R&D Venture Partners in coordination with partner Green Square advises Pricing Solutions on its sale to iris Worldwide

The move will allow iris to extend its global management consultancy capabilities into pricing strategy, and deliver more bottom-line value and profitability impact for clients, and gives iris an HQ in Toronto with franchise agreements in Europe and APAC and a portfolio of 50 clients.

Since acquiring management consultancy iris Concise in 2008, iris has worked hard to challenge the traditional agency / client dynamic, from funding product innovation through its incubator The iris Nursery, acquiring Datalytics to generate more robust methods of evaluation and targeting, and building global content hubs years before content became a buzzword.

With constant evolution in its DNA, iris today blends the best in creativity and consultancy and is built from a diverse mix of specialisms that can flex around specific business opportunities. And while most agencies will touch on anything from product, promotion, and placement to audiences and routes to market – very few are able to influence price, despite it having the biggest potential impact on profitability.

Clients are waking up to the realization that 1% extra on price could increase profitability by 12% and in both B2B & B2C industries price differentiation is critical to purchasing decisions. Pricing Solutions’ bespoke approach coupled with thought leadership and proprietary methodology satisfies a client need, which often goes unaddressed.

The addition of Pricing Solutions brings includes over 20 years of experience with Fortune 500 companies and expertise in the pricing industry – which could be a game-changing mix for brands.

Ian Millner, CEO, iris: “There is absolute chaos in the market at the moment. Every week a new story comes out about agencies feeling the pressure, and the client trust crisis. Agencies need to think much harder about what skills they need in order to be more relevant, valuable and distinctive. Pricing is one of the most important elements of a client’s business and one of the things that make the biggest impact on a client’s profitability…”

“We are excited to be working with Pricing Solutions’ team of world renowned experts, and we are confident that we will be able to extend their skills across our entire network. We are also really looking forward to extending the iris brand into the Canadian market.”

Founded in 1993 by Paul Hunt, and with a head office in Toronto and franchise agreements in Europe and Asia-Pacific, Pricing Solutions is one of the leading pricing consultancy’s, dramatically improving client’s profitability and market share through improved pricing. Paul Hunt, who will stay on as President of the company, authored ‘World Class Pricing: The Journey’ published in 2013 and has been rated the top speaker at PPS Pricing Conference on regular occasions.

Paul Hunt, President, Pricing Solutions: “It’s not a rarity for a client to come forward with a brief around pricing – ‘we want to be worth the premium consumers are paying – how can we justify that price’. Collaborating with the experts at iris Concise – we will have a clear and valuable role in advising clients how best to price. As far as I’m aware – there is no other agency network in the world that will be able to deliver what we can for clients – and generate as much impact on profitability. It is a very exciting partnership.”

iris will be rolling out the Pricing Solutions proposition globally, with pricing hubs set up in iris Concise teams across 14 iris offices.

The Pricing Solutions name and brand will not be changed – and the business will continue to operate through its current outlets. The company has shown over 10% annual growth average in last three years.