Serkan Somer

Principal

Serkan is an experienced and hands-on leader in strategy and commercial excellence domains across industries.

Education

Bilkent University
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Bilkent University
BS, Electrical Engineering

Past Experience

Coca-Cola Içecek A.Ş.
Group Director, Commercial Excellence
Kearney
Senior Manager, Strategy & Transformation Practice
Troyka Biomedical Inc.
Co-founder & Managing Partner

Serkan is a Principal based in our Istanbul office. He is co-leading ADL’s “Marketing & Sales” cluster globally and responsible for our “Strategy & Organization” and “Automotive & Manufacturing Group” practices in Turkey, enabling clients to set the direction on their most strategic and breakthrough decisions. He serves a wide range of industries, including retail, consumer goods, automotive, and manufacturing.

Serkan’s topics of expertise cover:

  • Channel strategy
  • Commercial excellence (incl. route-to-market, sales force effectiveness, omnichannel customer experience)
  • Growth strategy and diversifications & adjacencies
  • Large scale transformations and implementation
  • Revenue growth management

Prior to joining Arthur D. Little, Serkan worked for Kearney as a “Senior Manager” in the “Organization & Transformation” practice, was actively involved in setting up the Istanbul office, and supported clients in 15 countries across Europe and the Middle East. Between 2016 and 2019, he worked for Coca-Cola İçecek A.Ş. as “Business Development Group Director” responsible for commercial excellence operations and projects across 10 countries. Together with his university professor, Serkan also set up a Biomedical start-up in 2006, focusing on MR-compatible devices and cardiovascular catheters; and exited successfully after 3 years.

He holds a BSc. degree in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Bilkent University. Serkan is married to İrem and lives in Istanbul. He is a wine and gastronomy enthusiast holding a WSET and is actively involved in related associations. In his free time, he enjoys running and perfecting his well-curated playlists at the same time. 

Recent Publications

Appetite for disruption – Making the most of the future of food
Being the leader of a global food and beverage business has been anything but easy over recent years. Going back a decade, the industry had a reputation for being fairly stable and conservative, dominated by a limited number of global brands that delivered steady growth and margins. Since then, the industry has been shaken by a succession of disruptions, including sluggish demand for traditional core products, rapidly changing consumer patterns and preferences, accelerating technological developments, and evolving attitudes towards the environmental and social impacts of food production.
Pricing for crisis
The current COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented, and the impact on demand across all industry sectors has been brutal. But if companies are to survive and even thrive in this situation, they must develop sales strategies for both the short- and medium-term – however grim the current outlook might be. It is vital to plan for tomorrow and the future. In this viewpoint, we outline the different ways in which pricing and offering can help companies to unlock demand even in a time of social and economic crisis.

Serkan is a Principal based in our Istanbul office. He is co-leading ADL’s “Marketing & Sales” cluster globally and responsible for our “Strategy & Organization” and “Automotive & Manufacturing Group” practices in Turkey, enabling clients to set the direction on their most strategic and breakthrough decisions. He serves a wide range of industries, including retail, consumer goods, automotive, and manufacturing.

Serkan’s topics of expertise cover:

  • Channel strategy
  • Commercial excellence (incl. route-to-market, sales force effectiveness, omnichannel customer experience)
  • Growth strategy and diversifications & adjacencies
  • Large scale transformations and implementation
  • Revenue growth management

Prior to joining Arthur D. Little, Serkan worked for Kearney as a “Senior Manager” in the “Organization & Transformation” practice, was actively involved in setting up the Istanbul office, and supported clients in 15 countries across Europe and the Middle East. Between 2016 and 2019, he worked for Coca-Cola İçecek A.Ş. as “Business Development Group Director” responsible for commercial excellence operations and projects across 10 countries. Together with his university professor, Serkan also set up a Biomedical start-up in 2006, focusing on MR-compatible devices and cardiovascular catheters; and exited successfully after 3 years.

He holds a BSc. degree in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Bilkent University. Serkan is married to İrem and lives in Istanbul. He is a wine and gastronomy enthusiast holding a WSET and is actively involved in related associations. In his free time, he enjoys running and perfecting his well-curated playlists at the same time. 

Recent Publications

Appetite for disruption – Making the most of the future of food
Being the leader of a global food and beverage business has been anything but easy over recent years. Going back a decade, the industry had a reputation for being fairly stable and conservative, dominated by a limited number of global brands that delivered steady growth and margins. Since then, the industry has been shaken by a succession of disruptions, including sluggish demand for traditional core products, rapidly changing consumer patterns and preferences, accelerating technological developments, and evolving attitudes towards the environmental and social impacts of food production.
Pricing for crisis
The current COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented, and the impact on demand across all industry sectors has been brutal. But if companies are to survive and even thrive in this situation, they must develop sales strategies for both the short- and medium-term – however grim the current outlook might be. It is vital to plan for tomorrow and the future. In this viewpoint, we outline the different ways in which pricing and offering can help companies to unlock demand even in a time of social and economic crisis.

More About Serkan
  • Bilkent University
    Master of Business Administration (MBA)
  • Bilkent University
    BS, Electrical Engineering
  • Coca-Cola Içecek A.Ş.
    Group Director, Commercial Excellence
  • Kearney
    Senior Manager, Strategy & Transformation Practice
  • Troyka Biomedical Inc.
    Co-founder & Managing Partner