Illustrative Illustrative opportunity terrain for a category: five segments shown as peaks, highest first — Segment A 1.00, Segment B 0.74, Segment C 0.64, Segment E 0.56, Segment D 0.47.

01Where to play next

Growth strategy for customers worth winning.

We rank your next best customer segments, map the gaps competitors leave open and sequence the moves to win them. Agents score each segment; named people sign off the shortlist and roadmap.

Start a growth brief Try the segment scorer
Typical length
4–6 weeks
Format
Workshop-led
Standard
Evidence first

02Market analysis

Size, share and growth show where the openings are.

Every engagement starts here: four layers of evidence on one map of your category, from desk research and your sales data.

Layer 01Size

Start with how big each segment is.

The category splits into six segments. Competitors already crowd the largest, so size alone does not show where to go next.

Layer 02Share

Then overlay the share you already hold.

Your brand is strong in A and D and thin in C and E, so share shows what you have to defend.

Layer 03Growth

Add how fast each segment is growing.

C and E are growing three to five times faster than the category as a whole.

Layer 04Whitespace

Look where fast growth meets low share.

Two segments are growing fast and nobody owns them yet. They go forward to scoring as the first candidates.

Source: desk research + your sales data Illustrative
Illustrative category survey by segment
SegmentSize £mYour shareGrowth per yearWhitespace
A42038%2%No
B31024%4%No
D18031%3%No
C2606%14%Yes
E1504%11%Yes
F9012%6%No

03What we offer

Six questions a growth strategy should answer.

Each has its own method and output; together they end in a ranked shortlist and a sequence of moves.

No.The questionHow we answer itOutput
01

Market & category mapping

Are we competing in the part of the market that is growing?

Desk research, category data, share of search and analyst reports, mapped segment by segment.

Where the category is moving, who leads each segment and which openings the evidence supports.

Weeks 01–02
02

Next best customer

If sales could call only three kinds of customer next quarter, which three?

Your sales and CRM data, won and lost interviews, then a weighted score for every segment.

The segments most likely to buy next, sized and ranked on fit, reach and margin.

Ranked · scored
03

Competitive whitespace

What position could the brand take that no competitor can quickly copy?

Competitor audit, message and offer mapping, store and channel walks, customer review analysis.

Where competitors are absent, weak or slow, and which gaps your brand can credibly claim.

Whitespace map
04

Growth thesis

What single argument will leadership fund, and what would prove it wrong?

Synthesis workshop with leadership; every claim traced back to evidence in the pack.

One page on where growth comes from, in what order and what has to be true.

One page
05

Sequenced moves

Who does what on Monday, and what waits until the first move has worked?

Moves scored on return and readiness, then sequenced with owners, measures and dates.

Moves grouped into now, next and later, each with an owner, a measure and a date.

Now · next · later
06

Measurement design

Which number, two months in, tells us to keep going or to stop?

One main measure, broken into drivers and leading indicators, with baselines and sources.

The few numbers that show whether the strategy is working, with baselines and targets.

Defined up front

04Next best customer · demo

Segment scoring on five criteria you weight.

An agent scores each segment from your data and our interviews. Move a weight to see the shortlist re-rank.

Illustrative model

Interactive demo: five weighting sliders re-rank six illustrative customer segments. It plays sample weightings until you use a control. Ranking updates are announced below the bars.

WeightingPlaying scenarios
5
5
5
5
5
Segment rankingScore / 100
  1. 1 Segment CDigital-first entrants 66
  2. 2 Segment DSpecialist operators 64
  3. 3 Segment ALarge incumbents 62
  4. 4 Segment EPremium niche 62
  5. 5 Segment BRegional chains 60
  6. 6 Segment FPrice-led volume 52

Agent note

With equal weights, Segment C leads on breadth: no single criterion carries it. Scores draw on CRM history and interview notes.

Sources · CRM export · won/lost interviews · category data

People decide

  1. Which weighting reflects the goalThe strategist agrees it with leadership: revenue, share, margin or a new market.
  2. Which segments make the shortlistThe top three go forward only after a strategist has read the evidence behind each.
  3. Where the data is too thinLow-confidence scores go back for more interviews before they count.
Shortlist awaiting sign-off

05Competitive whitespace

Competitors mapped on what buyers value, to find the gaps.

