• by Larissa Faw , January 10, 2018

Margaret Murphy, the former president and COO of ICF Olson, is leveraging her 25 years of industry experience to launch her own consulting company, which she is calling Bold Orange.

Murphy joined Olson in 2010 and was president and COO from 2011 to 2016. 

Murphy's new Minneapolis-based firm will specialize in loyalty and customer-relationship management, while pivoting away from expensive and impersonal programs and points, she says.

“To win in 2018, companies need to stop spending 80% of their personalization and 1-to-1 budgets on things the customer doesn’t see or feel,” says Murphy. "Brands want a company with common sense and technology skills to help them find efficient ways to reach customers in a more relevant way — and authentic human connections do just that."

Her team of eight will bring a modern and noninvasive approach, she says. "Loyalty and CRM have always known who you are. Now it’s time to help brands figure out what you like, when you like it and how you like it. All while not being creepy," she adds.

"What we do is not necessarily original, but how we do it is different — and more relevant — than what’s out there."

Murphy says she selected the name Bold Orange to convey the blending of services. Bold gives you a feeling of action, intent and purpose. The color orange is a blend between red and yellow in the spectrum of light.

"Our intent with this company was to blend things in such a way for businesses and society that we would create progress," she says.