[ 01 ]

Clarify

We set the direction.

It is rare that a decision is stuck for lack of information. Usually what's missing is a basis for deciding. In this stage we find the most important question facing the brand right now and settle the answer with the reasoning attached. What not to do gets decided here too.

When

You'll recognise this if

You've committed to the market but haven't settled which channel to open first
The product is on shelf, but no one can explain why it sells or doesn't
Head office and the local team keep reading the same situation differently
What the brand should be saying comes out differently from every person

What

What happens in this stage

[ 01 ]

We listen

We take in the goals, the constraints, and the concerns not yet put into words. Before the requested deliverable, we confirm the problem that actually needs solving.

[ 02 ]

We distil

We set market data next to what we've seen on the floor and keep only what matters now. Fact, interpretation and hypothesis stay labelled and separate.

[ 03 ]

We clarify

The core question, the priorities, the measure of success and the next choice — on one page.

Evidence

What actually goes into the report

The report usually runs under ten pages. A one-page summary up front, then what we found going through your social and online presence, and what we saw putting your store side by side with others in the same mall. Then three or four things worth touching now, in priority order. What can be done right away and what will take time are marked separately.

One principle. We always write down the date and the conditions of the observation. A store on a rainy Tuesday morning and the same store on a clear Saturday afternoon are not the same place. So we write “this is the pattern we saw” rather than “this is how it is.”

We know that reads as less decisive. We would still rather have a clear source for an accurate judgment than a confident wrong one.

Services