Julie Halpin Anderson, President
Next Step Strategic Services
From my earliest memories, creativity has been my compass. As a child, I found joy in the simple act of dancing to records, blissfully unaware that my spontaneous movements were my first forays into choreography. Back then, it was just pure fun, a naïve exploration of movement without understanding its formal name or significance. I later discovered that this innate drive to create was a sign of the powerful creative force residing within us all.
My journey led me from playful dances in the living room to the dynamic world of advertising, where creativity took on new dimensions. Joining Leo Burnett in Chicago right out of college, I was captivated by the allure of the creative process — the possibility of contributing to something that would capture the public's imagination. This fascination only grew stronger as my path took me to New York City and the halls of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising. There, over fifteen years, I led various teams in the creation of campaigns, products and even a new kind of agency – the Saatchi Kid Connection – a multi-disciplinary team committed to enhancing the quality of advertising and marketing our children see. From there, I had the opportunity to flex those strategic and creative muscles yet again when I left Saatchi to start a new agency for WPP - The Geppetto Group – where I served as CEO for 15 years.
Over the course of 30+ years in the ad agency business, I learned a whole lot about marketing & advertising – what works, what doesn’t and why – but mostly I learned about the transformative power of creativity to light people up. And so, when I began my next business – Next Step – I decided to base this brand strategy and executive coaching business on the belief that creativity has the power to change minds – our own and those of the people around us.
Looking back, I see that my journey from those early days of unstructured dance to shaping influential advertising narratives has been a testament to creativity's boundless capacity to inspire and transform.
And so Next Step the natural culmination of that learning … it’s a business to help people and brands rediscover and rekindle their creative spark, give it expression, and move into what’s next.
Meet the Next Step Brand Strategy Team
Brooke Effron
Strategy & Research
Danielle Spiro
Strategy & Research
Kris Weber
Design
Dom Allessandro
Design
Sonya Schroeder
Strategy & Research
Vic Noble
Health Thought Leader
We help brands and leaders discover what they didn’t know they know,
so they can see a clear path forward.
"When we first met Julie and the Next Step team, we thought we needed a new package design that was more modern and relevant. Thanks to Julie, we learned we had an even bigger opportunity and more powerful way to grow our business. She suggested that we embark on creating an updated brand positioning, corresponding brand name and THEN a full design exploratory to find the optimal expression of that idea. Next Step designed and executed a multi-stage work plan based in qualitative and quantitative consumer research that helped us move from a 100+ SKU collection of recipe kits to a powerful, relevant, contemporary brand – “Concord Fresh Success.” Feedback has been exceptional: retailers and consumers love the new strategy, name, cleaner ingredient list, and attention-getting packaging. We have been thrilled to have Julie and the Next Step Strategy team help Concord Foods get closer to our consumers and grow our business.”
— Peter Neville, Chairman Concord Foods
"Thanks to Julie, we learned we had an even bigger opportunity and more powerful way to grow our business."
"With Julie as my coach, I’m able to better work towards my goals of being a strategic, compassionate, and impactful leader."
With Julie as my coach, I’m able to better work towards my goals of being a strategic, compassionate, and impactful leader. Her experience as an executive at a large corporation and a Founder/CEO of a startup, coupled with her coaching training and toolbox, makes her the ideal partner for anyone wishing to level up their leadership. Working with Julie has enabled me to accelerate my growth and work through obstacles by finding my unique voice within the firm, increasing my influence, and getting the best from my team. As a senior person, it's a gift to have a safe and confidential place to be unsure, vulnerable, creative, authentic...and emerge buoyed and reminded of my power and talents.
~Kindra Tatarsky, Managing Director, Touchdown Ventures
"In my years as VP of Global Consumer Insights at General Mills and then as President and CEO of the Advertising Research Foundation, Julie stands out - as a consummate branding strategist who is especially insightful about each and every generation, up and down categories and verticals. She has a keen ability to translate insights into brand strategy and into creative ideas for growth and, quite simply,
she delivers value wherever she goes.”
~Gayle Fuguitt, CEO & President, The Advertising Research Foundation
"Julie stands out–as a consummate branding strategist who is especially insightful about each and every generation."
"Julie has given me a place to work through problems and strategize tough conversations so I can quickly and confidently move forward."
