About Us
Top-Box Consulting...
What's in a name?
In Market Research, the term “Top-Box Score” refers to the % of consumers that say that they Definitely Would Buy a new product concept, the earliest indicator of a new product’s potential for success. Our company is named “Top-Box Consulting” to convey a best-in-class approach for identifying and capturing new growth opportunities based on compelling consumer insight, sound strategy, and flawless execution. Our objective is to improve the likelihood of successful innovation by delivering unique product concepts that consumers Definitely Would Buy...in a way that drives financial value for your company.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to help our clients identify new opportunities for profitable growth and support them in successfully bringing those ideas to life within their organizations and in the marketplace.
Leadership Profile, Cedric Steele
TOP-BOX FOUNDER - Expert in Marketing & Innovation
My name is Cedric Steele; throughout my 20+ year career, I've been fortunate to work for several leading companies in their respective industries, including KeyBank, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Georgia-Pacific, and The Coca-Cola Company. During this time, I’ve had the opportunity to work all over the world in different Marketing Functions with escalating levels of responsibility—Advertising, Brand Management, Business Development, Consumer Insights, and Innovation. I've had the privilege to lead the launch of over 100 new products, globally, that have generated $7.5 Billion in incremental Revenue.
I've learned from all these experiences that the real magic happens when I can connect the dots between an opportunity and an idea, and Innovation has a chance to flourish. There's something fascinating about spotting trends in the data that unlock new growth opportunities. I love collaborating with others to brainstorm new product concepts and bringing together cross-functional technical teams to turn them into reality in the marketplace. There’s nothing like having an idea that you’ve poured yourself into appear on the shelves in-store or online, show up on a giant billboard, or be screened on a prime-time TV commercial.
I started Top-Box Consulting because I saw an opportunity to help companies become better at Innovation—delivering bigger ideas, enabling faster execution, and achieving grander scale. I’ve leveraged the learning from my experiences into a proprietary process that can be reapplied to any company in any industry to maximize their likelihood of success and minimize their possibility of failure.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how Top-Box Consulting can help your company grow and succeed with Innovation.
AWARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE
TESTIMONIALS
What People Say About Working with Cedric
“I’ve worked in close partnership with Cedric for nearly ten years and am happy to share my experiences. He has unique leadership skills and the ability to draw the best out of everyone he interacts with. He empowers every member on the team to feel confident in doing their best work and motivates them to do so, even under challenging circumstances. It’s always about how we can work together, with a different approach, to achieve the seemingly out of reach.”
Kevin Gross
“He’s a thoughtful and engaging facilitator and is just as great a listener as he is a speaker. Cedric deeply understands the importance of putting the consumer at the center of the innovation process. His passion for, and dedication to, his work and team show in everything he does.”
Laura Radak
"Cedric has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to new product development, marketplace syndicated data, and consumer research. Cedric engaged with senior level executives regularly and always ensured the conversations were grounded in relevant data & insights. He is skilled in clearly articulating vision, understanding key business priorities, and training others."
Rosy Chiu
“Cedric has a deep knowledge of Consumer Insights and is a very strategic thinker. He is an incredible collaborator and has experience working directly with customers. He is very thoughtful in his approach to decision-making and always uses data to ground the team in the project. Cedric is a great partner to work with!!”
Rebecca Strope
"Cedric is a strong strategic partner. His data-driven mindset ensures that his insights and strategies always serve to move the business forward and drive consumer behavior. He’s bright, collaborative and always has your back. It has been great working together."
Susan Stein
“Cedric is a strategic thinker and dynamic leader. He has honed the skill of analyzing marketplace data and consumer insights to illuminate opportunity spaces and lays out strategic action plans that result in top-notch innovation strategy and execution. In addition to being a great leader and creative thinker, Cedric is someone I have always enjoyed working with as he takes the time to listen to those around him, make sure they understand they have been heard, and never hesitates to recognize the help and support of others.”
Chef Thomas Talbert
“I had the pleasure of working with Cedric for six years as a culinary partner for Coca-Cola, where he and I collaborated on several projects, ranging from research and insights to culinary development. He greatly understands how to bring ideas to life and into the market by leveraging consumer insights, analytics, and strategic thinking. Moreover, he is a very persuasive speaker that can bring senior-level executives along and get their buy-in on even the most complex concepts.”
Rachel Royster
“Cedric is a dynamic leader with outstanding insight & communication skills. I have had the pleasure of working on a few projects with Cedric and his collaborative approach with both internal and external stakeholders is top notch!”
Amber Kegelswitch
“I can say by far that Cedric is one of the most analytical and insight-driven marketers I have ever worked with. He has the unique ability to think strategically about customer needs and merge those needs with macro-trends to form actionable insights. In addition to his technical expertise, Cedric has a willingness to help others and is a team player.”