We take what buyers value from customer interviews and reviews. Switch the axes to see how the openings change.

Opening found

Affordable specialist

Nobody offers specialist depth at a mid-to-low price. Brands C and D own expertise, but only at the premium end.

Buyers want it
Interviews · 9 of 14 raise price
Brand can claim it
Specialist team already in place
Hard to copy
Depth takes years to build

Agent places brands from review text and public offers. Strategist decides which gap the brand can credibly defend.

Illustrative
Seen from above, a single straight road runs through open, empty ground
WhitespaceOpen ground nobody has claimed yet.

06Growth thesis · One page

A one-page growth thesis your board can challenge.

One page on where growth comes from, in what order and what has to be true. Every line is traced to evidence, and the margin shows who checked it.

MemoYour brand · growth thesis

To
Leadership team
From
Growth strategy lead
Status
Draft 3 · for sign-off

Win the fast-growing specialists first, then widen.

01Where growth comes from

Most new revenue over the next two years comes from Segment C, digital-first entrants, who are growing fastest and have no brand they trust yet. Segment D follows, where our fit is strongest.

02In what order

Win C first with a specialist offer at a mid price. Use that proof to enter D within two quarters. Hold A; do not chase it on price.

03What has to be true

Buyers in C must value expertise over breadth, and we must be able to onboard customers in days. If either fails in the first move, we stop and re-rank.

04What we will not do

We will not launch in all six segments, and we will not compete with Brand C on premium price.

1 / 1Evidence pack refs 01–06Illustrative

07How it works

Three stages, from research to a signed roadmap.

Desk research and customer interviews run in parallel, so the ranking rests on both.

Scroll the route sideways

  1. Stop 01Wk 01–02

    Discover

    We review your data and the category, and interview current and lost customers.

    Agents
    Agents transcribe and tag interviews and summarise desk research with sources.
    People
    People run the conversations and choose who to talk to.

    Ends with

    • Market map
    • Customer interviews
    • Category analysis

  2. Stop 02Wk 03–04

    Define

    We score and rank segments, then test each opening against your ability to take it.

    Agents
    Agents score each segment and stress-test weightings.
    People
    The strategist sets the weights and signs off the shortlist.

    Ends with

    • Segment ranking
    • Whitespace map
    • Growth thesis

  3. Stop 03Wk 05–06

    Sequence

    Moves are scored on return and readiness, and each gets a measure.

    Agents
    Agents draft move cards and measure definitions from the thesis.
    People
    Leadership orders the moves and signs off the roadmap.

    Ends with

    • Move roadmap
    • Measure set
    • Leadership session

08Sequenced moves

A roadmap of moves, each assigned to a team.

Moves grouped into now, next and later, each with an owner, a measure and a date.

Showing all 9 moves

Illustrative

Now

Next 90 days 3 moves

  • Marketing

    Launch the specialist offer to Segment C

    Measure
    Qualified leads from C
    Date
    Q1 · wk 06

  • Sales

    Brief the team on the new shortlist and scripts

    Measure
    Meetings booked in C
    Date
    Q1 · wk 03

  • Product

    Cut onboarding from weeks to days

    Measure
    Days to first value
    Date
    Q1 · wk 10

Next

Months 4–6 3 moves

  • Marketing

    Publish case studies from the first C customers

    Measure
    Share of search in C
    Date
    Q2 · wk 04

  • Sales

    Open Segment D with a partner-led pilot

    Measure
    Pilot win rate
    Date
    Q2 · wk 08

  • Product

    Package a mid-price tier for specialists

    Measure
    Tier adoption
    Date
    Q2 · wk 12

Later

Months 7–12 3 moves

  • Marketing

    Enter Market 03 with the C playbook

    Measure
    New-market pipeline
    Date
    Q3 · wk 06

  • Product

    Add the reporting feature D buyers asked for

    Measure
    Retention in D
    Date
    Q4 · wk 02

  • Sales

    Review Segment A once C and D are won

    Measure
    Go / no-go decision
    Date
    Q4 · wk 10
A hand pins a printed step into a sequence on a wall, linked to the steps around it with thread
In sequenceEach move pinned to the one before it.

09Measurement design · Defined up front

Agree the measures before the first move launches.

The few numbers that show whether the strategy is working, with baselines and targets. One main measure, the drivers behind it and the early indicators that move first.