Julie has been an invaluable resource and partner for me as I’ve moved into an executive leadership role. Having spent 30+ years in advertising herself, including time as an agency CEO, we’ve been able to get right into the meat of conversations instead of spending time unpacking the the dynamics of my role. She has helped me redefine what success looks like and reallocate my time to the things that will bring the most value to the agency, my team and my clients – less doing, more refining how I lead. Perhaps most importantly, Julie has given me a place to work through problems and strategize tough conversations so I can quickly and confidently move forward. Her style is to ask questions that help me organize my own thoughts. I deeply trust her opinion, but I always leave our conversations more clear on my own.
~Ashley
“What makes Next Step stand out is that they’re brilliant at both Research and Consulting. You’re not just getting good research; you’re getting a strategic partner of a caliber that is very hard to find in a vendor. At Dannon they are viewed as an extension of our team providing equal parts qualitative expertise and strategy building that is unparalleled.”
~Elizabeth Ackerley, Strategy & Insights, Danone USA
"At Danone they are viewed as an extension of our team."
"She has a gift of being able to pick up on things in my thought patterns that I don’t even notice."
I sincerely love my time with Julie. She has a gift of being able to pick up on things in my thought patterns that I don’t even notice, and she immediately became a different (and often more rational) voice in my head to allow me to rethink my approach to problems. She always probes when I use language that is judgmental or too extreme, and she helps me reframe and brand things in a way that allow me to think more clearly about how to make the most out of the ambiguity of many situations. I’m grateful to have Julie in my corner, and I know I’m a better business professional and leader because of my time with her.
~Brittney, Director Danone
“Julie Anderson and her team were instrumental in helping our team develop a revised Brand Strategy and Disease State messaging strategy. Her process and framework are comprehensive and robust, and ensured full alignment across the cross functional team at the close of our session. Her significant added-value is coming from her personality, her experience and her unique way to facilitate and push the group discussion to get and recognize key insights and use these to drive the generation of a revised, clear and concise strategy. We look forward to working with Julie again on other projects.”
~Adele Deering, Global Commercial Lead Endocrinology, Shire
"Her process and framework are comprehensive and robust, and ensured full alignment across the cross functional team at the close of our session."
"Her authentic style and relentless focus on her clients' success comes through in every interaction."
I've been working with Julie for over a year as my Executive Coach. Our relationship started when I was stepping into a new leadership position and was looking for a coach who could help me grow and navigate the challenges of my new role. I was lucky enough to be connected with Julie and I couldn't be happier! Her authentic style and relentless focus on her clients' success comes through in every interaction. Julie is an attuned listener, crystallizer of stream of conscious ramblings, and unearth-er of solutions that tap into my own authenticity. She asks probing questions to help me focus my challenges, guides my thought process, helps me identify tactical actions and next steps, and when needed, is both cheerleader and straight-talking advisor at the same time.
~Sonja, VP, Veeva Systems
Julie Halpin Anderson has been and will continue to be my trusted source to make sure that I am centered and to allow the members of our cherished company to keep doing what we do in the way that has made our company so special for almost the last 15 years. She has the ability to listen, speak and push back so you know that she has your best interests at heart. She brings other highly valued resources to serve the purpose of making us better. Julie is someone that has the curiosity to want to know more but the good sense to know when enough is enough. If you want a peer
and a guide as your coach, Julie will make sure that
you enjoy the journey.
~Steve Marlowe, CEO, Chef LMT Foods
"She has the ability to listen, speak and push back so you know that she has your best interests at heart."
"Working with her on the tough challenges the corporate world presents is invaluable to me as a leader"
Used to be that when we got on a call with Julie, I would be sure that she couldn’t possibly help us navigate ‘THIS crazy challenge’…but when she did guide us through (seemingly effortlessly and always with so much patience and kindness) time after time, I changed my tune to, ‘I can’t wait to bring this to Julie because I know she’ll help us through.’ Working with her on the tough challenges the corporate world presents is invaluable to me as a leader, to our company, and ultimately to the clients we serve.
- Julie Roads, Chief Creative Officer, MJMCreative
"I'm so glad we opted to work with Julie and use her Brand Compass approach."
As a new brand company entering a crowded and complex market, we knew that we needed a considered, distinctive brand strategy if we were going to get the uptake we needed at launch. I'm so glad we opted to work with Julie and use her Brand Compass approach. We were struck by how effectively and efficiently this got us all to a place of consensus and enthusiasm for a clear, actionable brand strategy that really felt "like us."
Carla Small, CEO EarlyBird Education
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