Brian Rogers
“Cedric is the consummate leader in the innovation space. I’ve had the pleasure of working directly with Cedric as he brought consumer-based relevant insights to life in the testing of Minute Maid in seven markets that led to the products being sold in our 14,000 restaurants in the US. If your company is looking for someone to provide leadership in menu innovation and strategy as you navigate the ever-evolving consumer landscape, then Cedric is your guy!”
Joseph “Joe” Booden
“Cedric is a strategic thinker who can see the big picture. He has a great understanding and use of online tools to quickly gather consumer insights, is able to transform data into a story, and presents it in a manner to support the “why” behind a recommendation. He has a gifted way of communicating with the customer to share ideas without a hidden agenda. Cedric has tremendous collaboration skills and is without a doubt a team player.”
Sandy Ryan
“I have worked directly with Cedric for 4 years calling on Coca-Cola's number 1 customer, McDonald's. Cedric is "one of the good ones" - an analytic and strategic thinker who has formed incredible relationships with the customer, influencing at all levels of management.”
Kelly Boatright
“I have had the pleasure of working with Cedric for over 4 years supporting the McDonald's account. He is a detail-oriented person which is critical in his current role at Coca-Cola. He is able to keep everyone on track with the projects and researches innovative ideas for our customer. Cedric is an asset to the success of The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald's.”
Audrey Verdugo
“Cedric is a thought-provoking leader that is constantly looking for a team win vs. an individual win.”
Scott Findley
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are tremendous. The SWOT exercise was in my opinion the highlight of our meeting on Friday. Thank you so much for lending me your valuable expertise to lead the team through the exercise. This was a professionally conducted exercise which yielded fantastic, rich data. I look forward to our meeting to discuss next steps. Now, the fun begins.”
Danielle Paris
“Cedric, you in particular have been proactive, engaged, interested and organized as a leader. The expertise and resources have allowed us to explore areas that may otherwise not be possible on an ongoing basis…I think we’re taking it to the next level from my perspective by extending the work to the MVD initiatives.”
Darci Forrest
“Cedric Steele has provided strong leadership of the TMD bringing resources to bear on all beverage projects in which he was invited to participate. His communication has been exemplary both in its quality, frequency and timeliness. In a headline, they (McDonald’s internal perceptions of The Coca-Cola Company) are on a positive trend and have been since your time on the job.”
Jerry Volkman
“Cedric is an extremely talented new product marketer, with experience from Nestle and P&G. He is smart, articulate, and has excellent communication and teambuilding skills. He has a very innovative and creative mind and is constantly looking for the "white space" business building opportunities. He is a big picture thinker! Cedric is globally focused and an honest and hard-working leader.”
Robert Lorys
“Without question, Cedric is one of the most talented people I've ever met. It is not uncommon for people to be extraordinary in one area; Cedric is extraordinary in many areas. He has managed to internalize global best practices acquired at Procter & Gamble and Nestle into a personal tool kit that delivered streams of successful new products, deep consumer insights, and game-changing technologies that Georgia Pacific continues to benefit from to this day.” – Paul Brown
Paul Brown
“Cedric is an outstanding professional who raises the bar for those around him. He recognizes the "big picture" strategically, helping direct and lead project teams to stay focused on business building activities. He is innovative and willing to explore new avenues. He routinely demonstrated his innovative approaches across multiple facets of the organization, including marketing, insights, and new product/idea creation.”
Scott Baynton
“Cedric was a wonderful manager. He allowed me to do my job and was available to provide assistance/guidance as needed on research projects. Furthermore, Cedric is the type of manager and person to support his team wholeheartedly and wants to see them succeed - professionally and personally. I truly enjoyed having the opportunity to work/be managed by Cedric.”
Sandra Mathis
“Cedric has a great balance of people skills, business acumen and creativity. He's quick to grasp complicated and detailed information and then summarize and convert it to any needed action. He was the best strategic thinker in the Marketing department at Georgia Pacific. I thoroughly enjoyed working for him and felt I learned a lot about business and Marketing.”
Brent Sussman
“Cedric was one of my favorite clients. It always felt like we were working as partners. He’s a smart guy, very clear on what he wants to accomplish. He was always straightforward, gave clear direction, had tremendous appreciation for our work and was equally honest if he wasn't satisfied.”
Diane Kuyoomjian
“Working on the Nestle Toll House account, Cedric was a fabulous client. He was very collaborative-- treating the agency as a true part of his marketing team (not as a "Vendor"). He involved the agency every step of the way (not JUST in advertising), including brainstorming new product ideas and naming to packaging which yielded truly integrated marketing programs.”