Illustrative metrics

10What you get

6 documents in one evidence pack.

Everything behind the ranking and roadmap comes in formats your teams already use, so the reasoning stays after we leave.

  • Market & category map

    Category boundaries, segment sizes, who wins where and the openings worth testing.

    FigmaPDF

  • Next-best-customer ranking

    Every segment scored on the five criteria, with the weights leadership signed and the evidence behind each score.

    SheetDeck

  • Competitive whitespace map

    Competitors placed on the attributes buyers use, with the gaps the brand can credibly claim.

    Figma

  • Growth thesis

    Where growth comes from, in what order, what has to be true and what the brand will not do.

    One page

  • Move roadmap · now / next / later

    Moves in three horizons, each with an owner, a measure and a date.

    DeckBoard

  • Measurement frame

    Main measure, drivers and leading indicators, with definitions, sources, baselines and targets.

    Sheet

Handover What we make for you is yours once it is paid for. Tools we already had stay ours, and you get a free, permanent licence to use them.

11What changes

Three decisions leadership can base on evidence.

  1. 01

    Before

    Twelve segments on a slide, each with a champion, and no agreed way to choose between them.

    After

    A ranked shortlist

    Three segments worth the effort, in order, with the reason each made the cut.

  2. 02

    Before

    Gaps spotted on a chart that the brand has no right to claim, and no plan to defend.

    After

    Openings you can defend

    Gaps that buyers want, the brand can claim and rivals cannot easily copy.

  3. 03

    Before

    A strategy deck approved in the boardroom, then left unread by the teams meant to act on it.

    After

    Moves your team can run

    Each team knows its moves and how they will be measured.

Services & packages

Growth strategy services, alone or combined.

Choose a two-week diagnostic, one research study or the full growth strategy. Each is scoped up front and ends in decisions your leadership team can act on.

Categories
04
Services
18
Packages
04
Not sure what you need? Describe the problem

How to buy

  1. 01Pick services. Enquire about one, or add several to a brief.
  2. 02Choose a package. A sprint, a fixed project or an ongoing team.
  3. 03Send the brief. We reply within one working day.

Browse by category

Timelines are typical. Every quote follows a written scope.

01Market & category

4 services
Typical timeline: 3–4 weeks

Market & category mapping

A map of where your category is heading, who leads each segment and which openings hold up, so leadership can choose where to compete.

What’s included

  • Category and competitor map
  • Market share by segment
  • Demand and trend data
  • Leadership read-out
  • Diagnostic
  • Fixed scope

Best forLeadership teams planning the next three years of growth

Typical timeline: 3–5 weeks

Competitive whitespace

Competitors plotted on the attributes buyers choose by, with each open position tested against what your brand can credibly claim.

What’s included

  • Buying criteria from buyer interviews
  • Competitor positioning map
  • Review and search analysis
  • Whitespace shortlist with fit scores
  • Positioning input
  • Fixed scope

Best forBrands in crowded categories where every competitor sounds the same

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

New market entry assessment

Whether and how to enter a new country, sector or category, judged on size, access, competition and your right to win before money is committed.

What’s included

  • Market size and access review
  • Local competitor and channel scan
  • Right-to-win assessment
  • Go or no-go recommendation with conditions
  • Expansion
  • Decision-ready

Best forBrands weighing a new geography, sector or adjacent category

Typical timeline: Ongoing · quarterly

Category & competitor watch

Ongoing tracking of competitor moves, new entrants, pricing changes and customer sentiment, with what each means for your plan.

What’s included

  • Competitor and new-entrant tracking
  • Search, review and social data
  • Quarterly briefing to leadership
  • Alerts on material moves
  • Ongoing
  • Early warning
  • Semrush

Best forLeadership teams in fast-moving or crowded categories

02Customers & demand

5 services
Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Next-best-customer ranking

The segments most likely to buy next, sized and ranked by fit, reach and margin on weights your leadership sets and can revise.

What’s included

  • Segment definitions from your data
  • Scoring model with agreed weights
  • Ranked shortlist with rationale
  • Segment profiles for sales and marketing
  • Segmentation
  • Ranked · scored

Best forBrands with more possible segments than budget to chase them

Typical timeline: 4–8 weeks

Customer research programme

Interviews, surveys and jobs-to-be-done analysis showing why customers buy, switch and leave, planned around the decisions you need to make.

