30 years of helping leaders grow their companies

To commemorate, we’re highlighting some of the incredible clients, partners and team members who have shaped our journey, and some of the things we’ve learned along the way

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industries
Insights
Client Stories
Reflections

Our History

Forming Denneen & Company’s Foundation

1993
1993

At the end of his first year at Harvard Business School, Mark Denneen founds Denneen & Company. The company opens its first office at a townhouse in Boston’s Back Bay.

1993
1993

Denneen & Company signs its first client, Olin Corporation, a fortune 200 company, to support growth of their branded specialty products business.

1994
1994

Helen Buford joins, and would hold various roles from 1994-1998 and 2010-2019, spending her last four years as President & COO. Helen remains on Denneen’s Board of Directors to this day.

1994
1994

Honey Baked Ham enlists Denneen in the development of a go-to-market strategy.

1995
1995

Frank Endom joins, beginning a tremendous 28-year career where he has played a key role leading our Private Equity and Energy businesses.

1996
1996

The Cadwell Davis Denneen partnership is formed in New York City, helping to build a number of strong, impactful, and long-lasting client relationships for Denneen that would be foundational to our company’s growth.

1996
1996

Denneen & Company expands into consumer healthcare, working with Johnson & Johnson.

1997
1997

Albert Lee joins. Albert has held numerous roles during three different stints with the company, helping to build our data analytics capability, once serving as CFO and continuing to play a key role to this day.

Energy and Healthcare Expansion​

1998
1998

Denneen & Company expands into energy, adding Mobil Oil Corporation as a client. With the merger leading to ExxonMobil in 1999, we have built a successful and enduring relationship over 25 years.

1999
1999

Arch Chemical acquires Olin Specialty Chemicals and engages Denneen to develop a growth strategy. The project would launch the development of our Enterprise Growth Strategy offering.

2000
2000

Jane Alpers joins, spending 23 years at Denneen & Company until her retirement, working across industries while also leading the growth of our healthcare focus area.

2004
2004

Denneen & Company headquarters relocates to 222 Berkeley Street in Boston’s Back Bay, which would become company headquarters for 19 years

2004
2004

Denneen adds its first Biotech client, Millenium Pharmaceuticals, now a part of Takeda Oncology

2005
2005

Denneen expands into Healthcare provider systems with Partners Healthcare, now Mass General Brigham

Private Equity and International Team

2010
2010

KPS Capital Partners becomes Denneen & Company’s first private equity client, a partnership that helped launch our M&A Advisory business

2011
2011

Pfizer becomes Denneen’s first major Pharmaceutical client

2012
2012

Denneen & Company reaches a key milestone, adding Merck consumer healthcare as its 100th client

2014
2014

Phil Ryan joins. Phil has spearheaded the growth and development of Denneen’s M&A advisory and enterprise growth strategy capabilities.

2015
2015

To better support its clients in Energy, Denneen & Company opens a location in Houston, TX. Niti Patel joins the Houston office.

2015
2015

Denneen partners with Gael Guillou and Igneos, a boutique consultancy in Brussels, to further build its network and better support European-based clients.

2016
2016

Denneen & Company’s M&A advisory offering begins to expand, forming numerous key client relationships and extending capabilities to include due diligence, portfolio company growth strategy, and exit planning.

2019
2019

Kim Vaughan and Summit are engaged in a long-term partnership to work on culture, talent management, and succession planning at Denneen.

2022
2022

Denneen & Company’s Boston headquarters is relocated to 34 Farnsworth Street in Boston’s seaport district.

2022
2022

To support growth in Asian markets and better serve its international clients, Denneen & Company opens a new location at Keppel Bay Tower in Singapore’s HarbourFront, headed by Michael Lim.

30 Insights Gained Over 30 Years

Client Stories

Coming Soon

Denneen Reflections

Hear from our people about their Denneen experience, what they value in a company culture, and how to develop and grow as a consultant

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From our offices in Boston, Houston and Singapore, Denneen & Company partners with leading companies globally in a range of industries, providing purpose-built strategies and clear roadmaps to growth

Denneen & Company™
Out Think. Out Perform.®

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Consumer Goods and Services

Denneen & Company’s roots in consumer goods are as old as the firm itself, with Mark Denneen’s first client being the consumer arm of a publicly traded chemical and outdoor products distributor.

Over the course of the 1990s and 2000s, Denneen & Company expanded upon Mark’s early success in consumer goods, providing growth strategy consulting services to dozens of category and sector leaders. Our senior consulting team collectively possesses decades of in-industry experience across North America, Europe, and Asia at some of the most well-respected consumer goods companies in the world.

