Toshin Hasan Tazdid - Strategy Research

The Way I Work

Strategy
Framework

A full-stack approach - from problem definition to pixel-level execution. Rooted in consumer truth, expressed in creative precision.

"The gap between what's planned and how much can be executed is where the magic happens."

Headache

What's the real problem behind the brief?

Audience

Who is the work for? Deep psychographic mapping.

Insight

What we know about them that shifts everything.

Strategy

How we plan to reach them - the comms architecture.

Concept

The creative idea that makes people feel something.

Medium

The right channel at exactly the right consumer moment.

Message

The single-minded takeaway the audience walks away with.

Content

Style, voice, tone, and visual language.

Ecosystem

How everything works as one integrated campaign.

Typos, Bugs & Aesthetics

The tiny concrete details that define quality.

Consumer Journey · Comms Architecture

Stage	Barrier	Comms Task	Channel
LivingDaily presence	Problem they think about all the time	Solution related to the brand	Media they consume daily
LookingResearch phase	Problem that surfaces with research	Solution the brand delivers	Media when researching
BuyingDecision moment	Problem stopping purchase	Solution that drives the sale	Media in the sales moment

Full Comms Strategy Flow

Annual Strategy→ Consumer Journey→ Comms Framework→ Client Brief→ Creative Brief→ Creative Dev→ Campaign Idea→ Blueprints→ Production

Market Research & Discovery

Category dynamics, cultural shifts, competitor landscapes, audience behavior. The strategy starts before the brief arrives.

Insight to Strategy Architecture

Problem definition, audience decoding, communication framework design. The gap between what the brand says and what the consumer hears.

Concept to Channel Precision

Creative ideation, media selection, integrated campaign blueprinting. The right idea in the wrong channel is still the wrong idea.

Systems Thinking to Execution

Full consumer journey, annual strategy, production oversight. Simplicity at the end is only possible because of rigour at the start.

Planning Principles · How Strategy Compounds

Learn

Market & Consumer Understanding

Category dynamics, consumer psychology, competitor positioning. The raw material of all strategy. You cannot shortcut this stage and produce anything that lasts.

Develop

Strategic & Brand Development

Translating understanding into direction. Qualitative research, brief-writing, creative development partnership. Strategy as the bridge between audience truth and creative execution.

Expand

Channel Knowledge & Campaign Architecture

The right channel at the right moment in the consumer journey. Not all touchpoints are equal. Knowing which experiences matter most is where simplicity is built or lost.

Direct

Evaluation, Quality & Brand Guardianship

Pre-testing, measurement, and the ongoing work of protecting the brand's integrity across every execution. The planner as brand guardian - the voice the work comes back to.

Simplicity as Strategy · The Financial Case

1,600%

Simplicity outperforms

A portfolio of the world's simplest brands has beaten the S&P, DOW, DAX, and FTSE by 1,600% since 2009. Simplicity is not a design choice - it is a financial position.

64%

Pay a premium for simple

Consumers willing to pay more for simpler brand experiences. Simplicity is a pricing lever hiding inside a communication problem.

78%

Recommend simple brands

More likely to recommend a brand because it communicates simply. Word of mouth is earned by clarity, not by volume.

$780B

Complexity tax

Left on the table globally by brands that don't simplify. The cost of complexity is not abstract - it shows up in revenue.

Four Levers to Cut Through Complexity

Be Transparent

Consumers lack clarity about services and terms. In streaming, telecom, utilities, and car rental - the most complex touchpoints are always where the terms are buried.

Educate Consumers

Complexity arises when consumers don't have enough knowledge at key journey stages. Financial products, health insurance, and automotive sales all share this failure.

Invest in Support

Consumers experience complexity when they can't get help. Healthcare, electronics, media, and social platforms all have their worst moments when support fails.

Human Interaction

Lack of in-person resolution leads to complexity. Airlines, retail clothing, and hospitality all show that the simplest touchpoints are the ones where a human is present.

Creative Craft · The Phrase-Twist Principle

Take a well-known phrase and twist it to suit the brand. It borrows existing cognitive infrastructure - a familiar phrase already lives in the reader's head. The twist requires only a small amount of new information to land a complete idea.

Great minds think alike→Great minds like a think.The Economist

Don't make the same mistake twice→Don't make the same mistake once.The Economist

If it ain't broke, don't fix it→If it's broke, fix it!Patagonia

Wake up and smell the coffee→Wake up and smell the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.Second Cup

Don't overuse it - even the clever ones start to feel like a cheap trick. Used well, it is the sharpest five-minute headline in the toolkit. Used badly, it becomes a Keep Calm poster.

Original Research

Brand Strategy
Methodology

A proprietary end-to-end brand strategy framework — built from first principles, refined across BMW, DAMAC, Chevron, and 60+ global brands. From one-line brief to campaign architecture.

Brief & Discovery

A one-line brief derived from the marketing communication brief sent by the brand. Specific requirements documented. The real problem is almost never the stated problem — this phase finds the gap between the two.

Brief AnalysisProblem DefinitionRequirement Mapping

Competitor Analysis

Multi-dimensional competitor research: geography-based, service-based, price-based, proximity-based, niche-based, and brand image-based — even when products differ significantly. Examines products, communication, USP, and positioning across every relevant competitor. The goal is to understand the full landscape before searching for white space.

Competitive MatrixPorter's 5 ForcesPositioning MapBCG MatrixAnsoff Matrix

VRIN → SWOT → USP Discovery

VRIN analysis (Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutable) conducted for each product and service. The SWOT analysis must be derived from the VRIN — never conducted independently. This sequence reveals precisely where the brand adds unique value in the entire chain. Conducted separately for each product or service line under the brand.

VRIN FrameworkSWOT MatrixValue Chain AnalysisUSP Definition

JTBD — The Hire Statement

Not traditional Jobs-to-be-Done. People hire a product or service to fulfil a need — and those needs are human, not functional. First: place the brand in Maslow's hierarchy (safety? love & belonging? esteem? self-actualisation?). Then: identify which of McGuire's 16 Psychological Motives drives the hire. Conduct a category analysis — what alternatives exist, including non-brand solutions? (A hospital's category alternative might be a pharmacist, a doctor friend, or simply waiting.) Build two hire statements: one for the category, one specific to this brand.

Maslow's HierarchyMcGuire's 16 MotivesCategory AnalysisHire Statement

Target Audience & Persona Architecture

A comprehensive audience analysis across four dimensions: geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioural — in significant detail. Followed by media attention points and consumption habits analysis. Minimum three audience personas developed, each with detailed background and lifestyle narrative. Personas are people, not demographic brackets.

Geo · Demo · Psycho · BehavMedia Habits MappingPersona Development

4C Analysis & Brand Belief System

Ten truths — insights hidden in plain sight, things no one talks about, revelations and new perspectives — for each of the four Cs: Category, Company/Brand, Consumer, Culture. Not generic observations anyone could make: genuine discoveries. One distilled insight statement per C. Then: a single Brand Belief System sentence tying all four together — written as "Doing [this specific action] for [the brand] will ensure the brand achieves [these specific outcomes]."

4C FrameworkInsight MiningBrand Belief SystemCultural Mapping

Brand Bond Pyramid → Payoff Line

Three ascending levels define a brand's irreplaceable territory. Feature: what many brands in the category can deliver. Benefit: what some brands promise, but is difficult to copy. Value: what only this brand can credibly claim — expressed precisely as an adjective-adjective-noun construct. The Value gives rise to the Payoff Line. Nike's value is "Mastering Odds" → Just Do It. HSBC's value is "Unexpected Cultural Sensitivity" → The World's Local Bank.

