Sophie Marchessou

Partner

McKinsey & Company

Sophie is adept at helping consumer and retail companies successfully navigate rapidly evolving industry dynamics by honing their growth strategies and focusing on marketing-and-sales best practices.

With deep expertise in the consumer and retail sectors, she has helped executives optimize marketing and segmentation approaches, set digital strategy, pursue channel and category expansion, and set pricing strategy. Her work sometimes involves large-scale transformation initiatives, and she puts particular emphasis on defining the full organizational implications and building the necessary capabilities.

Sophie serves clients in North America and across Europe.

Examples of her recent client work include the following:

  • working with several online direct-to-consumer companies across a range of categories to define their growth plan, including site user experience, acquisition and retention strategy, product and category roadmapping, and pricing
  • performing more than 20 diligences on consumer assets in beauty, apparel, and food to assess growth and operational improvement potential, including consumer segmentation, channel and category expansion, international expansion, and design to value
  • developing a strategic growth plan for an apparel brand focusing on international expansion, brand relaunch, category extension, and channel strategy
  • designing a pricing and promotion strategy for a US beauty company
  • executing the strategic review of a cosmetics company, with a scan of alternate channels and an assessment of brand extension and international expansion potential
  • establishing a pricing strategy for a vertically integrated apparel retailer
  • defining the value proposition of a US retailer, including assortment, pricing, store experience, and preparation of pilot stores

Before joining McKinsey, Sophie cofounded Keaton Row, an online platform that matches stylists with consumers. She also worked at Louis Vuitton, designing a tool to help store associates establish better relationships with clients. Sophie is a member of the Juilliard Club, involved with Echoing Green, and speaks English, French, and Spanish.