We become an extension of your team, embedding senior talent directly inside your organization to fill critical leadership and functional gaps, whether that means interim coverage while you hire or a deliberate decision to operate with fractional senior leadership long term.
How does January Digital’s Role Augment and Fractional Leadership practice work?
The difference between a consultant and an embedded leader is accountability. Our team does not deliver a strategy and move on. We become part of your organization, attending internal meetings, leading workstreams, making decisions, and operating with the same urgency and ownership as an internal hire. That is true whether we are covering a gap or serving as a deliberate long-term extension of your leadership team.
We have done this work for brands including Coach, Kate Spade, Steve Madden, Sakara, Tanger, Interstate Bound, and Violet Grey.
What kinds of roles do you fill?
We work across two distinct models depending on what a brand needs. The first is gap coverage, where a leader has left, is on parental leave, or a role has not been filled and the business cannot wait months for a hire to ramp. We step in at the right seniority level and keep things moving. The second is fractional leadership by design, where a brand makes a deliberate decision to bring in a senior VP or CMO-level operator on a part-time basis rather than hiring a full-time director or above. Both models result in the same thing: a January Digital leader who is embedded in your business and operating as part of your team.
This includes fractional CMO and CDO roles, VP-level marketing leadership, and functional expertise in CRM, analytics, creative strategy, and media.
How is this different from hiring a full-time leader or a traditional consultant?
A full-time hire takes months to recruit, onboard, and ramp. A traditional consultant delivers a strategy and moves on. Role Augment and Fractional Leadership sits in between. You get someone embedded in your business, operating with urgency and accountability, without the cost and commitment of a permanent hire and without the risk of a strategy that never gets executed. Our leaders are practitioners who have held senior roles on the client side, so they understand how organizations actually work and hit the ground running.
When does this model make sense for a brand?
It tends to make sense in a few specific situations. You are between marketing leaders and need senior coverage while you hire. A leader is on leave and you need someone who can step in without a long ramp. You are scaling faster than your internal team can keep up with and need to add senior capability quickly. You have made a deliberate decision that a fractional VP or CMO-level operator is the right model for where your business is right now. Or you are navigating a significant transformation and need an experienced operator embedded alongside your team to make sure it lands.
Which brands has January Digital supported through Role Augment and Fractional Leadership?
We have provided embedded leadership and fractional support for brands including Coach, Kate Spade, Steve Madden, Sakara, Tanger, Interstate Bound, and Violet Grey, across fashion, retail, and lifestyle.