We built MarStrat for the moments that can't wait.
MarStrat On Demand started in 2004 with a simple observation: organizations kept running into moments that needed senior expertise right away, and hiring for them took too long or cost too much.
So we built a different kind of firm. Senior strategy, marketing, and project leadership, there when a launch, a turnaround, or a growth push can't wait, and scaled back when the work is done.
Over the years that has meant setting up marketing functions, leading global rebrands, and guiding companies through an IPO or an acquisition. Today the work is more digital and more data-driven, and it includes AI. The idea is the same: the right people, in the right shape, without adding to your payroll.
What the work has looked like
Different industries, different sizes, the same kind of call. Here are some high value-added ways we've helped.
Building marketing from the ground up
We have set up marketing functions, led global rebrands, run international market research, and built targeted B2B and B2C programs from strategy through launch.
Putting technology and data to work
From ecommerce and CRM solutions to today's martech and AI, we connect the tools and the information to the business goal.
Standing beside leaders at the big moments
A startup's first year. A high-growth phase. An IPO. An acquisition and its integration. A change in business model. We have advised public and private companies through all of them.
Keeping the moving parts moving
We have managed strategic alliances, agency and creative partners, cross-functional teams, and marketing departments and budgets.
Equipping the people who face customers
Programs and materials that help client service teams and distributed sales forces sell and serve better.
Today we bring the same experience to a bigger toolkit: martech, data, AI, and a bench of specialists in technology, UX, and creative.
Our reason for being and our commitment
Our reason for being
To give growth-minded organizations on demand access to senior marketing and growth leadership, and the specialist bench to carry it out, so strategy becomes measurable results without the overhead of building a full team.
Our commitment
A business world where every growing organization can bring in executive-level marketing and growth leadership, and the right specialists, the moment it needs them, and where marketing is run as an accountable engine of revenue.
Clarity
Recommendations tied to your business goals and backed by your customers, your data, and your market.
Ownership
One senior leader stays accountable from strategy through results, with named owners, timelines, and budgets.
Execution
Plans become delivered programs and measured outcomes, with specialists joining when the work needs them.
Why leaders bring MarStrat in
Most growth leaders come up through one lane. MarStrat is led by Lisa Morrell, who has worked in three: as a strategy consultant, at leading agencies, and as a CMO on the client side. That range shapes how every engagement runs.
Strategy grounded in evidence
We start with your customers, your data, and your market. Our strategy work draws on experience at Prophet, Nielsen, Razorfish, and Accenture, including a three-year, $1 billion plan to bring one of Japan's largest food and beverage brands into the U.S. market.
Leadership that owns the number
We have held the CMO seat at venture- and private equity-backed companies, building marketing functions of 50+ people and leading enterprise projects with budgets of up to $100 million. Plans come with owners, timelines, and budgets, and results are reported in revenue terms.
Stories that move people to act
Award-winning campaigns for top retailers and CPG brands help us turn complex data into a clear story that executives, sales teams, and customers act on.
Chief Growth Officer
Led by a growth executive who has been the consultant, the agency, and the client
Lisa Morrell is MarStrat's Chief Growth Officer and leads every client engagement, serving as a trusted advisor to executive teams and boards. She is usually called in for operational turnarounds and high-growth challenges. Her career spans brand and analytics consulting at Prophet and Nielsen, digital strategy at Razorfish and Accenture, and marketing leadership at Gannett Digital Marketing Services and Royal Bank of Canada, where she led marketing and investor relations through an IPO and acquisition. She has also served as CMO of venture- and private equity-backed companies.
She is an award-winning digital marketing professional and a published, award-winning business writer. She holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, where she was an Austin Scholar, and is a certified Project Management Professional.
Named a “Voice to Follow” in the Best Of LinkedIn MarTech Insights list, an international honor.
- Customer experience program led for a top U.S. insurer
- $110M
- Three-year U.S. market-entry strategy designed
- $1B
Education, certifications, and community
Education
- MBA, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management (F.C. Austin Scholar and Austin Scholars Co-Chair)
- MS, Journalism, Columbia University (John J. McCloy Fellow)
- BA, Economics, Wells College
Certifications
- Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute
- AI for Marketing Certification, AI Academy by SmarterX (2026)
- AI Business Leadership Certification, Management and Strategy Institute (2026)
- Senior Fellow, MSI Business Leadership Council (2026)
- Certification in Integrated Marketing | Digital, DePaul University Driehaus College of Business
- Google Analytics IQ and Google Mobile Analytics certifications
- HubSpot CRM Power User; Google Ads certification
Leadership and recognition
- Former Board Member and Vice President of Programming, American Marketing Association, Phoenix Chapter
- Named a “Voice to Follow” in the international Best Of LinkedIn MarTech Insights list (Strategic B2B Marketing Community)
- Founding Consultant to the Board, Center for Executive Women, Kellogg School of Management
- Alumni Admissions Council, Northwestern University
- Member, CHIEF and the CMO Council
- Senior Fellow, Management and Strategy Institute Leadership Council
- Valley Leadership Catalyze Program, Economic Empowerment
- Advisor to CareerSpring; pro bono consultant for the Taproot Foundation and Chicago Public Schools
Questions leaders ask us
What does MarStrat do?
MarStrat is a marketing and growth consultancy. We help organizations connect marketing strategy, technology, data, and AI to strengthen performance and accelerate growth, from strategy through execution.
How can we work with you?
Engagements are shaped around your priorities, budget, and timing. Choose strategic advisory, project execution, embedded team support, or an on demand CMO or CGO. We work the way that fits for you: remote, hybrid, or on site.
What is an on demand (fractional) CMO or CGO?
An on demand, or fractional, Chief Marketing Officer or Chief Growth Officer works inside your leadership team on a part-time or interim basis. It's one way to engage MarStrat when you need executive direction across marketing and growth without adding a full-time hire.
Who do you work with?
CEOs, CMOs, and commercial leaders at established B2B and B2C organizations, as well as private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
How does MarStrat support private equity portfolio companies?
We work with sponsors and portfolio leadership teams on growth strategy, marketing operations, martech and data, and on demand CMO or CGO leadership. MarStrat's leader has served as Chief Marketing Officer of a private equity-backed venture.
Where are you based, and how do you work?
MarStrat is based in Phoenix, Arizona, with clients nationwide. We work the way that fits for you: remote, hybrid, or on site.
How do you approach AI?
As part of the broader growth plan, not as a standalone trend. We identify practical use cases, connect them to your existing martech, data, and workflows, and measure business impact rather than activity.
How do we get started?
Start a conversation about your business priorities. Together we'll decide whether MarStrat is the right fit and which kind of engagement makes sense.
Where could better alignment unlock growth?
Let's discuss your business priorities and how strategy, operations, technology and execution could do more for you.
Start a conversation