Building strong brands since 2004
About Next Level
Next Level SMG was started to be the kind of firm we would want to hire: thoughtful, thorough, easy to work with, and able to dive right in. The type of firm that does the analysis, scenario planning, and strategy development that you would do, with the outside-in perspective you need to effect objective, meaningful change. At Next Level, we believe in:
Strategy
before execution
Establishing what your brand stands for before figuring out how to say it
Insights,
not hunches
Doing the hard work of finding out what your stakeholders think, not what we think
Flexibility
and responsiveness
Tailoring our approach to fit your needs, not selling you a one-size-fits-all methodology
Senior-level
dedication
Providing the same experienced team from pitch to delivery without a bait-and-switch
English,
not consultantese
Keeping it simple and jargon-free, so we can speak with — not at — each other
Keeping clients
captivated, not captive
Delivering on commitments, and setting up clients to take the work forward without us
How We Can Help
Projects are tailored to each client’s needs. Most of our work falls under these six service offerings:
Brand Assessment
Your brand-building efforts show promise but are seeing uneven results. We can help you identify strengths and gaps so you can deploy your next efforts against the best opportunities.
Market sensing and insights
Your product or service is ready to take to market, but you’re not clear if the market is ready for you. We can help you assess market size and sentiment and uncover the positioning and platforms that resonate the most.
Brand identity and positioning
Your brand’s place in the market is changing due to shifts in tastes, times, or competition. We can help you rediscover what makes your brand unique while staying true to your organization’s strengths and values.
Brand architecture
Your portfolio is growing, but your brand structure is getting confusing. We can help you to create organizing principles based on customer needs to reduce overlap, create brand clarity, and improve efficiency and profit.
Brand Activation
Your brand strategy looks good on paper, but something is getting lost in translation. We can help you to curate experiences, sensory cues, creative executions, and partnerships to clarify your brand promise and compel action.
Mission marketing
Your non-profit’s stakeholders know the value of a strong brand but aren’t yet aligned on how to get there. We can help you manage the complexities of partner dynamics to generate broad buy-in of bold ideas and effect meaningful change.
Selected Clients
Next Level has worked with product and service-based companies in B2B, B2C and mission-based nonprofits:
“Next Level SMG worked around the globe to help our marketing team streamline and better position our portfolio of 14 brands to seize regional and global market opportunities.”
Mike Huie, Global Director, Brand Architecture & Loyalty
Whirlpool Corporation
“Next Level SMG is adept in working in high-tech, product-oriented cultures. They brought brought a fresh outside-in perspective and helped chart a brand strategy for the DaVinci brand during a time of rapid change and growth.”
Chuck Jones, Senior Vice President, Design, UX and Brand
Intuitive Surgical, maker of the da Vinci Surgical System
“Next Level helped us define our DNA and then translate it across every touchpoint of the customer experience.”
Shawn Omstead, General Manager, IPTV Business & Product Development
Bell Canada
“Peter led a team that helped us fundamentally rethink our model and the technology and culture change requirements behind it. It was years ahead of its time and positioned us to capture share in our market, and was widely copied across the country.”
Carolyn Kenny, Regional President
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Georgia
Meet The Founder
As a former VP of marketing and brand operations, Peter Rogovin knows brand consulting from both sides of the desk, enabling him to understand his clients’ perspectives and give them what they need to succeed.
Peter has over 25 years of experience as a consultant, including work at Vivaldi Partners, as well as CSC Index, the originators and purveyors of business process reengineering.
At Starwood Hotels, he led marketing strategy for Four Points by Sheraton and Westin. The Heavenly Bed launch during his tenure with Westin fundamentally shifted design aesthetics and sensory branding in the hospitality industry.
Prior to business school, Peter was a corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions analyst at JPMorgan Chase.
Peter has spoken at numerous branding conferences and has been published in BrandWeek, Ad Age and Marketing Daily. He holds an M.B.A. in marketing and finance from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in economics from Brandeis University. He enjoys tennis, bicycle touring, cooking, and spending time with his wife and teenage kids. In his spare time, he is the volunteer president of an award-winning farmers market in Pleasantville, NY.
Contact
Ready to take your brand to the next level? Let us know how we can help.
Next Level SMG
25 Wheeler Avenue, Suite 201
Pleasantville, NY 10570
914.769.8600