Brand Bond PyramidAdj-Adj-Noun ValuePayoff LineBrand Positioning

Campaign Architecture

One thematic campaign tapping all relevant channels (TV, newspaper, GDN, billboard, AR/VR, social, print, events, signage). Tactical campaigns across five phases: Awareness → Consideration → Conversion → Retention → Loyalty — each with multiple creative executions across platforms. Five content pillars defined per social channel: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok. Additional frameworks applied where genuinely useful — Blue Ocean, Golden Circle, Porter's Generic Strategies — never as decoration.

Thematic CampaignFunnel TacticsContent PillarsChannel Architecture

Consumer Psychology Engine

McGuire's 16 Psychological Motives

McGuire's classification identifies why consumers truly hire a brand — beyond stated preferences. Organised across two axes: cognitive (need for orientation and meaning) vs affective (achieving a satisfaction state), and preservation (equilibrium) vs growth (development). Two further criteria distinguish active vs passive arousal, and internal vs external relationship with the environment.

Cognitive × Preservation

Group 1 — Cognitive Preservation

Motive 01

Active · Internal

Need for Consistency

Internal equilibrium and balance. People purchase products that maintain consistency in their self-image. Premium pricing at exclusive stores signals this balance is maintained.

Motive 02

Active · External

Need for Attribution

Determining who or what causes things to happen. Peer recommendations are believed over salespeople — the psychology behind influencer credibility and word-of-mouth.

Motive 03

Passive · Internal

Need to Categorise

Processing and organising information meaningfully. Price tiers, vehicle segments, and product categories leverage this motive to help consumers narrow choices efficiently.

Motive 04

Passive · External

Need for Objectification / Cues

Observable cues, symbols, and signs. Clothing signals social position; quality marks provide third-party validation. The tick from the Heart Foundation says: this is good for you.

Cognitive × Growth

Group 2 — Cognitive Growth

Motive 05

Active · Internal

Need for Autonomy

Independence and individuality. "Limited Edition" and customisation address this directly. American culture amplifies it; Japanese culture suppresses it. Knowing the cultural axis matters.

Motive 06

Active · External

Need for Stimulation

Variety-seeking and novelty. A prime driver of brand switching and impulse purchasing. Individuals in stable environments seek change; those experiencing rapid change desire stability.

Motive 07

Passive · Internal

Teleological Needs

Pattern matching with desired end states. Consumers prefer narratives — ads, films, brand stories — whose outcomes match their worldview of how the world should work.

Motive 08

Passive · External

Utilitarian Needs

Logical problem-solving. The consumer as information-gatherer. Watching a sitcom teaches clothing styles. Reading ads and consulting salespeople acquires knowledge for future decisions.

Affective × Preservation

Group 3 — Affective Preservation

Motive 09

Active · Internal

Need for Tension Reduction

Managing uncomfortable stress levels. Recreational products, wellness brands, and entertainment are frequently positioned around tension relief — reducing arousal to comfortable levels.

Motive 10

Active · External

Need for Self-Expression

Expressing identity to others through purchases. Fashion and automotive brands primarily satisfy this motive — symbolic meaning that communicates who someone is before they speak.

Motive 11

Passive · Internal

Need for Ego Defense

Protecting self-concept when identity is threatened. Consumers rely on well-known brands for socially visible purchases to avoid making a socially incorrect choice. Safety in brand equity.

Motive 12

Passive · External

Need for Reinforcement

Acting in ways that were previously rewarded. Samples, prizes, loyalty programmes, and repeat-purchase incentives all leverage this motive to anchor behaviour.

Affective × Growth

Group 4 — Affective Growth

Motive 13

Active · Internal

Need for Assertion

Engaging in activities that increase self-esteem in one's own eyes and in the eyes of others. Slogans like "Be what you want to be" appeal directly here. Most consumers respond positively.

Motive 14

Active · External

Need for Affiliation

Building mutually helpful relationships. "Your kids will love you for it" — family and community advertising themes speak to this need for acceptance and connection.

Motive 15

Passive · Internal

Need for Identification

Adopting new roles. Variety-seeking through role experimentation. Travel brands showing both adventure holidays and relaxing retreats appeal to different role desires simultaneously.

Motive 16

Passive · External

Need for Modelling

Basing behaviour on others. Celebrity endorsements and aspirational advertising. The primary motivation driver for children (8–12) and especially teenagers in their social world.

Brand Architecture

The Brand Bond Pyramid

Three ascending levels define a brand's territory. Feature is where the category competes. Benefit is where strong brands differentiate. Value — expressed precisely as an adjective-adjective-noun construct — is where only one brand can live. The Value gives rise to the Payoff Line.

Feature

Many brands in the category can deliver this

The functional product or service. The baseline of what the category does. Any serious competitor can claim it. It is necessary but not sufficient for differentiation.

Benefit

Some brands promise this — difficult but not impossible to copy

The elevated promise that sets stronger brands apart. Meaningful differentiation — but still within reach of a well-resourced competitor who commits to the same territory.

Value

Only this brand can credibly own this

The irreplaceable truth — always expressed as Adjective + Adjective + Noun. This is the source of the payoff line and the brand's most durable creative territory.

Payoff Line

Derived directly from the Value

The line the world remembers. Short, inevitable, and impossible to separate from the brand that earned it. It emerges from the Value — never invented independently.

Nike — Case Study

Feature

Sports footwear and apparel — Puma, Asics, Under Armour, and dozens of others can claim the same

Benefit

High performance — Adidas can and does claim this territory too

Value

Mastering Odds — the idea that you act on instinct, you don't overthink, you do not wait

Payoff

Just Do It

HSBC — Case Study

Feature

Banking and financial services — thousands of institutions provide this globally

Benefit

Global reach — several major banks can claim meaningful international presence

Value

Unexpected Cultural Sensitivity — hyper-local advertising no global bank attempts at scale

Payoff

The World's Local Bank

Insight Architecture

The 4C Framework

Ten truths for each C — insights hidden in plain sight that no one is talking about. Not observations. Revelations. New perspectives on things hiding in the open. Each C distils to one statement, and all four together form the Brand Belief System: a single sentence that makes the entire strategy inevitable.

Strategy on a Page

Every campaign strategy distils to six elements. The clarity of each one determines the quality of every creative decision that follows it. Vague inputs produce vague work.

Business Problem

The commercial challenge the work must solve — stated with precision, data, and stakes. What happens if we do nothing?

Consumer Problem

The human barrier preventing the consumer from choosing or staying with the brand. Not the symptom — the cause.

Insight

The single truth that reframes the problem — hidden in plain sight. Not an observation. A revelation that changes what is possible.

Single Minded Proposition

The one thing the campaign must communicate. Clear enough that a creative team can act on it immediately, without asking questions.

Consumer Goal

What the target audience should think, feel, or do differently as a direct result of encountering this campaign.

Business Goal

The measurable commercial outcome — stated with a specific metric, a specific target, and a specific timeframe.

Research Evidence · Siegel+Gale 2023

Simplicity as Competitive Advantage

A ten-year study of 15,000+ consumers across 9 countries and 800+ brands confirms a central hypothesis: simplicity is not a byproduct of brand success. It is the reason brands thrive. The brands that understand and simplify their most important experiences inspire deeper trust, stronger loyalty, and greater willingness to spend.

