Fractional CMO Delivering Profitable Growth.
I help FMCG businesses drive growth, optimise marketing ROI, and build leadership brands—through AI & Human Intelligence.
Struggling to implement AI with your marketing team?
I’ve have deep domain expertise in FMCG / CPG, having advised & built marketing engines and brand growth playbooks for 850+ consumer brands, globally.
MICHAEL H COWAN
Global Strategic Advisor to Consumer Brands
I help ambitious consumer brands unlock growth faster, improve margins, and deliver more effective marketing—without the bloated agency fees.
After three decades building some of the world’s most recognised consumer brands—at P&G, Diageo, PepsiCo, Red Bull, McDonald’s, and NielsenIQ—I saw the same patterns repeat:
Teams drowning in complexity and irrelevant KPIs. Strategies stalling at execution. Too many businesses outsourcing critical thinking to bloated, underqualified agencies.
So I built something different.
I started out as Blacksheep back in 2009, Today, it’s simply: Michael H Cowan.
Now, I work directly with CEOs, CMOs, and Founders to build robust marketing engines, brand ecosystems, and commercially capable teams. Whether I’m consulting, coaching, or stepping in as an interim or fractional CMO, I bring sharp thinking, simplify complexity, and instil a relentless focus on execution.
My work spans four high-impact formats:
Consulting, Coaching, Interim, and Fractional.
Together, they help consumer businesses compete harder, grow smarter, and get ready for what’s next.
CONSULTING
Brand Clarity
My FMCG consulting services and Brand Clarity™ IP offers commercially proven strategies and solutions designed to unlock growth—whether that means identifying market whitespace, repositioning your brand, or innovating your route to market.
COACHING
Executional Excellence
Working directly with leadership teams to deliver tailored, commercially grounded solutions that drive real results—filling leadership gaps, accelerating execution, and turning strategy into action.
INTERIM / FRACTIONAL
You get support to build the strategic and operational capability of your commercial teams—from senior leadership coaching and hands-on marketing training, to assessing the effectiveness of your brand, team, and ways of working. I also equip you with the right toolkits to strengthen your business as it scales.
“Michael uniquely combines market expertise and operational experience, with the strategic rigour you’d expect from a top-tier consultant.”
- CEO of Top 10 FMCG Company
GROWTH ACCELERATORS
With global headwinds comes revenue & profit uncertainty.
Against a backdrop of inflation, shifting consumer demand, tariff-induced trade disruptions, and geopolitical tensions, I help FMCG businesses cut through complexity. Working with leadership teams my growth accelerator programmes aim to unlock bottlenecks, sharpen positioning, and accelerate commercial results. These are bespoke, time-bound engagements where I act as both facilitator and coach—developing sprints, testing assumptions, and pushing through growth barriers.
FMCG Growth Accelerators focus on:
Go-to-Market vs Route-to-Market clarity
Commercial Model & Portfolio Mix optimisation
Strategic Pricing review and Brand Positioning realignment
Fast-track Demand Generation (‘The Other Orchard’ approach)
Retailer CTA and Field Sales Performance Management
Ways of Working review and reengineering (including AI Integration)
With 15% Tariffs Comes Growth Uncertainty. Let’s Fix That.
Brand Clarity ™ Audits
Confused brands don’t grow — clear ones do.
Your brand can’t grow if your team isn’t aligned.
The Brand Clarity™ process brings your entire organisation onto the same page—one mission, one message, one direction.
Through brand audits, capability assessments, and tailored Brand Clarity™ workshops, I help you strengthen your brand from the inside out—uniting your people, sharpening your story, and building the credibility that drives real, lasting growth.
Ready to align your team with what’s truly at the core of your brand? Let’s get to work.
BRAND HEALTH
Industry Voice
Whether it’s a keynote, panel, or private executive session, I speak on the future of marketing, brand growth, and leadership in the AI era. With 30+ years across global consumer brands like Diageo, PepsiCo, and Red Bull, I deliver talks that are as actionable as they are inspiring. I bring sharp insight, real-world stories, and practical takeaways your audience can use. Book me to energise your next event—with a message that sticks.