster decision-making and helped deliver
seven straight quarters of exceeding budgeted sales goals.
•
As Marketing Director of US Toothpaste for Colgate Palmolive, Phil led the sales
planning process, allocating revenue targets and co-developing account plans with
customized promotional activities. He led the presentations for the key strategic
reviews with top clients such as Walmart, Target, CVS, and Costco.
Phil has an MBA from Columbia University, where he gained perspective from leading
professors in strategy, marketing and finance. He graduated with a B.A. in Political
Science from Yale University.
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