Bringing brands to new markets.
And new markets to your brand.
Market entry is one of the riskiest strategic moves a business will make. It's also one of the most prone to drift.The plan that looked clean on paper meets a market that surprises in unexpected ways. The cultural terrain doesn't match the desk research.The team gets hired before the strategy is settled. The brand language that worked at home doesn't translate. Six months in, no one quite has the bandwidth to step back and re-read the situation and the launch quietly underperforms while everyone is busy.
Use us if
You’ve got inbound interest from a new market and aren't sure whether or how to act on it.
Your investors or board want international growth in the next 12–24 months.
A competitor has just moved into a market you were considering.
You’ve already entered a market and the early data isn't quite working.
Your team has been asked to translate the brand for a new context and you're not sure how to do it without diluting it.
You’ve been approached by potential local partners and want a strategic perspective before you commit.
What we do
We work with businesses bringing brands into the UK from international markets, and with UK and European businesses opening into the US, Europe, South Asia and beyond.
The work covers market entry strategy, brand positioning for the new context, consumer and competitive research, route-to-market analysis, partner and channel identification, and sustained navigation in the months after launch. Most market entries don't fail at the strategy stage. They fail in the quiet months after, when no one is watching the early signals closely enough to change direction or hold the everyday operational decisions to the original strategic plan.
Our perspective
Most international expansion strategies treat markets as territories to assess: market size, competition, regulation and distribution. All of this matters, but it isn't what matters most. Markets are cultures before they are territories. Every category carries different meanings, communities and conversations in different places. Successful international expansion is a cultural project, not simply a geographic one. That changes the strategic task. Brands aren't translated into new markets; they're remade. The challenge is understanding what must remain to keep the brand recognisably itself and what must adapt to a different cultural context. It also means designing the ecosystem the brand needs to succeed: partners, distribution, media and cultural intermediaries. Mapping how that ecosystem develops in years one, three and five is part of strategy itself.
Strategy as the art of the possible
International expansion tests the gap between ambition and capability more than almost any other kind of strategic work. Ambitious plans that assume resources and capabilities the business doesn't have produce expensive failures rather than expansion. Working with what the business can genuinely deliver in each new market, including being realistic about pace, sequencing, and the operational reality of running in a new place, is what turns international ambition into achievable roadmaps.
The questions we ask
What is this category actually being asked to do in each of these markets and how does that differ from what it does at home?
Who are the communities that are involved in this category in each market and how do they think about propositions like this one?
What has to be retained for this to still be recognisably the same brand and what has to change for it to work in each new context?
What can this business realistically deliver in a new market given what it has now and what would need to be built?
What does success look like in each market? Market share, cultural relevance, category leadership or something else?
Where and how is culture evolving in ways that change what's possible?
How it works
International expansion work varies depending on where a business is in the journey. Some businesses know they want to internationalise but haven't chosen where. Others have selected the market and need to develop the approach. Others are already operating in multiple markets and need strategic support that holds across them.
Kickstart
A quick, fast turn around way to start the thinking and explore the terrain.
One to two weeks of focused desk research into the business, the international ambition, and one or two candidate markets
A one-day workshop with the leadership team working through the strategic questions: where to go, what has to travel, what has to change
A written strategic reading: a working document capturing our reading of the opportunity and the shape of what could come next
A follow-up conversation once the document has been lived with, to test and refine
For businesses wanting a low-commitment way to work with us and see what's possible. Typical timescale: 3-4 weeks.
Level one - Market exploration and selection
For businesses that know they want to internationalise but haven't yet decided where.
Briefing conversations and framing of the international ambition
Definition of the shortlist of candidate markets to explore
Cultural and commercial analysis of each candidate market: category context, competitive landscape, audience communities, cultural fit
Initial view of the ecosystem the brand would need in each market: partners, distribution, cultural intermediaries
Assessment of the business's current capabilities and what would need to be built for each market
Recommended market or markets to prioritise, with strategic rationale
Initial view of the entry approach for the recommended market
For businesses ready to internationalise but still choosing where. Typical timescale: 8-10 weeks.
Level 2 - Market entry strategy
For businesses that have selected the market and need to develop the approach.
Cultural analysis of the specific market: category context, communities, discourses, tensions, emerging shifts
Assessment of how the brand should show up in this market: what stays, what changes, what needs to be built
Primary research with target communities in the market where useful
Positioning and proposition articulation for the market
Ecosystem map: the partners, relationships, and infrastructure the brand needs in years one, three, and five.
Phased entry plan grounded in the business's current capabilities
Documented market entry strategy ready to inform commercial, marketing, and operational planning
For businesses that have selected the market and need to develop the approach. Typical timescale: 3-4 months.
Level 3 - Sustained international partnership
For businesses already operating internationally who need cultural intelligence and strategic support as sustained capabilities.
Strategic support for market selection and entry decisions as they arise
Cultural intelligence updates for markets the business operates in
Annual strategic review of positioning and approach across the portfolio
Ongoing analysis of category shifts and cultural change affecting international markets
Ongoing ecosystem development: supporting the growth of partnerships, distribution, and cultural relationships across markets
Bespoke market analysis and entry work as needed
For businesses in ongoing international expansion who need sustained cultural intelligence and strategic partnership. Typical timescale: annual partnership, usually starting with a twelve-month engagement.
Bespoke engagements
Some innovation needs sit outside the shape of the three tiers above. Post-acquisition portfolio reviews, category exits and re-entries, brand extensions into adjacent territory, service redesigns responding to changed audience behaviour. We can tailor the right innovation programme for the needs of your business.
What we bring
Brand strategy and implementation expertise across food and drink, functional health and premium consumer goods. A working network across UK, US and European markets, with selected partners across the globe. And the willingness to stay close to the ground as the early data starts to come in.
Before you move
Use our Before you Move profiling tool to assess your business for readiness to make the move into new international markets. It takes 5-10m to complete and scores your current preparedness against 5 key domains providing insight into where to focus and what the challenges might be.