2020 Vault Rankings
At a Glance
“International expertise and the opportunity to work on international projects.”
“Advancement and experience opportunities.”
“Teamwork and relevant, cutting-edge topics.”
“[Firm] growth can be challenging.”
“Demanding hours.”
“Not the best perks or financial compensation.”
“Renowned pricing and market access consultancy.”
“Very good at what they do.”
“Quite prestigious, boutique-like.”
About Simon-Kucher & Partners
Simon-Kucher & Partners is a global consulting firm specializing in strategy, marketing, pricing and sales. Founded in 1985, the firm focuses on TopLine Power® by helping clients to boost their top line instead of cutting costs. With more than 1,400 professionals in 39 offices worldwide, Simon-Kucher's practice is built on evidence-based, practical strategies for profit improvement. The firm is regarded as the world's leading pricing advisor and thought leader. In addition to pricing, Simon-Kucher works to streamline marketing and sales for clients, and assists them in developing corporate strategies. The company has conducted projects in over 80 countries for clients including American Express, Barnes & Noble, BMW, Barclays, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, LinkedIn, PayPal, PepsiCo, Porsche, Warner Music Group and many more.
Simon-Kucher’s Heritage
The strategy consultancy Simon-Kucher was founded in 1985 in Bonn, Germany, by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hermann Simon, Dr. Eckhard Kucher, and Dr. Karl-Heinz Sebastian. Their vision: Use scientific methods that determine the optimal price to address real-life business challenges.
Now, 35 years later, their vision has proven to be an extraordinary success. The former university spinoff has grown into a truly global company. Today, strategic pricing specialist Simon-Kucher is a major consulting firm (2019 revenue of $401 million), with around 1,400 employees in 25 countries and 39 offices worldwide. The firm is headquartered in Germany, but continues its global expansion as the market leader in pricing at a fast pace.
Unlike cost-cutting initiatives, Simon-Kucher’s work in growing clients’ revenue and profit has no natural limits. As long as consumers, technologies, and business environments keep changing, companies will need help with monetizing their products.
Simon-Kucher’s common values include integrity, respect, team spirit, and entrepreneurship. The latter is especially important. All of the around 130 Partners are not only owners of the company, they are also entrepreneurs in the truest sense of the word. They are responsible for the firm’s economic success and future development. Leadership also encourages the entrepreneurial spirit among all of the firm’s associates.
Growth by numbers
The firm attempts to practice what it preaches, and applies much the same philosophy to its own business as it recommends to clients and through its publications. The company explicitly states that it is not a general strategy shop, and does not take on projects, such as cost-cutting or restructuring, that require skills outside of its specialized purview. Simon-Kucher remains committed to growth in its own niche, however, and has been working hard to build on its existing client relationships, attract new clients, expand into new industries, and open offices in emerging and developed markets, all the while focusing on what it does best: strategy, marketing, pricing and sales consulting – an approach the firm refers to as TopLine Power®.
Digitalization the Simon-Kucher way
Simon-Kucher has worked for 30+ unicorns like UBER, Asana, and Eventbrite, helping them to monetize innovations, accelerate growth, design loyalty programs and business models, to package and price their offering – in short, to boost their TopLine.
In the digital age, there are tremendous opportunities to maximize growth. As a specialist TopLine Power®, Simon-Kucher analyzes and implements solutions in all key phases of the sales funnel: from marketing to sales, from personalization to loyalty, from pricing to segmentation. The firm’s experienced digital consultants, industry experts, data scientists, and technology advisors use both data and qualitative insights as a starting point to work on any business challenge.
In the News
Nov. 14, 2019
Study: Black Friday and Cyber Monday Each Present Distinct Opportunities for Both Consumers and Retailers
A recent study conducted by Simon-Kucher & Partners, a global strategy and marketing consulting firm, revealed that there is still a dichotomy in how consumers approach Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday. Sixty percent of Black Friday shoppers browse through offerings in the hopes that they find the best deals, whatever they may be. Alternatively, 50 percent of Cyber Monday shoppers seem more intent on checking predetermined items off their lists, saying they are focused on purchasing specific products.
Sept. 04, 2019
Simon-Kucher & Partners Opens Houston Office
The global strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners continues its expansion in the United States with a new office in Texas’ largest city, Houston. The new office in Houston is Simon-Kucher’s seventh location in the States, joining Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley. The global representation raises to 39 offices in 25 countries.