Debbie deCordova MacLeod
"During six years of consulting for Nestle USA, I interfaced with dozens of brand managers. Cedric certainly rose to the top of the pack in terms of strategic direction and his willingness to explore new and innovative ideas. In addition to being a thoughtful and intelligent business partner, Cedric is also incredibly approachable and fair in decision making. Simply stated, I've found working with him to be a pleasurable and engaging experience. I would highly recommend him!"
Wendy McGill
"Cedric has been the primary collaborative thought partner to the entire sales team...helping provide the consumer lens while balancing the needs and wants of our customer. Cedric and I served on an Agile Team a few years ago to bring this frozen platform to life in McDonald's and it has been amazing to see it all come to life with him putting all the pieces together building the strategy and helping the sales team execute in the field."
Kristi Cuda Fenton
"His expertise, strategic vision and ability to influence with strong consumer insights has made him an invaluable member of the team. In our biggest project together, Cedric showed his ability to be agile, display strong communication and analytical skills, and his strength in problem solving. Anyone would be lucky to work with Cedric!"
Shayna Kuper
"I found Cedric to be an extremely valuable addition to the project; he brought subject matter expertise in his technical capability, he understood his consumers with both depth and nuance, and he also brought an understanding of the strategic implications of our innovation concepts for the business at large. He was a clear communicator, and both I and my team remember him as a great collaborator who was willing to pitch in on whatever needed to be done to make the project a success. "
Seth C. Hayes
"Cedric and I have worked together on the McDonald's account team or over a decade. In that time he has provided invaluable thought leadership and strategic thinking to move the business forward. This resulted in billions of dollars of very profitable revenue for McDonald's during his time with the team. He is an understated leader that accomplished a very successful beverage strategy. He is an amazing teammate and partner."
David Powers
"Cedric has been a collaborative partner to the TMD North American Sales Organization in his role as Director, Business Development and Innovation. Cedric has a positive attitude, the ability to be a strategic thought leader and the experience of working across large complex organizations."
Michael Labanara
"Cedric is always an incredible partner, teacher and advocate for the enterprise and for the customer. I personally consider Cedric elite at and a personal mentor in molding messages to the customer in a way that is honest, wins their advocacy, and demonstrates joint value. "
Meridith Brankamp
"Cedric is an outstanding leader. I have had the pleasure of working directly with Cedric on a few innovation projects, the latest one recently launched in 8,500 McDonalds stores. Cedric drove timely collaboration between internal and external partners to deliver a great tasting product in record time. Cedric customer knowledge, consumer insights and analytics were an asset for timely execution of the project. In addition, Cedric is an efficient communicator, he always conveys a succinct and clear message."
Nora Mosqueira
"Cedric brought a strategic mindset to every engagement and always designed our programs to align with the business and innovation objectives of our clients. Cedric has built a reputation on integrity and consistency and he always delivered on his word. I would highly recommend Cedric as a trusted advisor, innovation expert and business leader. "
Barry Morsillo
"I had the pleasure of working with Cedric on several menu innovation projects. Cedric is increadibly detail oriented which becomes a great asset when working with him. Cedric has a passion for innovation and is always looking to explore ideas you bring to him. Additionally Cedric is a gentleman with the highest integrity and standards for which he is well respected in the Industry."
Luiz Martinez
"I enjoy working with Cedric. He is a thoughtful leader that gets the job done. He is smart, strategic and insightful. I like his classy approach and pleasant attitude. His determination to deliver never seems to waiver, regardless of hurdles or bumps in the road. I consider him an “authentic marketer.”
Jennifer (Dowdall) Payne
"Simply put, Cedric Steele is the finest brand marketer and business person I've ever worked with. Everything he does, every minute of the day is focused on delivering immediate, sustainable results. From formulating sound strategy, to building and motivating the right team, to leading them through every aspect of the business, this man is second to none. Anyone who has Cedric has an immediate and dramatic competitive advantage."
Jay Jennison
"Cedric is a person I would have on my Dream Team. He is skilled at seeing the big picture while also paying attention to important details. He has a sharp strategic insight and leads others to achieve great feats. He is good at identifying his team members strengths and empowers them to succeed. He is an authentic leader."
Sandra Fournier
"Cedric is one of the most talented Innovation/New Product Development leaders that I have worked with. He brings outstanding strategic marketing management skills and couples those with creative vision that makes him truly unique in the field of innovation! His work was a direct reflection of his talent and ability, as there are many of his creations in the marketplace to this day! Cedric is an incredible asset to any organization!"
Michael Adams
Your objectives become our purpose.
