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Somebody senior deciding what not to spend the budget on
Most companies expanding abroad are not under-spending. They are spending across an agency, a web vendor, a translator, an exhibition contractor and a marketplace consultant, with nobody owning the outcome.
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- Commitment
- One to two days a week
- Minimum
- Six months preferred
- Owns
- Plan, budget, agencies, the number
- Reports to
- MD, promoter or group CMO
When this arrangement is right
And when it is not, because that matters more.
- You are entering a market and cannot justify a hire yet. Revenue does not support a country marketing manager, and the absence of one is preventing the revenue.
- You have vendors and no direction. Five suppliers each doing competent work against briefs nobody senior wrote.
- Your marketing person is capable and unsupported. Being asked to produce material before anyone settled what the company argues, which is a leadership gap rather than a skills gap.
- You need the function running while you recruit. Senior hiring takes six to twelve months including search. The function does not pause for it.
- It is not right when you need production volume. That is an agency, and I will say so on the first call rather than take the retainer.
What the retainer covers
Judgement, ownership and the reporting that makes both visible from another country.
The plan and the sequence
What happens, in what order, and the discipline to stop what is not working. Stopping things is most of the early value.
Budget ownership
Allocation, forecast, and defending the number to your board, with one-time investment separated from run rate.
Agency and vendor leadership
Selection, briefing, quality control and consolidation across markets.
Channel and demand
The communication system and the demand programme, run rather than commissioned.
Team design
Where a team exists, leading it. Where it does not, designing the structure and supporting the hire when revenue justifies it.
Reporting your board trusts
Written monthly, same format, in English. Weighted pipeline, spend against plan, what shipped, what we stopped.
A clean exit
Documented plans, live systems, honest assessments, and support recruiting the permanent replacement.
The operating rhythm
Weekly contact, a written monthly report, a quarterly reset. It sounds procedural because it is, and it is the most common reason clients extend past six months.
A board that cannot see what is happening in a distant market will either micromanage it or cut it, usually both. The rhythm removes the reason for either.
For overseas clients the reporting is frequently the product. The strategy is why they hire; the visibility is why they stay.
Questions overseas teams ask
How is this different from a consultant?
Accountability. A consultant advises and leaves. In a fractional arrangement I hold the budget, brief and manage the vendors, own the measures and answer for the result.
Will you work with our competitors?
No. I do not hold retainers with direct competitors in the same category simultaneously, and the position is disclosed before an engagement starts.
How do you work across time zones?
East Asian clients get my morning, European clients my afternoon. Calls are scheduled at a time that suits your office. The written cadence carries the rest.
What is not included?
Media spend, production, translation, research, exhibition costs and third-party fees. International travel is billed at cost and agreed in advance.
What happens when we hire someone?
I write the role from what the work turned out to be, support the search, and hand over with a short overlap. Several engagements have ended exactly that way.
What is currently on your marketing budget?
List the vendors and roughly what each costs. In one conversation I can usually tell you whether you need leadership, better execution, or simply to stop paying for two of them.
Ask about availability See case studies
Kunal Waghmare · Padmavati Hills, Mokai Vasti, Bavdhan, Pune, Maharashtra 411021, India
office@quiamo.com · +91 90216 02686 · English