64%

Simplicity Earns a Premium

Consumers willing to pay more for simpler brand experiences and communications

Siegel+Gale · World's Simplest Brands · 10th Edition

78%

Simplicity Builds Loyalty

More likely to recommend a brand that provides simpler experiences and clearer communications

Siegel+Gale · World's Simplest Brands · 10th Edition

1,600%

Simplicity Performs

A portfolio of the world's simplest brands has beaten the average global stock index since 2009

Siegel+Gale · World's Simplest Brands · 10th Edition

$780B

Complexity Costs

Left on the table annually by brands that fail to simplify their key experiences

Siegel+Gale · World's Simplest Brands · 10th Edition

Lever 01

Be Transparent

Consumers often lack clarity about the services and terms they are being offered. Illuminating this — in streaming, utilities, telecoms, car rental — builds trust and removes decision anxiety.

Lever 02

Educate Consumers

Complexity arises when consumers don't have sufficient knowledge at key journey stages. Financial literacy, health plan clarity, product guidance — knowledge simplifies the path to purchase.

Lever 03

Invest in Customer Support

Consumers experience the most complexity when they find it hard to get help. Investing in support at the right moments — healthcare, electronics, social media — creates lifetime loyalty.

Lever 04

Emphasise Human Interaction

Lack of in-person resolutions leads to complexity. Where human contact is possible — airlines, hospitality, retail — it consistently outperforms its automated alternative.

Theoretical Foundations

Referenced Frameworks

Applied where the situation demands — and where the framework adds genuine insight rather than decorative structure. Never used as a checklist. Always as a lens.

Blue Ocean Strategy

W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne

The Golden Circle

Simon Sinek — Why / How / What

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow, 1943

McGuire's 16 Psychological Motives

William J. McGuire

McKinsey 7S Model

Peters, Waterman & Phillips

Porter's Five Forces

Michael E. Porter, 1979

Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism

Jean-Noël Kapferer

Aaker's Brand Equity Ten

David A. Aaker

Ogilvy's Big IdeaL

Ogilvy & Mather

Saatchi's Lovemarks

Kevin Roberts — Saatchi & Saatchi

Ansoff Matrix

H. Igor Ansoff, 1957

Porter's Generic Strategies

Michael E. Porter — Cost vs Differentiation

FCB Bedrock Model

Foote, Cone & Belding

Mindshare Adaptive Marketing

Mindshare

BBH Zag Theory

BBH — When Everyone Zigs, Zag

JWT Brand Wheel

Wunderman Thompson

Grey Brand Transformation

Grey Advertising

Y&R BrandAsset Valuator

Young & Rubicam

BCG Matrix

Boston Consulting Group, 1970

GE-McKinsey Matrix

Business Position × Market Attractiveness

House of Brands vs Branded House

Brand Architecture Strategy

Research Finding

The Economics
of Simplicity

Original research and analysis on brand simplicity - what it costs to be complex, and what brands gain by stripping away the noise. Drawn from the Siegel+Gale World's Simplest Brands study and proprietary analysis.

Simplicity performs

1,600%

How much a portfolio of the world's simplest brands has beaten the average global stock index since 2009 - outperforming the S&P, DOW, DAX, and FTSE.

Loyalty multiplier

78%

Consumers more likely to recommend a brand because it provides simpler experiences and communications - simplicity as compounding brand equity.

Simplicity premium

64%

Consumers willing to pay more for simpler experiences - making simplicity a direct pricing lever, not merely a design preference.

Complexity costs

$780B

The amount of money brands are leaving on the table globally when they don't simplify - a staggering opportunity cost hiding in plain sight.

Core Research Finding

Simplicity is not a byproduct of success. It is the reason brands thrive. The brands that have understood and simplified their most important consumer experiences inspire deeper trust, strengthen loyalty, and increase willingness to spend.

Industry Simplicity Rankings · Global

Internet Search

Rank 1 · No change

Simple

Retail / Grocery

Rank 2 · ↑3

Simple

Appliances

Rank 3 · ↑1

Simple

Electronics

Rank 4 · ↓1

Simple

Restaurants

Rank 5 · ↑8

Simple

Internet Retail

Rank 6 · ↓4

Mid

Automotive

Rank 11 · No change

Mid

Banks / Retail

Rank 15 · ↑1

Mid

Social Media

Rank 21 · ↓7

Complex

Health Insurance

Rank 24 · ↓5

Complex

General Insurance

Rank 25 · ↓3

Complex

Travel / Air

Rank 19 · ↑5

Complex

Four Levers · How Brands Simplify

Lever 01

Be Transparent

Consumers often lack clarity about the services and terms they are being offered. For streaming, telecoms, car rental, and utilities - illuminating what's included is the highest-impact simplification available. The most complex touchpoints are invariably the ones that obscure cost or obligation.

Read deeper →

Lever 02

Educate Consumers

Complexity arises when consumers do not have sufficient knowledge at key journey stages. In automotive sales, health insurance, consumer finance, and financial investment - the most painful moments are those where the consumer doesn't know what they don't know. Brands that educate rather than obscure own the trust premium.

Read deeper →

Lever 03

Invest in Customer Support

Consumers experience complexity when they find it hard to get help. In healthcare, consumer electronics, media, and social media - the most complex touchpoints are getting the product repaired, validating information, and resolving problems. Support quality is a brand equity issue, not an ops issue.

Read deeper →

Lever 04

Emphasise Human Interaction

Lack of in-person resolutions leads to complexity. In airlines, retail clothing, and hospitality - the simplest touchpoints are the ones involving human interaction: boarding, in-store purchase, hotel checkout. The most complex are the digital-only ones. Human presence is itself a simplification lever.

Read deeper →

Key DEI & ESG Research Finding

Consumers who demonstrate commitment to DEI and ESG reward brands that do the same. 64% more likely to purchase for DEI. 67% for ESG. Yet understanding of these programmes maxes out at 37% and 42% respectively - meaning the gap is not willingness, but clarity. Simplicity of communication is the unlock.

Global Simplest Brand

Lidl

German discount retailer. Top 10 in six consecutive editions. Wins by consistently providing high-quality items at low prices through radically simplified shopping. No paradox of choice. 90% private label at ALDI is the model - Lidl applies it with mass reach.

Read deeper ->

Perennial Simplest Brand

Google

Top 3 in nine consecutive editions. Simplicity is not a design property of Google's interface - it is the entire value proposition. One box. The world's information. SGE is now evolving that contract, but the underlying promise remains: reduce the distance between question and answer.

Read deeper ->

Most Complex Sectors

Insurance & Health

General Insurance and Health Insurance rank bottom globally - and in almost every regional market. These are industries where complexity is structurally embedded in the business model. The brands that crack transparency here don't just gain brand equity - they change the category.

Read deeper ->

Brand Strategy Work

Four Projects.
End to End.

Full brand strategy and integrated marketing communication projects - from brief to campaign architecture. Click any project to go deeper.

Brand Strategy & Business Plan · London, UK · 2026

House of Recluse

Sustainable premium fashion. Built on material science, radical transparency, and the conviction that permanence is the most defensible luxury position in 2026.

The brief I set for myself: build a brand that doesn't ask people to sacrifice aesthetics for ethics. A full business plan, brand strategy, and investment case - from VRIN to financial model. The name says everything: Recluse = Recycle + Use. A deliberate retreat from trend culture as radical self-mastery.