We have served numerous sub-sectors within consumer goods and services, including:

  • Apparel
  • Appliances
  • Automotive
  • Consumer Chemicals
  • Consumer health & hygiene
  • Footwear
  • Food & Beverage
  • Hotels & Hospitality
  • Home furnishings
  • Insurance
  • Luxury goods
  • Pet products
  • Travel & Transit

Energy

Denneen entered the energy space in 1998, when a global major brought us in for global brand and marketing strategy services. Today, we are among the most trusted, experienced, and longest-tenured advisors to the fuels, lubricants, chemicals, and base stocks businesses of that same company, having partnered with their teams on countless marketing, brand, growth, go-to-market, data analytics, and financial modelling projects.

Over 25 years, our experience has grown across the energy value chain and across major geographic markets. Our experience includes green energy and renewables, as we have helped legacy oil companies explore opportunities in renewables to meet sustainability challenges as well as manufacturers and suppliers looking to capitalize on the growing green energy space. We understand the challenges faced by energy companies in an increasingly complex and evolving industry and are committed to helping our energy clients find unique, differentiated pathways to growth.

Healthcare

As a Boston-based organization, life sciences and healthcare has always been an area of interest and focus for Denneen & Company. We launched our Healthcare practice in 2003 when Jane Alpers, a long-term leader at the firm, joined from Tufts Health Plan.

Over the past two decades, we have provided growth, brand and marketing, and M&A advisory services to dozens of organizations across the entirety of the healthcare ecosystem. Our experience includes:

  • Provider systems
  • Payer networks
  • Life sciences and Biotech
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Medical devices
  • Pharmacy distribution
  • Education and non-profit
  • Consumer health brands

Past clients include Mass General Brigham, BlueCross BlueShield, the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, J&J / Ethicon, the Broad Institute, Merck, Colgate, and the National Academies of Science.

Private Equity

In the Private Equity space, Denneen & Company partners with both investment and portfolio company management teams at stages across the private equity lifecycle. We have advised on over 100 M&A opportunities, providing services such as:

  • Deal and targeting guidance 
  • Commercial due diligence
  • Growth strategy development
  • Exit planning

We have worked with many of the industry’s most successful investors, including KPS Capital partners, A&M Capital, Gamut, Turnspire, and Highview, to name a few.

Our diverse in-industry expertise and client exposure, from Fortune 500 to non-profit, allows us to customize our approach for specific sectors and investment philosophies at all stages of the private equity lifecycle. We developed the exit strategies for three “Buyouts Deal of the Year” transactions: adult incontinence brand Attends (Domtar, 2011), iron foundry Waupaca Foundry (Hitachi, 2014), and premium glass producer Anchor Glass (CVC Capital, 2016).

Industrials & Manufacturing

We have built deep experience in the industrials & manufacturing space, both supporting our private equity partners with commercial due diligence and working directly with manufacturing and industrials firms to develop long-term growth strategies. As practitioners with a generalist and objective approach, we are able to provide a fresh and unique perspective to help players in the industrials space develop differentiated, market-driven, and sustainable growth strategies. 

Our diverse experience in the industrials & manufacturing space includes:

  • Automotive parts
  • Building products
  • Chemicals
  • Construction equipment
  • Glass bottles
  • Heavy duty equipment
  • Industrial thread
  • Industrial piping
  • Metals (including precision metal parts)
  • Plastics and composites
  • Pulp & paper
  • Timber
Insights_1a
Successful growth strategies are grounded in developing a deep understanding of the market, consumer, customer, competitor, and internal business performance that drives strategic decision-making
Successful growth strategies are grounded in developing a deep understanding of the market, consumer, customer, competitor, and internal business performance that drives strategic decision-making
It's important for business leaders to explore and assess a wide variety of organic and inorganic opportunities. Too narrow an approach, and exploration in areas that are closer in and better understood can limit growth potential.
It's important for business leaders to explore and assess a wide variety of organic and inorganic opportunities. Too narrow an approach, and exploration in areas that are closer in and better understood can limit growth potential.
Using benchmarks, tracking competitors, and using best-in-class examples can help guide strategy development, but the best strategies are the ones that best fit with a client’s aspirations, capabilities, and understanding of the internal and external landscape
Using benchmarks, tracking competitors, and using best-in-class examples can help guide strategy development, but the best strategies are the ones that best fit with a client’s aspirations, capabilities, and understanding of the internal and external landscape
While tools, processes, and means of communication may continue to evolve, foundational concepts of strategy endure. Don’t allow buzzwords, shiny objects, and the “latest trends” to distract you; leverage them with core strategy fundamentals in mind
While tools, processes, and means of communication may continue to evolve, foundational concepts of strategy endure. Don’t allow buzzwords, shiny objects, and the “latest trends” to distract you; leverage them with core strategy fundamentals in mind
Strategies should have achievable and clearly quantified objectives, guide the organization as to where and where not to focus, and be periodically assessed via reviews of established and aligned KPIs
Strategies should have achievable and clearly quantified objectives, guide the organization as to where and where not to focus, and be periodically assessed via reviews of established and aligned KPIs
Insights_2a
Consultants need to have courage of conviction, an informed point of view, and the ability to positively and tactfully influence leaders and teams through trusted, candid, and value-added interactions
Consultants need to have courage of conviction, an informed point of view, and the ability to positively and tactfully influence leaders and teams through trusted, candid, and value-added interactions
At the end of the day, it’s the client’s strategy, not ours - It is imperative that client leaders are at the center of strategy development, have conviction to lead execution in the market, and can drive accountability across the organization
At the end of the day, it’s the client’s strategy, not ours - It is imperative that client leaders are at the center of strategy development, have conviction to lead execution in the market, and can drive accountability across the organization
We believe that the key to successful strategy is helping each company find its unique path to growth, and that requires adapting processes, tools, research and analysis to recognize varying states of readiness, different ambitions, and choices around where to focus
We believe that the key to successful strategy is helping each company find its unique path to growth, and that requires adapting processes, tools, research and analysis to recognize varying states of readiness, different ambitions, and choices around where to focus
Clients generally have deep industry expertise that is best complimented by consultants with broad B2B sector and B2C category experience, which can inform new ways of thinking and winning relative to industry competitors
Clients generally have deep industry expertise that is best complimented by consultants with broad B2B sector and B2C category experience, which can inform new ways of thinking and winning relative to industry competitors
One of the greatest intangible benefit that consultants can deliver is to make the organization stronger through skill and knowledge transfer, while helping to identify and develop next-level leaders in the company through active collaboration
One of the greatest intangible benefit that consultants can deliver is to make the organization stronger through skill and knowledge transfer, while helping to identify and develop next-level leaders in the company through active collaboration

