Top Client and Agency Vets Pio Schunker and Lee Roth form The Actionists

Former client marketers and agency vets Pio Schunker and Lee Roth have launched The Actionists, a strategy firm that provides the model for marketing to make a bigger impact on the entire business. The Actionists bridges the gaps between the analytics of management consultants and the more tactical solutions of advertising agencies.

“Consultants create math that does not translate into marketing while agencies are too busy making art for Cannes that does not translate into business results,” said Pio. “That's where we come in. We've developed an approach that builds directly from the business challenges to create a cohesive marketing and brand plan that actions the business forward."

Pio led marketing at Coca-Cola, Samsung and Eargo, while Lee held executive positions at Coca-Cola, PayPal, Wieden + Kennedy and Ogilvy before building out the US arm of consulting firm BeenThereDoneThat.

Colgate-Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark have signed on as launch clients, and The Actionists are in talks with several other Fortune 500 companies. 

“Difficult problems require people who have solved them before,” said Parul Bharadwaj, managing director of Oral Care at Colgate-Palmolive. “The Actionists bring us the strategic chops to answer complex business problems because they've been in our shoes.”

The Actionists draws on a stable of veteran CMOs, chief strategists and creative leaders who come together based on the crucial challenges of specific assignments. The structure allows Pio and Lee to assemble bespoke teams of CMOs who know how to drive the business forward, CSOs who know how to connect with consumers, and senior creatives who build long-term brand platforms on central organising ideas.

“Increasingly, the best thinkers of our generation are operating as independents,” said Lee. “Today's business problems are more complex than ever before while ironically the staffing at consultants and agencies are getting more and more junior. We bring the talent and experience marketers need desperately.”

Unlike consultancies and agencies, The Actionists have eschewed traditional time-based contracts. Clients choose from a suite of consulting products – from growth audits to brand architectures to innovation platforms and core creative ideas – at fixed rates. In Lee’s words, there’s “no overhead, no FTEs, no fat - you pay only for the product you've asked for.”

Additionally, The Actionists has developed a partnership with Evergreen Trading where clients can trade distressed assets for strategic services. The unique barter solution allows clients to get critical strategic thinking while reducing non-working dollars.

Esther Lee, former EVP global CMO of MetLife, SVP of marketing at AT&T, and current board member of Clorox, Experian, and Pearson, was highly supportive of The Actionists's unique approach. "Refocusing marketing to help address fundamental business issues is what every CMO needs to do,” said Esther. “The Actionists have designed an end-to-end approach that is tangible and codified--an approach designed by previous senior marketers who have driven past success with it. It orients marketing beyond consumer engagement to delivering enterprise value.”