62%

Gross Margin

53×

LTV : CAC

£50k

Seed Round

10yr

Repair Guarantee

Luxury Fashion Sustainability Brand Identity Investment Case VRIN · SWOT · 4C

Positioning

Quietly Defiant Permanence · Own it. For good.

Tagline

"The Last Thing You'll Buy."

Material

100% TENCEL™ Lyocell · 340 GSM · Single-material architecture

Moat

Blockchain traceability + in-house repair facility + philosophical depth not purchasable

Launch

Podcast before product → Waitlist → 600–900 units → Shoreditch pop-up

Explore full strategy →

Integrated Marketing Plan · Bangladesh · 2024

Jeep Bangladesh

Positioning Jeep as the brand that enables life's extraordinary journeys - from the Sundarbans to the Chittagong Hill Tracks - through a three-phase inspire, connect, retain strategy.

Bangladesh had no dominant lifestyle automotive brand in the adventure space. Three audience segments - Adventurers, Doers, and Dreamers - each required a different creative approach. The strategy wasn't to sell cars. It was to sell a philosophy: Bangladesh's most extraordinary places deserve a vehicle worthy of them.

Audience Segments

Campaign Phases

Month Calendar

Vehicle Lines

Automotive Adventure Marketing Integrated Campaign Community Building Bangladesh

Strategic Purpose

Enabling Life's Extraordinary Journeys

Phase 1

Inspire · Launch Wrangler · Establish community · Show Bangladesh through Jeep

Phase 2

Connect · Trekking competitions · Travel vlogger collabs · Heritage storytelling

Phase 3

Retain · Braveheart Awards · Victory Day · Tourism board collaboration

Community

Jeepers of Bangladesh · Fan of Month · Post of Month · Extraordinary Gang

Explore full strategy →

Digital Strategy & Social Communication Plan · Bangladesh Aviation

Air Astra

Making every passenger feel like a star. Bangladesh's first passenger-centric airline brand - built from big idea to 18-month rollout plan.

Three competitors had collectively failed to build emotional positioning. US-Bangla, NovoAir, and Biman were all selling routes and prices. None had built a brand promise passengers could actually feel. The brief: design a comprehensive digital and social strategy that makes Air Astra the first airline brand in Bangladesh where every passenger feels like a star, not a seat number.

Competitors mapped

Audience Personas

Month Strategy

Passenger-centric brands before this

Aviation Brand Identity Social Strategy Bangladesh Emotional Positioning

Big Idea

The Joy of Starlike Heights

Tagline

Fueled by Stars. Every passenger is the star. Every journey, heightened.

Brand Colour

#FFB923 Yellow · Confidence · Warmth · The visual expression of the brand promise

Phase 1

Awareness · Crafting Stories of a Star · 6 months

Phase 3

Retention · Constellation loyalty community · Real passenger stories

Explore full strategy →

Brand Voice Strategy · Wellness Energy Drinks · 2025

FUZION

Claiming the unclaimed middle ground between clean functionality and emotional lifestyle appeal. From brief to tagline to Twitter bio - built on a complete strategic architecture.

Seven competitors mapped. None owned the wellness-energy overlap. Prime runs on hype. Ghost serves gaming culture. Celsius is smart but narrow. The gap: no brand owns clean functionality + emotional lifestyle appeal + global scalability simultaneously. That is FUZION's unclaimed lane. The product exists. The brand does not yet - until now.

Competitors mapped

Audience Personas

Campaign Phases

Month Launch Plan

FMCG / Beverages Brand Voice Blue Ocean Gen Z / Millennials Wellness

Brand Value

Bright Empowered Clarity

Tagline

"Your Brightest Self. In a Can."

Campaign

Already Bright · You were already bright - FUZION creates the conditions for that brightness to consistently show up.

ICP

Urban 18–38 · Health-conscious · Aesthetically driven · Digitally fluent

Positioning

High price · High wellness credibility · The unclaimed quadrant in energy

Explore full strategy →

Strategies That Inspired Me

Campaign
Breakdowns

Strategy-on-a-page for five landmark Australian campaigns. Deconstructing the thinking behind work that changed its category.

Honest Eggs Co · Fitchix · VMLY&R Australia

Free Range Proof
Not Free Range Claims

How a free-range egg brand turned consumer scepticism into proof - and proof into preference.

In a market saturated with questionable welfare claims, the strategic insight was simple and devastating: free range proof is more provocative than free range claims. Rather than fighting the credibility war with words, Honest Eggs Co. physically proved it. The result was an egg-ceptional leverage of a market opportunity - any space where the norm is confusion represents a crack-of-light way to differentiate and dominate.

FMCG Strategy Consumer Scepticism Category Disruption Proof over Claims

Business Problem

Shopper scepticism of questionable chook welfare claims threatening brand reputation

Insight

Free range proof is more provocative than free range claims

Single Minded Proposition

Provide the free range proof that shows Honest Egg Co. hens have room to roam

Business Goal

Increase preference and sales amongst conscious egg eaters by 25 and 10% by Q4 '23

Read full breakdown →

Australian Defence Force · Navy · VMLY&R Australia

The Audio Ad
You Can See

Recruiting cyber specialists by creating a recruitment challenge only they could solve.

Only 1% of the Australian population qualifies for Navy cyber defence. The strategic problem: how do you reach the 1% in a crowded media landscape? The answer was to make the ad itself the qualification test. Highly specialised cyber skills means being able to do and see things with technology that others can't. The ADF encoded a visual message into what appeared to be an audio-only ad - a recruitment challenge visible only to those with the right skills. Excellent pairing of an audience truth with a tedious process pain point, ripe for disruption.

Recruitment Marketing Audience Precision Media Innovation Cyber Defence

Business Problem

Only 1% of Australians qualify - making recruitment resource-intensive and expensive

Insight

Highly specialised cyber skills means being able to do and see things others can't

Single Minded Proposition

Create a recruitment challenge only those with highly specialised cyber skills can interpret

Business Goal

Increase qualified applications by 10% for the '23 intake

Read full breakdown →

Standard Procedure · Sunscreen · VMLY&R Australia

Sunny Death Metal

Turning the brutal truth of sun exposure into a sun safety campaign young Aussies would actually listen to.

Young Australians know the health risks of sun exposure - and don't care. Sun worshippers are turned off by being talked down to. The insight: the sun may be a life giver, but it is also a deadly ball of fire. Rather than lecture, the strategy was to crank up the brutal truth in a language the audience actually speaks. Sunny Death Metal committed to the audience's worldview - speaking to sun worshippers in heavy metal, the genre that has always celebrated extreme and confronting truths. Not only a very sound use of media, but creative that speaks its audience's language rather than talking at them.

Gen Z Suncare / Health Cultural Code Audience Language

Business Problem

Young Aussies know the risks - they just aren't listening. Sales flat.

Insight

The sun may be a life giver, but it is also a deadly ball of fire

Single Minded Proposition

Crank up the brutal truth about the risk of worshipping a flaming ball of death

Business Goal

Increase consideration, preference, and sales by 20, 10, and 5% by Q4 '23

Read full breakdown →

KFC Australia · Birdsville · VMLY&R Australia

Going Far to Bring
People Together

How KFC Australia reminded a nation of families that when it comes to chicken, going far to serve it up is a great big get-together story.