Lendy Beatty

Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer
  • Logical Brands
  • Nashville, Tennessee
  • Consumer Packaged Goods

Lendy Beatty is the Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Logical Brands, a Nashville-based pet company with a portfolio of premium brands and products. Logical Brands was formed in 2017, after Beatty decided to leverage her deep expertise in private brand product design, retail and supply chain to launch Playology, a line of innovative, premium dog toys that rapidly grew to #2 in value share in 5 short years.

We worked with Lendy and her co-founder and husband, Adam Beatty, on the launch of their brand portfolio, helping uncover key consumer insights, developing brand and marketing communication and advising on go-to-market strategy. Our work started with Playology, a super-premium line of scent-based toys designed for longer pet engagement; Hound 2O, a premium line of durable toys: Greeeen, a selection of sustainably manufactured toys; and Moose and Pig, a greeting card collection channeling the voice of pets.

Lendy has combined her passion and deep understanding of dogs and how they play, with consumer and shopper insights to drive the design of the brand portfolio. Playology is rooted in the understanding that scent strongly engages pets, and the products are designed with a proprietary scent release system that drives captivating play experiences. Over time, the line has expanded to cover the entire life stages of dogs: Playology Puppy, which helps puppies’ sensory development from 4 weeks to 4 months, and Playology Senior, to meet the needs of aging dogs, with a softer bite to keep them engaged well into their senior years.

Theme: Innovation grounded in deep consumer insight – shopper and end user – is the greatest source of brand and product differentiation. Logical Brands has disrupted a staid pet category and delivered meaningful innovation that improves the well-being of pets.

Charles Reppucci

Chief Operating Officer

  • Company
  • City, State
  • Category

Charlie Reppucci served as Chief Operating Officer of Hinckley Allen, a Boston-based law firm with a diverse practice focused on the Northeast. In this role, Charlie led a team of functional leaders that enabled the work of the firm’s Managing Partner, Executive Committee and Practice Leaders, where he brought new approaches to professional services that helped improve the firm’s competitive position. As COO, Charlie took a hands-on approach to driving change and transformation, making significant investments in marketing, business development, IT and talent management that were foundational to the firm’s success.

We worked with Hinckley Allen from 2003-2018, when Charlie retired after more than 20 years as COO. Hinckley Allen was our first and only client in professional services, but Charlie leveraged the full range of our capabilities as he helped drive impressive organic and inorganic growth over the period. Hinckley Allen pioneered brand and marketing fundamentals, from customer segmentation and targeting, brand positioning, go-to-market strategy and sustained multi-channel marketing investment to help build reputation and market recognition as a regional firm. Over our 15 years collaborating, Charlie tapped into our data analytics capabilities to understand business performance, identify drivers of client satisfaction and retention, assess industries and geographic markets, and inform ‘where to play and how to win choices’, including evaluating M+A opportunities. During this time, the firm joined the AmLaw 200, and is broadly recognized for its strong financial performance, and as an exceptional workplace.

Theme: Strategy, brand and marketing fundamentals can be applied across industries, and can help exceptional leaders create meaningful competitive advantage that accelerates growth

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