What’s included

  • Research plan tied to open decisions
  • Customer and lost-customer interviews
  • Quantitative survey
  • Jobs-to-be-done map and synthesis
  • Primary research
  • Qual · quant

Best forTeams making big decisions on untested assumptions

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Win–loss analysis

Structured interviews with buyers who chose you and those who did not, ranking why deals are won and lost, with actions for each team.

What’s included

  • Win and loss interview programme
  • Sales and CRM pattern review
  • Reasons ranked by frequency and value
  • Actions for sales, product and brand
  • Research
  • Sales input

Best forB2B brands with long sales cycles and unclear reasons for losing

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Pricing & packaging research

How customers value what you sell and prefer to buy it, with tiers, bundles and prices tested with buyers before launch.

What’s included

  • Willingness-to-pay research
  • Tier and bundle options
  • Price architecture recommendation
  • Plan and tier names that fit the brand
  • Commercial
  • Research-led

Best forBrands launching tiers, changing plans or moving upmarket

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks, then quarterly

Brand health tracking set-up

A tracker for awareness, consideration and perception against your main competitors, set up with a baseline and reported on a fixed schedule.

What’s included

  • Tracker design and question set
  • Competitor set and sample frame
  • Baseline survey and dashboard
  • Reports on a fixed schedule
  • Tracking
  • Baseline first
  • Looker
  • Power BI

Best forBrands that want a baseline before a repositioning or relaunch

03Growth planning

5 services
Typical timeline: 2–3 weeks

Growth thesis

One page on where growth will come from, in what order and what must be true, built from evidence and agreed with leadership.

What’s included

  • Growth thesis on one page
  • Assumptions and what must be true
  • Evidence pack behind each claim
  • Leadership working session
  • One page
  • Board-ready

Best forLeadership teams that need one agreed growth story before planning

Typical timeline: 3–5 weeks

Value proposition design

A proposition for each priority segment, with what you offer, why it matters and the proof behind it, tested with buyers before launch.

What’s included

  • Proposition per priority segment
  • Proof points and evidence
  • Buyer testing sessions
  • Messaging hand-off to marketing
  • Proposition
  • Buyer-tested

Best forBrands entering new segments with a proposition built for the old ones

Typical timeline: 3–4 weeks

Go-to-market sequencing

The order of your growth moves, now, next and later, so marketing, sales and product work from one plan.

What’s included

  • Now, next and later move roadmap
  • Owner, measure and date per move
  • Channel and message priorities by segment
  • Dependency and risk log
  • Roadmap
  • Cross-functional

Best forLaunches, repositionings and entries into new segments

Typical timeline: 2–4 weeks

Measurement framework

Your main measure, its drivers and early indicators, agreed before the first move launches, each with a source, schedule, owner and baseline.

What’s included

  • Main measure and driver tree
  • Leading indicators per driver
  • Definitions, sources and owners
  • Baselines pulled from your systems
  • KPI design
  • Defined up front

Best forTeams that report many numbers but agree on none

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Growth strategy programme

Market map, ranked segments, whitespace, growth thesis and a sequenced roadmap, delivered as one programme with leadership sessions throughout.

What’s included

  • Market map and segment ranking
  • Whitespace map and growth thesis
  • Sequenced move roadmap
  • Measurement framework and handover session
  • Most complete
  • Research to roadmap

Best forBrands planning a step change: a new market, a raise or a reset

04Leadership & advisory

4 services
Typical timeline: 1–2 weeks

Growth diagnostic sprint

A two-week review of your data, pipeline and customers, showing where growth is stalling and what a full strategy should answer.

What’s included

  • Sales and customer data review
  • Five to eight customer conversations
  • Growth blockers, ranked
  • Scoped brief for the next step
  • Entry point
  • Sprint

Best forTeams that know growth has slowed but not yet why

Typical timeline: 2–3 weeks with preparation

Leadership strategy offsite

A facilitated session that takes your leadership team from competing views to agreed growth priorities, with pre-reads and a written record.

What’s included

  • Stakeholder interviews beforehand
  • Pre-read built on your data
  • One- or two-day facilitated session
  • Decision record and next steps
  • Workshop
  • Entry point

Best forLeadership teams that need to agree priorities before they plan

Typical timeline: 2–4 weeks

Board & investor growth story

Your market, customer and growth evidence turned into a story for your board or investors, with every claim sourced and every number traceable.