Record-breaking year for Simon-Kucher
2018 was a record year for Simon-Kucher with the strongest growth in over ten years. Revenue grew by 23 percent over the previous year, climbing to 360 million US dollars (309 million euros). The most important revenue drivers were US business, digitalization, and the Software/Internet/Media industry. Simon-Kucher has recently worked with 29 unicorns (innovative startups and young companies with a valuation over 1 billion US dollars, such as Uber), which is likely unique for the consulting industry. Furthermore, this above-average growth is spurred by the high demand for consulting support with digital topics, such as dynamic pricing in the tourism and leisure industries as well as the industrial Internet of Things.
Monetizing Innovation
Nothing ventured, nothing gained: Companies need to innovate not just to stay ahead, but to even survive competition. Despite this however, the failure rate for innovations is shockingly high: Nearly three out of four new products or services miss their revenue and profit goals. Find out more on the Simon-Kucher blog.
Focus on commercial strategies
Building on over 30 years of experience with sales effectiveness projects, Simon-Kucher & Partners has developed an innovative Sales Opportunity Self-Assessment tool for senior executives and sales managers. The sales survey provides immediate, actionable results tailored to our clients industries and markets, along with a best-in-class benchmarking analysis across three sales categories: sales strategy, sales organization and deployment.
Simon-Kucher elects next CEOs
On January 1, 2020, Mark Billige, from the UK, and Dr. Andreas von der Gathen, from Germany, will take over leadership of the global strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners as Co-CEOs for the next five years. Mark Billige has been with the company since 2006. He currently heads the London office and manages the consultancy’s UK business. He advises clients from the internet, tech, media, and software industries and leads business with many of the company’s private equity clients. Dr. Andreas von der Gathen has been with Simon-Kucher for 20 years and is based in the company’s head office in Bonn. As global head of the Consumer Goods & Retail practice, he has built up and currently leads one of the firm’s largest industry practices. Both Billige and von der Gathen are Partners and members of Simon-Kucher’s board.
Why Work Here
Our Work
Simon-Kucher stands for TopLine Power®, and our mission is to boost our clients’ revenues and profits. In the 1980s, we were the first consulting firm to use scientific methods to optimize product and service prices in real-world business situations. Today, we specialize in all four growth levers: strategy, marketing, pricing, and sales. Thanks to our unrelenting focus, we have more experience in our areas of expertise than any other consultancy. Each year, we conduct a variety of more than 1,000 projects on these topics. Seeing clients succeed is what drives us, and we serve companies seamlessly around the world. Our experts work across all industries, regions, and continents, and for companies of all sizes, including hidden champions and unicorns.
201 Washington Street
1 Boston Place, Suite 3301
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: (617) 231-4500
Employer Type: Private
CEOs: Mark Billige & Dr. Andreas von der Gathen
2019 Employees (All Locations): 1,400
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Barcelona, Spain
Beijing, China
Bonn, Germany
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Brussels, Belgium
Cairo, Egypt
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Cologne, Germany
Copenhagen, Denmark
Dubai, UAE
Frankfurt, Germany
Geneva, Switzerland
Hamburg, Germany
Hong Kong, China
Houston, Texas, USA
Istanbul, Turkey
London, UK
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Madrid, Spain
Mexico City, Mexico
Milan, Italy
Munich, Germany
New York, New York, USA
Paris, France
San Francisco, California, USA
Santiago de Chile, Chile
São Paulo, Brazil
Shanghai, China
Silicon Valley, USA
Singapore, Singapore
Stockholm, Sweden
Sydney, Australia
Tokyo, Japan
Toronto, Canada
Vienna, Austria
Warsaw, Poland
Zurich, Switzerland
Simon-Kucher & Partners Asia-Pacific
Simon-Kucher & Partners Europe
FOCUS AREAS
Marketing
Pricing
Sales
Strategy
CORE INDUSTRIES
Life Sciences
Consumer/Retail
Leisure/Travel/Tourism
Banking
Industrial/Technology
Software/IT/Internet/Media
Chemicals/Construction
Automotive
Insurance
Telco & Energy/Utilities
Logistics & Business Services
