Recent Experience in Oil and Gas

Profit enhancement through pricing, new services, and value selling for a leading well service firm: Hamilton has developed a specific and actionable plan to increase annual profits for a major domestic oil field services firm by $10 to $20 million. Major initiatives include pricing, creating new value-added services, changing operating procedures to reduce the cost of serving customers, and changing the sales approach to “value selling.” Hamilton is currently involved in detailed implementation planning, coaching and educating throughout the organization, and change management efforts to ensure the success of these initiatives.

Petroleum exploration and production vertical market strategy for a global computer hardware and software provider: Hamilton performed a broad assessment of the potential future role of networked computing and Internet technologies in transforming the petroleum E&P business and its industry structure over the next five to ten years. We worked with the client's senior management to create a detailed vision of how these transformations will create strategic opportunities and how our client can best take advantage of these opportunities by providing technology solutions, systems integration, and consulting solutions.

New value pricing strategy for a global oilfield services firm: Hamilton developed a worldwide strategy for capturing additional profit margin to take maximum advantage of specific dimensions of competitive advantage in the highly competitive oilfield services industry. The Hamilton team developed both spreadsheet-based customer value analysis tools for use by sales and service personnel in the field and a value pricing Case Book which taught field personnel how to implement the strategy using ten actual successful case examples gathered from the client's field experience around the world.

Retail strategy for an integrated oil company: Hamilton principals conducted a large scale consumer survey to determine gasoline buying behavior. They then worked with managers in the retail arm of the oil company client to develop a retail strategy that improved profits. Determining from the survey that brand loyalty was less than 30% for major brands, the strategy focused on where the company could be a low cost provider. The company subsequently pulled out of areas of the country where it could no longer compete.

Global market segmentation and product re-launch strategy for a major oilfield services firm: Hamilton was engaged to understand why a major effort to commercialize new technology was generating less revenue than anticipated and to design a "re-launch" to address the problems. Through in-depth global market research covering major producing districts in eighteen countries, Hamilton identified best practices developed in the field by the client's far-flung local marketing operations. We also found new markets with well-suited geological and business characteristics that had not previously been exploited. Hamilton also made detailed recommendations concerning re-pricing, sales tools designed to model the economic benefits to be delivered to the customer, and a coordinated global marketing communications effort for the re-launch.

Product launch strategy for a major oilfield services firm: Hamilton developed a comprehensive product launch strategy for a new product based on breakthrough technology. This technology offered substantial operational and economic advantages, but only under very specific geological conditions which were often hard for the client's customers to anticipate in advance. Hamilton's effort focused on developing a unique pricing approach. The effort yielded a net gain of $50 million in revenues during a difficult "down-market" year.

Global environmental strategy assessment for a major oilfield services firm: Hamilton developed an approach to best leverage a specific breakthrough in “greener” technology in order to gain strategic advantage with major customers around the world. Hamilton conducted face-to-face interviews with senior executives to develop and in-depth understanding of each customer’s environmental strategy, particularly those circumstances under which customers switch providers or spend more to achieve environmental objectives. Regulatory and political trends were also analyzed on a country by country basis to determine which clients and countries presented the greatest opportunity for a focused “green” initiative.

Determination of brand loyalty for a gasoline retailer: Using telephone interviews with consumers across nine regions, Hamilton determined the extent of brand loyalty and some of the causes of brand loyalty for a "major" integrated oil company. Surprisingly, true brand loyalty, as opposed to station loyalty, was quite low, and one of the causes was a credit card operation that lost money. On the other hand, many consumers were loyal at the time to the "majors" as a group, and willing to pay a 2-6 cent per gallon premium for major brands over regional or non-branded gasoline. The study ultimately led to a retrenchment of brand support and even retail operations in some regions where the company lacked critical mass.

Marketing strategy for an energy trading operation: Hamilton was hired to assess the ability of a trading and terminals company to also make money selling various energy risk management products. The work included surveying over 100 customers and non-customers across a variety of energy using industries. The result, unexpectedly, was a recommendation to focus on energy products that saved operating costs for the customers.

Co-generation study for an energy company: Hamilton examined success factors for co-generation facilities both in the U.S. and overseas, and identified the U.S. companies that had been successful in developing major energy projects internationally. Recommendations to the client included which geographic areas might be better for co-generation, what size projects were appropriate, and how the company should organize for co-generation projects.