What’s included

  • Market and category evidence
  • Growth thesis in board format
  • Sourced claims and appendix
  • Rehearsal with the leadership team
  • Narrative
  • Board-ready

Best forCompanies preparing a board review, a raise or a strategic plan

Typical timeline: Ongoing · monthly

Growth advisory retainer

A senior strategist who reviews progress monthly, brings new evidence when the market shifts and advises on each new opening.

What’s included

  • Monthly review against your measures
  • Quarterly roadmap refresh
  • Opportunity assessments on request
  • Leadership read-outs
  • Retainer
  • Ongoing

Best forTeams running the roadmap in-house who want a strategist on hand

Your brief

Tick “Add to brief” on any service, choose a package, then continue. Or enquire about one service directly.

How we work with you

Ways to engage, from a question to an RFQ.

Ask a quick question, send a project brief or issue a formal RFQ. The lead for the work reads each one in full, and any services already in your brief go with it.

Or book a thirty-minute call

What are you sending?

  1. 01

    About 2 minutes4 required answers

    For a first conversation, a press request or anything that does not need a scope yet.

    You get A reply from a named lead

  2. 02Recommended

    About 8 minutes5 short steps

    Goals, audiences, a budget band and timing, so our first reply can outline the work.

    You get Options and a first scope after one call

  3. 03

    About 15 minutesYour documents attached

    Your documents, deadlines and the procurement and security rules the work must meet.

    You get Receipt confirmed and a named bid lead

How it is priced

Each package shows its pricing model. Work starts once a written scope and quote are agreed.

  • Typical length
    1–3 weeks
    Pricing
    Fixed fee

  • Typical length
    4–12 weeks
    Pricing
    Fixed price

  • Typical length
    Ongoing · 6-month minimum
    Pricing
    Monthly fee

  • Typical length
    6–18 months
    Pricing
    Programme fee · by statement of work
Compare what each package includes
What each package includes and who it suits
PackageEvery engagement includesBest for
SprintA short, fixed-scope engagement that answers one defined question.
  • Scope and outcome agreed before day one
  • A senior lead plus the specialists needed
  • A working review every week
  • A decision-ready answer or prototype
 Discovery, a diagnostic, a prototype or a decision you need to make soon
ProjectA defined scope, delivered for a fixed price.
  • Statement of work with deliverables and acceptance criteria
  • A named project lead and a fixed team
  • A shared plan with dated checkpoints
  • Source files, yours once paid for
 Work you can describe up front: an identity, a platform or a set of tools
RetainerReserved monthly capacity to run, improve and extend what we built.
  • A reserved block of team time every month
  • Agreed response times for requests and fixes
  • A monthly review and a rolling backlog
  • Planned improvements as well as upkeep
 Live brands and products that need a steady team without hiring one
EnterpriseA multi-workstream programme with a dedicated team, governance and agreed service levels.
  • An engagement director and a steering group
  • A dedicated team across several workstreams
  • Service levels, reporting and a risk register
  • Security, legal and procurement reviews in the plan
 Large organisations running change across markets, portfolios or business units

12Questions

What leadership asks before signing a growth brief.

Short answers on scope, what we need from you, company size and what happens after the roadmap.

Enquire
An empty boardroom with a long table and chairs facing floor-to-ceiling windows
4 questionsAsked in the first meeting

Answer

It sits between the two. We start from the business goal, find the customers and openings that get you there, then give marketing a sequence of moves to run.

Answer

Access to your sales and customer data, plus a few hours with the people who talk to customers. We also need your growth goal: revenue, share, margin or a new market.

Answer

No. Growing brands cannot afford to chase every segment, so a ranked shortlist matters more to them.

Answer

Your team runs it, or we do. If we do, Brand Identity, Campaign and Marketing Technology all work to the same moves and measures.

13Related capabilities

Other Brand Design capabilities that build on the shortlist.

Growth Strategy decides where to play. These capabilities shape how the brand shows up there, and you can add them one at a time.

Back to Brand Design

Tell us what you need built.

You will speak to a lead who would run the work, and get a straight answer on fit.

Book a call

Three ways to start

Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins.

Choose one of the three ways above
See the work Explore our services Industries we serve Meet the team Email us Read our approach