National sales down 5% as the fast food scene evolved. The insight was that KFC chicken is close to almost everyone - but these days it feels harder than ever to get everyone together. The strategy: going far to serve up KFC chicken to Aussies who haven't tried it is a great big get-together story. Rather than promote the product, KFC drove to Birdsville - one of Australia's most remote towns - and served the locals. A masterclass in cultural integration, novelty, and using narrative to remind the drive-through crowd of the brand's warmth.

QSR / Fast Food Cultural Storytelling Stunt Strategy Community

Business Problem

National KFC sales down 5%. New fast food competition taking market share.

Insight

Going far to serve up KFC chicken to Aussies who haven't tried it is a great big get-together story

Single Minded Proposition

Show Aussies who know and love the colonel, how far KFC will go to serve up a great big get together story

Business Goal

Increase top of mind preference, consideration, and sales by 20, 10, and 5% by Q4 '17

Read full breakdown →

Vodafone Australia · You Rule · VMLY&R Australia

In a World of Telco
Leaders, You Rule

How Vodafone Australia reversed customer churn by showing young Aussies they were royalty - not subjects.

Vodafone's coffers had shrunk 5% YOY with 2% loss amongst younger PAYG customers. Young Aussies were royally fed up with being made to feel subservient to their carriers. The insight: the customer is always right means they are actually the ones in charge. Rather than promise better coverage or prices, the strategy dramatised the feeling of being in charge. Vodafone showed, in spectacular fantasy, what it looks like when a telco actually reveres their customers as kings and queens. In a world that's getting you down, it's nice to feel like you're the one in charge for once.

Telco Young Adults Customer Empowerment Emotional Branding

Business Problem

Vodafone revenue -5% YOY, -2% PAYG customers amongst young Australians

Insight

The customer is always right means they're the ones in charge

Single Minded Proposition

Show how in a marketplace of would-be telco leaders, Vodafone reveres their customers as kings and queens

Business Goal

Improve consideration, retention and PAYG sales by 10, 5, and 2% by Q4 '21

Read full breakdown →

Research & Writing

Published
Works

Original research reports, case studies, and industry analysis - on luxury, fashion, consumer behaviour, and the creative industry. All primary research.

April 2026

Old Money,
New Rules

2026 Luxury Research Report · Volume III

How the most powerful luxury houses are growing not because they adapted to new marketing rules, but because they refused. Examining 50+ maisons, the end of logo primacy, resale as quality signal, Chinese market recalibration, and the AI saturation premium for visibly human content. Based on 1,800 UK luxury buyer surveys, 160 HNW depth interviews, 20 senior creative leader conversations, and 24 months of global resale price tracking.

Luxury StrategyHermès · Chanel · The Row1,800 Respondents24mo Resale Data

April 2026

The Devils Who Don't Wear Prada

2026 British Fashion Research Report

How the most culturally significant British fashion brands are winning without playing by industry rules. The devils reshaping fashion in 2026 are not the heritage houses - they are a vintage chain donating interview outfits, a brand with no Instagram and a six-month waiting list. Ten chapters covering campaigns that broke category conventions, brand strategies generating disproportionate return, and six macro-trends altering how fashion is made and sold in Britain.

British FashionGen Z2,200 Respondents480 Depth Interviews

April 2026

Still Water Runs Deep

2026 Consumer Goods Report

The brands winning in the most ordinary product categories find the profound human truth buried in the mundane. A bottle of ketchup eaten at midnight. A cold wash saving £180 a year. The smallest moments - defended with intelligence and consistency over years - build the most durable brands. Examines 80+ campaigns across FMCG, household, personal care, food, beverage, and pet care.

FMCGConsumer Behaviour2,600 Respondents340 Ethnographic Sessions

February 2026

Impact of AI in the Creative Industry

Field Report · Co-authored with Claude · Anthropic

How AI is not replacing the creative class - it is radically rewriting the contract between imagination and execution. The printing press didn't replace writers. It changed what writing could be. AI is doing the same to creativity. A field report from the front lines of the most consequential disruption since the printing press - itself co-authored between a human strategist and an AI, making the argument through its own form.

AICreative IndustryFuture of WorkCo-authored

February 2026

Jacquemus

Luxury Fashion Brand Strategy Case Study

A deep-dive into Jacquemus - how a Provençal sensibility built a global brand without compromising its singular point of view. Jacquemus is one of the only brands that makes the process of brand-building look like the brand itself. Examining how Simon Porte Jacquemus built a brand with global commercial scale while maintaining a personal point of view that larger houses with far greater resources cannot replicate.

Luxury FashionBrand StrategyCase StudyBrand Identity

October 2025

M&S International Expansion

Market Expansion Strategy Analysis

M&S is one of the most distinctly British brands on earth. That specificity is simultaneously its greatest asset and the thing it has consistently failed to deploy correctly internationally. Examining where M&S expansion went wrong, what it got right, and what credible international growth looks like - drawing on M&S's 150+ year history and current international positioning.

Retail StrategyInternational MarketsBritish BrandMarket Entry

2026

Creative Content Marketing Landscape UK

Industry Report · Associated with WYGetArts

The most important shifts in content strategy are happening in the brands that have figured out what they actually believe - and have the courage to say only that. Tracking creative content marketing strategies and cultural forces shaping how British brands build meaning and commercial value in 2026. A benchmark for UK creative content strategy.

UK MarketContent StrategyBrand BuildingWYGetArts

September 2025

Rains, Buying

Scandinavian Brand & Retail Analysis

The interesting question about Rains is not how they made waterproof clothing fashionable. It's how they made the act of standing in the rain feel like a creative choice. Examining how design conviction and restrained communication transformed a functional category into a genuine lifestyle brand - and offering a replicable model for how category transformation happens through design and communication alone.

Lifestyle BrandScandinaviaRetail AnalysisBrand Transformation

Research Reference · 2023

World's Simplest Brands

Siegel+Gale - Tenth Edition · Referenced in Toshin's Research

Siegel+Gale's tenth edition of the world's most comprehensive brand simplicity study - referenced and applied across Toshin's strategic research into consumer behaviour, brand equity, and category leadership. Surveying 15,000+ consumers across nine countries and 800+ brands: a portfolio of the world's simplest brands has outperformed major global indexes by 1,600% since 2009. 64% of consumers will pay more for simpler experiences. 78% are more likely to recommend a brand that communicates simply. Simplicity is not a byproduct of success - it is the mechanism of it.

Brand Simplicity15,000+ Consumers9 CountriesSiegel+Gale

Creative Writing Reference

Twisting the Phrase

Dan Nelken - A Writing Tip for Copywriters · Referenced in Toshin's Research

Dan Nelken's concise guide to one of copywriting's sharpest tools: subverting a familiar phrase to make a brand idea land harder. Referenced in Toshin's research into creative writing craft. The best twists feel inevitable after the fact - which is why they're so difficult to write. Nelken's warning matters most: a sharp tool overused becomes a cheap trick. Restraint is the real skill.

CopywritingCreative CraftAdvertising WritingDan Nelken

Reference · Ogilvy · 2006

Roles of Planners

Ogilvy Planning Framework · Referenced in Toshin's Research

Ogilvy's internal planning framework defining the four levels of the planning discipline - Junior Planner, Planner, Senior Planner, Planning Partner - mapped across market understanding, consumer understanding, strategic development, brand development, creative briefs, channel knowledge, and evaluation. The central framework: the shift from junior to partner is not a linear promotion but an expansion outwards. Learning, Developing, Expanding, Directing. Referenced by Toshin as a foundational model for understanding how strategic thinking compounds through experience and how planning departments function as a unified system rather than a hierarchy of individuals.

