– Faculty of the month –

Frank Azimont

Discipline: Growth strategies, Strategy execution, B to C marketing, B to B marketing, market practices

Frank is a scholar trained in sociology of markets, in marketing and in management. He received a PhD from Lancaster University in market studies. He is programme director at CEDEP, one of the leading European executive education centres. He currently spends most of his time working with executives, facilitating groups of leaders around market-oriented strategies.

His preferred themes include growth strategies, strategy execution, market shaping, B to B marketing, category and brand development, insight search, innovation processes, digital and integrated communication, in-store marketing, relations to trade organizations, category management and the management of stakeholder.

Industries he knows particularly well include food and Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Do It Yourself and home equipment, nutrition and health industries.

He has organised executive education programmes and EXCO workshops with numerous multinationals on subjects related to market development and marketing capabilities, in Europe, Asia and Americas, in the FMCG, retail, Telco and health industries. He currently runs transformation and tailor made executive education programmes with large corporations such as Vodafone, Brambles, PON, Bio Mérieux, Sanofi, L’Oréal, Auchan or Danone Group.

His research has been published in academic journals in marketing and management. He co-authored several books and chapters in marketing. Frank developed his research expertise through a thesis entitled “Valuation, metrologies and judgement: a study of market practices”. His current research focuses on the understanding of valuation processes involved when a consensus has to be found between economic value, and other type of values, such as moral, justice or dignity.

He has received a silver award from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in the category “organization transformation” for a programme run with L’Oreal at CEDEP.

Frank is the founder of “The Market Shaping Institute”, an education and research institution that investigates market practices defined as the set of institutions, norms, agents, processes, and performance indicators that together shape an infrastructure in which business can take place. His consulting consists in facilitating groups of managers define how they deal with markets, business development, strategies and market capabilities. He leads groups of managers through processes toward agreed-upon outcomes in ways that elicit participation, ownership, and creativity from all involved.

Frank has been a professor in marketing at EMLYON business school for 17 years, where he was head of the marketing and innovation department between 2000 and 2003. He has worked with undergraduates, MBAs and Ph.D. students over his career. Prior to being a professor, Frank has been a sales and marketing manager in the FMCG industry.