Simon-Kucher & Partners, a strategy and marketing consultancy, has elected 24 new partners across its global operations, including two in the United States.
“Our newly-appointed partners come from 10 different countries across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, a clear reflection of our international positioning,” said Andreas von der Gathen, CEO of the Bonn, Germany-headquartered consulting firm.
Kristin Harris (Chicago) has a decade of consulting experience with a focus on leading projects in pricing and packaging optimization. She has supported clients on market-entry strategy, nascent market commercial strategy, portfolio price optimization, and sales team restructuring.
Harris has been at Simon-Kucher for the last six years, joining the firm as a consultant in 2016 and being promoted to director in 2019. Prior to that, she was a strategy consultant at Revenue Analytics Inc. and a human capital analyst at Deloitte Consulting.
Harris has a bachelor’s degree in economics and international affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Michelle Verwest (San Francisco) has 17 years of experience in consulting and retail. She specializes in monetization strategies for internet and technology companies, with expertise in price optimization, packaging and portfolio strategy, and commercialization strategy.
Verwest has been at Simon-Kucher since 2014, joining the firm as a senior consultant and being named a director in 2018. Prior to that she spent six years at apparel retailer Charlotte Russe, where she was latterly a merchandise manager in the e-commerce division. Earlier in her career she spent three years at defunct retailer Mervyns, where she was a planning manager.
Verwest has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in management science from UC San Diego.
“Consulting in sales, profit growth, and our core topic of pricing are still very much in demand,” said co-CEO Mark Billige. “Last year was a year of tremendous growth for Simon-Kucher, in terms of both business and company size – and in line with this, our expanding partnership will remain at the helm of leading our company to continued success and impactful growth.”
The firm, which was founded in 1985, has grown to more than 1,700 employees and 42 offices in 27 countries. Simon-Kucher reported revenue growth of 22.5% in 2021 to reach $506.7 million, with North America representing the fastest-growing region.
The Germany-based consultancy last year expanded into Finland with a new office in Helsinki, and also opened a new office in Berlin.