PlanningStrategy CareerOgilvyFramework

The Reading List

Books Every
Strategist Should Read

The canon - strategy, creativity, consumer psychology, advertising craft, and planning. Personal picks alongside a tiered reading list for every career stage, from Junior Strategist to Strategic Planner.

By Career StageFrom Junior to Director

01 · Junior StrategistThe Fundamentals

Marketing Theory

JWT Planning Guide 1974

Stephen King · JWT London

The godfather of modern strategic planning. Written to help JWT understand the process of marketing and brand building, this photocopied document has resurfaced as eerily accurate and still applicable to every modern brand problem.

Account PlanningBrand BuildingFoundational

Marketing Theory

Truth, Lies & Advertising

Jon Steel

Account planning exists for the sole purpose of creating advertising that truly connects with consumers. Steel advocates an approach based on simplicity, common sense, and creativity - embracing consumers as partners in the process.

Account PlanningConsumer ResearchAdvertising

Theory

How Brands Grow

Byron Sharp

As close as you'll get to a marketer's new testament. A scientific look at how advertising actually works, with theories counter to popular opinion. Challenges loyalty myths and helps prove the importance of targeting light buyers. Dense - requires multiple reads.

Brand GrowthEvidence-BasedByron Sharp

Creativity

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This

Luke Sullivan, Edward Boches

Has helped generations of young creatives make their mark. From getting work to building successful campaigns - a real-world perspective on authenticity, simplicity, storytelling, and what it means to be great in a fast-moving industry.

Advertising CreativeBrand StoriesStorytelling

Marketing Theory

Ogilvy on Advertising

David Ogilvy

A candid and indispensable primer on all aspects of advertising from the man Time called "the most sought after wizard in the business." How to get work, choose agencies, write copy, and understand the secrets behind advertising that actually works.

Advertising FundamentalsOgilvy CanonCopywriting

Marketing Theory

Under Think It

Adam Pierno

Strategy should be the beating heart of any agency or marketing team - but people on the inside have been making it overly complicated for years. A comprehensive set of tools for planners and strategists with real-world examples, sharp wit, and genuine experience.

Strategy ToolkitPlannersPractical

Marketing Theory

How Not to Plan

Les Binet & Sarah Carter

A practical handbook that busts myths and nonsense swirling around marketing and communications, using evidence-based approaches and interesting examples. Leaves room for your scribbles and can be read as a guide or used as a constant helpful reference point.

Evidence-BasedCommon MistakesPlanning

Marketing Theory

A Masterclass in Brand Planning

Stephen King

In 1988, on Stephen King's retirement, JWT published 'The King Papers' - a collection of articles spanning 1967–1985. Each introduced by a known practitioner describing its relevance today. An almost unexploited gold mine that serves as a primary source for sophisticated, contemporary thinking.

Brand PlanningJWTClassics

Writing

On Writing Well

William Zinsser

The classic guide to non-fiction writing. Whether writing about people, science, business, or yourself - Zinsser offers fundamental principles as well as insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. Essential for any strategist who has to communicate with clarity.

Writing CraftNon-FictionClarity

Marketing Theory

Tested Advertising Methods

John Caples

A marketing classic applying "cold-blooded methods of mail order" to general advertising. Its greatest gift is an experimental view that discards opinions, theories, and prejudices in favour of perpetual testing and on-the-fly optimisation.

Direct ResponseTestingCopywriting

02 · StrategistBroadening Your Knowledge

Marketing Theory

The Long and the Short of It

Les Binet & Peter Field

Examines the tension between long and short-term strategies, providing evidence-based recommendations on advertising investment. Focuses on how campaign results develop over time and warns against using short-term online metrics as primary performance measures.

EffectivenessBrand vs ActivationIPA Data

Marketing Theory

Eat Your Greens

Wiemer Snijders

The marketing world is awash with myths and misconceptions. Inspired by genuine advances in marketing science, this collection challenges us to change how we think by taking data and technology and applying evidence-based thinking to the practice of marketing and communications.

Evidence-BasedMarketing ScienceFacts

Behavioural Economics

The Choice Factory

Richard Shotton

25 behavioural biases that influence what we buy. An entertaining and highly-accessible read exploring how our behaviour is shaped by psychological shortcuts - with 25 short chapters each outlining easy ways to apply cognitive biases to real business challenges.

Behavioural ScienceConsumer PsychologyShotton

Neuroscience

Unconscious Branding

Douglas Van Praet

For too long marketers have been asking the wrong question. Van Praet takes the most revolutionary concepts from cognitive science and applies them to how we market, advertise, and consume - going beyond asking why, to ask how behaviour change actually occurs.

Cognitive ScienceBehaviour ChangeNeuroscience

Marketing Theory

Paid Attention

Faris Yakob

When you can no longer buy enough attention for advertising to remain efficient - how do brands respond? Spanning communication theory, neuroscience, creativity, media history, and emerging technologies, this explores how ideas move people and how advertising must change.

Digital AdvertisingAttention EconomyCommunications Theory

Writing

The Artful Edit

Susan Bell

The many-faceted and often overlooked art of editing. Susan Bell, a veteran book editor, offers strategic tips and exercises for self-editing and remarkable interviews with authors like Michael Ondaatje and Ann Patchett - for strategists who write briefs and decks.

EditingWriting QualityPrecision

Behavioural Economics

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

Nobel Prize winner Kahneman explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, emotional. System 2 is slower, more deliberative, more logical. Essential for understanding how cognitive biases shape every marketing and consumer decision.

Behavioural EconomicsSystem 1 & 2Kahneman

Writing

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Stephen King

Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time. Revealing and practical, comprising the basic tools every writer must have. King's advice - read a lot, write a lot, kill your adverbs - applies directly to strategy documents and briefs.

Writing CraftDisciplineCraft

Advertising History

Where The Suckers Moon

Randall Rothenberg

The true-story battle between agencies pitching a car account. You'll learn the history of advertising theory and the inner workings of the industry. A litmus test to see if you have the right constitution for advertising - with its emotional highs and soul-sapping lows in equal measure.

Agency LifeAdvertising HistoryReal Story

Behavioural Economics

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Jonah Berger

Reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious - from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumours and YouTube videos. Essential for understanding virality.

ViralityWord of MouthSocial Transmission

Marketing Theory

Brain Surfing

Heather LeFevre

LeFevre apprenticed herself with today's most brilliant marketing strategists, living with each mentor and uncovering principles for building the world's most respected brands. A book that combines marketing know-how with life philosophy - you'll learn while thoroughly enjoying the journey.

Marketing StrategyMentorshipBrand Building

03 · Senior StrategistDeep Understanding

Creativity

A Beautiful Constraint

Adam Morgan & Mark Barden

How to take limitations - lack of time, money, resources, attention - and find in them the opportunity for transformation. Based on 35 personal interviews from Nike, IKEA, Formula One engineers, and barley farmers in South Africa. A practical handbook for making more from less.

ConstraintsCreative Problem SolvingInnovation

Marketing Theory

Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Eaon Pritchard

Adventures at the Dunning-Kruger Peak of Advertising. Somewhere the advertising business lost the plot. Let's tackle it head-on with punk rock, cheap philosophy and evolutionary psychology. Dave Trott says every planner should read this. He's right.

