Dr. Raewyn Sleeman uses her learning challenges and the need to help others through her marketing strategy app
According to Statistics Canada, more than 50% of micro-businesses—those with less than 20 employees—fail due to marketing challenges. This fact was one of the inspirations for Athabasca University graduate and Stratagease founder Dr. Raewyn Sleeman to create Marketing Strategy, an AI-powered app that creates marketing solutions for even the smallest of businesses.
Sleeman (Doctor of Business Administration ’20) recognized the need for such an app while working as a marketer and studying business in Liverpool, U.K. She saw a particular need among micro-businesses—which represent the largest niche in the business sector with 2.3 billion micro-businesses worldwide. These small businesses often rely on a variety of marketing agencies, freelancers, and friends to get noticed and to drive results, often with little understanding of marketing strategy, what works, or why.
We don't collaborate with them because as marketing experts, we focus on providing proven solutions that work. Whether and how they choose to implement our expertise is their choice.
This disconnect between business owners and marketing suppliers, Sleeman said, can lead to confusion, loss of time, and wasted money. New business owners are also hesitant to ask questions about marketing for fear of sounding unknowledgeable.
Marketing Strategy app is different in that they don’t ask clients for opinions. The app has a project management focus explaining what the business owner needs to know, why it’s important for their business, and the steps needed to make that change.
“We don't collaborate with them because as marketing experts, we focus on providing proven solutions that work. Whether and how they choose to implement our expertise is their choice,” she said.
Marketing expertise at your fingertips
Research and planning for Marketing Strategy app started in 2016. After years of research and testing, the app is not only helping businesses achieve strategic objectives, but it has also received international attention.
Sleeman went through an intensive incubation program in the U.K. called AI Forge. Like a cross between TV shows The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den, the 12-week program gives 20 artificial intelligence-based startups access to mentorship, resources, and potential investors to help grow the business.
“The process is pretty gruelling,” said Sleeman.
Driven to help others overcome frustration
Though the idea for Marketing Strategy app was born from Sleeman’s work with micro-businesses and through her research, her desire to provide solutions for frustrated and overwhelmed business owners was also influenced by her struggles growing up with an undiagnosed learning disability. She often felt helpless and frustrated during school, but it wasn’t until she was in Grade 10, when she went from a public to a private school system, that she was diagnosed as dyslexic.
Sleeman was held back by five to six grades. Once the proper supports were in place, she caught up quickly, however, it wasn’t fast enough to graduate with her friends, leading her to drop out of high school.
“I understand what it's like not to learn and know things.”
Second chances and pursuing practical solutions
When Sleeman was in her twenties and living in New Zealand, she discovered a second-chance program at Lincoln University for those over the age of 21 who didn’t have a high school diploma. The only caveat was that she could not fail a module. She embraced the opportunity and pursued a bachelor of commerce, majoring in marketing and information systems. Sleeman used the supports offered and asked many questions along the way to obtaining her degree.
Sleeman followed up her undergrad with a master’s in business administration in marketing strategy from the University of Liverpool while working as a senior advisor of direct marketing at Canada Post in Vancouver. When she decided to pursue a doctorate, she knew what she wanted to accomplish.
“I specifically chose AU’s DBA instead of a PhD because I didn’t want theory. I wanted a doctorate because I wanted to solve a practical problem,” she said.
Sleeman’s goal during her doctorate was to learn and understand how to fix the high failure rate of businesses that were just getting off the ground.
Her doctoral research confirmed a lot of what she'd been seeing in market. Early into that work she realized that one of the major problems was that many small business owners were afraid of coming across as unknowledgeable about marketing. That often prevented many from seeking marketing expertise.
“They don't know what to say. They don’t know what they want and equally don’t want to be sold what they need. They don't know the terminology, they don't understand it, and they don’t want to have to learn it or become marketers themselves,” said Sleeman.
Downloading an app makes accessing help easy.
Forging a stronger business through incubator program
As Marketing Strategy app started taking shape, Sleeman sought opportunities to connect with mentors, potential investors, and experts in AI. When she saw a co-founder ad from AI Forge on LinkedIn, she jumped at the opportunity.
Out of more than 500 applicants, Stratagease was among 70 businesses chosen for AI Forge. The experience included participating in daily classes that required submitting two business deliverables by 10 a.m. the following day—no exceptions. By the third week of the program, only 20 participants remained.
Throughout the process Sleeman faced many challenges, including “the furnace” portion of the program where each participant had to pitch their product or idea and go through an intensive interview.
During this stage, Sleeman experienced a setback—and once again felt frustrations from her learning disability. One of the requirements of AI Forge was to conduct an online session using virtual meeting software where the participants couldn’t see interviewees while pitching. This deprived her of the visual cues she says are crucial for managing her dyslexia.
Sleeman not only persevered, but made it to the final-16 pitch event, received two investor offers, and most importantly, was introduced to Dr. Luke Coburn, who would become the app’s technical co-founder and be instrumental to developing an interface to help push it through to its next stage.
On course for market disruption
Sleeman completed her AI Forge experience in November and although the program was taxing, she’s showing no sign of exhaustion. It is quite the opposite.
With Coburn on board, Stratagease is on a path to disrupt the market by integrating and expanding the use of generative AI, using their proprietary data from research and in-market testing which can audit and produce marketing materials—text and imagery—that simulate human creativity. The app will evolve from its current structured format to a more natural conversational experience, guiding users through key questions and auditing and producing relevant materials seamlessly by the end of 2025.
"We will be able to scale a lot quicker between Luke and I right now. We have the resources we need to be able to start implementing the Gen AI in the app, which means it will be much more revenue-generating,” said Sleeman.
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