When things are a bit more difficult to explain.
When the market needs building before it can be won.
Some categories are complicated. The science is difficult, the proposition is unfamiliar, or people don't yet understand what the category is for. That's common in areas like functional health, nutraceuticals, genetic testing, alternative proteins and other emerging categories. The challenge isn't simply explaining the product. It's understanding what people need to believe, what they already believe, and what needs to change for the category to grow. Sometimes you're not just competing in a category. You're helping to create it.
Use us if
Sales are flat because the proposition isn't making sense to a sceptical or unfamiliar audience.
A regulatory or category change means the way you've been talking about the business no longer works.
Your category is new and still finding itself and you need to work out where the opportunity is rather than follow an established approach.
Your acquisition strategy assumes customers exist who haven't really been created yet.
Investors, partners or customers struggle to explain what you actually do when they talk about you to someone else.
What we do
A lot of our work involves businesses selling something people don't immediately understand. We've worked with plant-based food brands entering markets where the category was barely understood. We've helped genetic and personalised health businesses explain complex propositions in ways that can work for both clinicians and consumers. We've worked with premium drinks brands on what signals category leadership, and with arts and cultural organisations where the experience itself is difficult to put into words. The work usually starts with understanding what is getting in the way. What do people understand? What don't they understand? What do they believe already? Who influences how they think about the category? Where is the category heading? From there, we develop the strategy, proposition and positioning. And we stay close to the practical details, because the strategy has to work in the product, packaging, communications and sales conversation, not just in a strategy document.
Our perspective
Most consultancies treat category as context: the existing market in which a brand competes, waiting to be mapped and understood. We see category as the work itself. Categories are cultural forms as much as commercial ones, shaped by the language people use, the communities that gather around them, the stories they tell and the tensions that emerge as they evolve. A proposition that's difficult to explain is often difficult because the category itself hasn't fully formed. The cultural ground beneath it is still shifting. So the work isn't simply about finding clearer language. It's about understanding the cultural territory the proposition has to move through, and helping to shape it. This is where our practitioner and academic experience comes together. We don't just work on these problems, we study them. Our academic research into consumption, identity and how people make sense of unfamiliar propositions gives us another way to understand what is happening, while 25 years of commercial strategy keeps that thinking grounded in what a business can actually do. The brands that participate in a category's formation help define what it becomes. The best category work doesn't just operate within culture. It helps create the conditions for the category to grow.
Making the strategy work for the business
Strategic ambition matters. But a strategy that ignores what the business can actually build is just a wish list. We look at what the business has today: its capabilities, resources, relationships and momentum. Then we work out what can realistically be built from there. The aim isn't to shrink the ambition. It's about finding a way from where the business is now to where it wants to go, in a way the business can actually deliver.
The questions we ask
What does this category actually mean in people's lives?
Who are the people and communities shaping it?
What would someone need to understand, believe or experience before this becomes the answer for them?
What is the proposition genuinely offering that is different?
What still needs to be built?
What is changing in the category, and what might that make possible?
What can this brand credibly stand for, given both the opportunity and what the business can actually deliver?
How it works
Complex categories need different levels of intervention. Some businesses need a focused piece of work to work out what they should do next. Others need to take that thinking through to positioning, proposition and communications. Some need an ongoing strategic partner because the category itself is changing quickly. We work differently depending on where you are.
Kickstart
A focused way to understand the category, clarify the problem and work out what might be possible.
One to two weeks of focused research into the category, its cultural context and the strategic question you're facing
A one-day workshop with the leadership team
A working strategy document setting out our reading of the category and what could come next
A follow-up conversation to test and refine the thinking
Typical timescale: 3-4 weeks.
Level 1 - Strategic direction
A focused piece of strategic work to develop a clear direction for the brand within its category.
Conversations to understand the business and frame the strategic question
Research into the category, including its language, communities, tensions and changes
A view of the relationships and communities the brand needs around it
Assessment of what the business can currently deliver
Development of the strategic direction
Written strategy with a clear position, rationale and recommended next steps
Typical timescale: 6-8 weeks.
Level 2 - Positioning and articulation
A more substantial programme that takes the strategic direction through to positioning, proposition and communications.
Category and cultural analysis
Primary research with relevant audiences and communities
Development and testing of positioning territories
Proposition development and messaging
Communications strategy and content principles
Identification of the people, relationships and channels the brand needs to develop
A documented brand strategy ready to guide activity across the business
Typical timescale: 3-4 months.
Level 3 - Strategic partnership
Ongoing strategic support for businesses whose category is changing and where the questions don't stop when the strategy is finished.
Annual strategic programme
Regular updates on changes in the category and wider culture
Ongoing support with positioning and proposition decisions
Support developing relationships with relevant communities, partners and organisations
Analysis of emerging changes and tensions
Annual review and reset of strategy
Typical timescale: annual partnership, usually starting with a twelve-month engagement.
Bespoke engagements
Not every complex category challenge fits neatly into a package.
We can also work on specific situations such as:
Extending an existing brand into a very different cultural or category space
Repositioning after a significant category change
Deciding whether to enter, leave or redefine a category
Responding to a major shift in regulation, technology or consumer behaviour
The project is shaped around the question you need to answer.
What we bring
A practitioner and academic combination. Twenty-five years of brand strategy across complex categories, alongside active academic research into consumption, identity and how people understand difficult or unfamiliar propositions. We bring practical experience, deeper research and a willingness to think harder about the problem.