Industry CritiqueEvolutionary PsychologyDunning-Kruger

Behavioural Economics

Alchemy

Rory Sutherland

The surprising power of ideas that don't make sense. Rory Sutherland blends cutting-edge behavioural science with jaw-dropping stories on his mission to turn us into idea alchemists. The big problems we face could be solved by letting go of logic and embracing the irrational.

IrrationalityBehavioural ScienceSutherland

Creativity

Lateral Thinking

Edward de Bono

Why do some people always seem to have new ideas while others of equal intelligence never do? De Bono argues conventional vertical thinking inhibits problem solving. Lateral thinking is a far easier and more natural way to generate simple, sound and effective ideas.

Creative ThinkingProblem SolvingDe Bono

Writing

How to Write a Good Advertisement

Victor O. Schwab

Ad Age called Schwab "the greatest mail-order copywriter of all time." This book wants to make you a good copywriter - meaning one whose all-absorbing aspiration is the production of sales, not the production of compliments. A versatile five-step method relevant to any marketing copy.

CopywritingDirect ResponseSales

Creativity

One Plus One Equals Three

Dave Trott

A masterclass in creative thinking combining Trott's Zen-like storytelling, humour, and practical advice. Stories of unconventional wisdom from one of the world's true advertising greats - a rallying cry for anyone who wants to think differently, stand out and truly innovate.

Creative ThinkingInnovationDave Trott

Marketing Theory

Cultural Strategy

Douglas Holt & Douglas Cameron

Posits a new marketing paradigm of 'cultural innovation.' Brands achieve mainstream success by championing a 'better' ideology, not just a better product. Challenges planners to do cultural homework, make brands authentic champions of their subculture, and think differently.

Cultural InnovationBrand IdeologyCultural Strategy

Creativity

A Technique for Producing Ideas

James Webb Young

This concise book demystifies ideation, showing it to be a discipline that can be mastered to reliably produce creative breakthroughs. Step-by-step instruction for planners, copywriters, designers, and engineers. William Bernbach called it more valuable than the most learned and detailed texts on advertising.

IdeationCreative ProcessTechnique

Creativity

Where Good Ideas Come From

Steven Johnson

Seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, traced across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that appear at moments of originality.

InnovationIdeasSeven Patterns

04 · Strategic PlannerLeadership & More

Data Bias

Invisible Women

Caroline Criado Perez

Data is fundamental to the modern world. But because so much data fails to take into account gender - treating men as the default and women as atypical - bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. A groundbreaking exposé that will change how you look at the world.

Data BiasGenderResearch

Advertising

Madison Avenue Manslaughter

Michael Farmer

The advertising industry has reached a critical point. Agencies are destroying themselves with growing workloads and declining fees. Farmer's exposé offers the world's first effective definition of the real agency problem and corrective solutions to avoid inevitable disaster.

Agency BusinessIndustry CritiqueManagement

Leadership

The Effective Manager

Mark Horstman

A hands-on practical guide to great management at every level. Distills 25 years of management training expertise into clear, actionable steps. Four critical behaviours that make a manager great - and how to adjust your own behaviour to be the leader your team needs.

ManagementLeadershipTeam Building

Philosophy

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor Frankl

Frankl's memoir, written from four Nazi death camps, and its lessons for spiritual survival. He argues we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it and find meaning in it. His logotherapy holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

PhilosophyMeaningResilience

Leadership

Agency: Starting a Creative Firm

Rick Webb

A comprehensive guidebook giving readers the knowledge, strategies, and understanding to make the transition into a modern creative services firm. Drawing from Webb's experience running the Barbarian Group and working with countless innovative tech start-ups.

Agency LeadershipEntrepreneurshipCreative Business

Leadership

Tribe of Mentors

Tim Ferriss

A compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from 130+ of the world's top performers - from iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors. Short profiles designed to help you answer life's most challenging questions and achieve extraordinary results.

MentorshipPeak PerformanceLife Advice

Category Design

Play Bigger

Ramadan, Peterson, Lochhead, Maney

A primer on category design that refutes Silicon Valley's holiest precepts. The best product doesn't always win - different wins, great category thinking wins. The first company to develop, define and popularise a new category ultimately dominates the market.

Category DesignMarket DominationInnovation

Leadership

The First 90 Days

Michael D. Watkins

Proven strategies for getting up to speed faster and smarter. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardise or even derail your success. Watkins offers strategies for conquering transition challenges at any career stage.

Leadership TransitionsNew RolesOnboarding

Leadership

High Output Management

Andrew S. Grove

Born from Grove's experiences at Intel, this is a practical handbook for navigating real-life business scenarios and a powerful management manifesto. Equally appropriate for sales managers, consultants, and teachers as for CEOs and startup founders.

ManagementProductivityIntel

Psychology

Seducing the Subconscious

Robert Heath

Explores the complexities of our relationship to advertising using experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Heath outlines his theory of the subconscious influence of advertising in its audience's lives - and notes especially the ethical implications of advertising's evolution.

Advertising PsychologySubconsciousNeuroscience

Philosophy

This is Water

David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace's 2005 Kenyon College commencement address - the only public talk he ever gave on his views on life. How does one keep from going through their comfortable life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion?

PhilosophyCompassionConsciousness

05 · Essential AdditionsNo Bullsh*t Included

Strategy

No Bullsh*t Strategy

Alex M H Smith

Strategy is not a word for complicated plans. It is a word for a specific kind of choice. Smith strips away the jargon, the frameworks-for-frameworks, and the consultant theatre to define strategy as one thing: the decision about what you will not do. The most honest strategy book written in the last decade.

StrategyPositioningNo Jargon

Strategy

Good Strategy / Bad Strategy

Richard Rumelt

Rumelt draws a sharp line between real strategy and the kind of goal-setting masquerading as strategy that fills most boardrooms. A kernel of good strategy has three elements: a diagnosis of the challenge, a guiding policy, and coherent actions. Most strategy documents have none of them.

StrategyCompetitive AdvantageRumelt

Positioning

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Al Ries & Jack Trout

The book that named the discipline. Positioning is not what you do to a product - it is what you do to the mind of the prospect. First published in 1981, every concept in modern brand positioning descends from this short, uncomfortable book. The ladder metaphor alone is worth the read.

PositioningBrand PerceptionClassic

Creative Strategy

Predatory Thinking

Dave Trott

A companion volume to One Plus One Equals Three that concentrates purely on the competitive angle of creative thinking. How do you outthink people with more resources, more reach, and more history? By thinking about the problem differently, not harder. Short, surgical, applicable.

Creative ThinkingCompetitive StrategyDave Trott

Brand Strategy

Eating the Big Fish

Adam Morgan

The canonical challenger brand bible. Morgan argues that Challenger brands - those that are not market leaders and do not have the resources to outspend the incumbent - must play by different rules. Eight credos for brands that want to punch above their weight by thinking beneath everyone else's radar.

Challenger BrandsBrand StrategyUnderdog

Copywriting

The Copy Book

D&AD

32 of the world's greatest copywriters explain how they work, what they believe, and what makes copy worth reading. Produced by D&AD, the book is less instruction manual and more philosophical argument - about the relationship between language, persuasion, and the ethics of advertising.

CopywritingD&ADAdvertising Craft

Marketing Theory

Lemon

Orlando Wood

IPA's Orlando Wood diagnoses what has gone wrong with modern advertising by mapping the shift from right-brain to left-brain creative - from warm, character-led, emotionally resonant work toward cold, abstract, message-heavy executions. The data behind why most modern advertising is forgettable.

Creative EffectivenessRight BrainIPA Research

Behavioural Economics

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert Cialdini

Six principles of influence that govern human compliance behaviour: Reciprocity, Commitment and Consistency, Social Proof, Authority, Liking, Scarcity. The most cited behavioural science framework in marketing. Read it to understand why it works. Then use it with restraint.

PersuasionBehavioural ScienceCialdini

Luxury Strategy

The Luxury Strategy

Jean-Noël Kapferer & Vincent Bastien

The definitive strategic manual for luxury brands. Kapferer and Bastien argue that luxury operates by anti-laws of marketing - it must not respond to demand, it must not compare itself to competition, it must not worry about accessibility. The most rigorous framework for understanding what luxury actually is.

LuxuryKapfererBrand Architecture

Creativity

Creative Mischief

Dave Trott

Trott's most personal book - a collection of stories, provocations, and observations from a career spent thinking differently. Less instruction manual than the others, more a portrait of a creative mind in motion. Read for the mindset, not the method.

CreativityAdvertisingDave Trott

Media Strategy

Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy

Phil Barden

Barden applies behavioural economics and neuroscience directly to the purchase decision - explaining why people buy what they buy and how brands can design for the unconscious decision system. The most applied neuroscience book in the list: every chapter has a direct strategic implication.

Purchase BehaviourNeuroscienceBrand Design

Marketing Theory

Distinctive Assets

Jenni Romaniuk

The academic rigour Byron Sharp brings to brand growth, Romaniuk applies to brand identity. What makes a brand element - a colour, a character, a shape, a sound - genuinely distinctive vs. merely different? The science behind why some brands are instantly recognisable and others are not, despite decades of investment.

Brand IdentityDistinctive AssetsEhrenberg-Bass

Account Planning

Account Planning Group: Creative Planning Awards

APG

The APG's annual collection of the best planning thinking in the industry. Not a book in the conventional sense - a serial publication of the strategies behind the most effective campaigns of each year. More current and more specific than any textbook. Essential reading for anyone who wants to see planning in action.

Account PlanningCase StudiesAPG

Creative Strategy

The Art of the Pitch

Peter Coughter

Coughter's definitive guide to presenting creative work - the moment at which all strategic thinking is either landed or lost. How to structure a pitch, how to read a room, how to make an idea irresistible to people who did not come up with it. The strategist's most practical communication skill.

PresentingPitchingCreative Selling

Philosophy of Creativity

The War of Art

Steven Pressfield

Pressfield names the force that prevents creative people from doing their best work: Resistance. Not lack of talent, not lack of time, not lack of resources - Resistance. The book is a 30-minute read with a lifetime of application. Required reading before any creative project that matters.

CreativityResistanceDiscipline

Brand Building

The Brand Gap

Marty Neumeier

The gap between business strategy and customer experience is where most brands die. Neumeier's visual, ultra-concise argument for why brand is not a logo, not a product, not a promise - it is a gut feeling in the mind of another person. The most elegant definition of brand in print.

Brand BuildingDesignStrategy

Advertising History

From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor

Jerry Della Femina

The original Mad Men memoir, written in 1970 while it was still happening. Della Femina's account of the New York advertising scene at its most creative, most chaotic, and most consequential is the most honest portrait of agency life ever committed to print. Hilarious, uncomfortable, and essential.

Advertising HistoryAgency Life1960s

Advertising Theory · JWT 1974 + Contagious

Ideas That Work.
Proof They Sell.

Advertising theory drawn from JWT's 1974 Planning Guide and Contagious "Did it Sell?" research - the frameworks and campaign results that prove what advertising is actually for.

JWT Planning Guide, 1974 · The Five Questions That Never Go Out of Date

Where are we?

Where does our brand stand now, compared with competitors, in the market and in people's minds? Where have we come from, and in what direction do we seem to be heading?

Why are we there?

Which factors, whether or not under the manufacturer's control, have led to our brand's current strengths and weaknesses? How have they interacted over time?

Where could we be?

What, realistically, could the position of our brand be in the future? Is it a new position or the defence of our present one? No analysis alone will reveal this; it requires imagination.

How could we get there?

What changes to the marketing mix are needed? What role and objectives should advertising play? What creative campaigns could achieve those advertising objectives?

Are we getting there?

Is advertising achieving its objectives? Is the total effect of the marketing mix working? Answering this restarts the cycle at question one with new, more accurate information.

JWT Planning Guide, 1974 · What Ideal Planning Methods Must Be

Realistic

Based on what actually works in practice, not on external structures imposed on normal working patterns. Must be capable of development and evolution by individuals over time.

Pragmatic

Must actually work. Must help people produce advertising that is both creative and relevant. That means being simple, memorable, and easy to follow in real working conditions.

Fundamental

Though simple in form, must be built on coherent theories of how advertising contributes to marketing, how communications work, and how people create new ideas together.

Structured

Must set a framework within which imagination has room to work. Breaks complex processes into stages, sets disciplines, and provides for regular evaluation of work done.

How Brands Appeal · Three Kinds of Brand Appeal

Appeals to the Senses

How the brand looks, smells, tastes, feels and sounds - whether in the pack or as a product in use. These sensory cues form the most immediate layer of brand impression and are the hardest for competitors to replicate exactly.

Appeals to Reason

What the brand does, what it is for, what it contains and how it performs. Rational appeals tend to be the most important motivators for purchasing a product category - and also the most likely to be shared by competing brands.

Appeals to the Emotions

What the brand's individual nature or style is, what associations it carries, what mood it evokes, and what psychological rewards come from using it. Emotional appeals are usually the most powerful differentiators between functionally similar brands.

Strategy Fundamentals · Motivators vs. Discriminators

Motivators

Drive category purchase

Why people buy the product type at all. Usually shared across all competing brands. Necessary but not sufficient for brand success. The most important motivators are also typically the most common across all brands in a category.

Discriminators

Separate brands from competitors

Add value and make the brand unique in the category. Without discriminators, a brand can only compete on price. Brand personality often depends on the blend of both types. The balance between them shifts over the brand lifecycle.

How Communications Work · Five Things Every Planner Should Know

Advertising that reinforces people's existing ideas or modifies them slightly is more likely to work than advertising that tries to convert people to radically new ones. The most affected audience is almost always people already buying the brand.

Advertising is particularly easy to ignore through selective perception. It will only be received at all if it connects with the audience's existing interests, motivations or attitudes.

The advertiser has inherently low credibility as a sender. Over-claiming or an overbearing tone of voice is likely to be counter-productive. Credibility is built primarily by delivering on the brand's performance promises.

An advertisement is received as a totality - viewers don't separate content from form. Individual elements only have meaning in combination. Medium, words, pictures, sounds, associations, and tone all work together.

The response to an advertisement may be very different from the intentions behind it. It is the response that matters, not the advertisement. What people take from a communication is by no means always what was put into it.

The Core Insight

"Communication should not be thought of as the sending and receiving of a message; it is more the sending of a stimulus and the making of a response."

This reframing - from broadcast to dialogue - was radical in 1974 and is still routinely misunderstood today. It means the real design challenge in advertising is not the content of the stimulus but the response it is designed to produce.

JWT London · Planning Guide · March 1974

Contagious · Did It Sell? · Campaigns With Verified Results

Burger King · FCB New York

Whopper Detour

Burger King sold its flagship burger for one cent - but only to customers standing inside a McDonald's. The geofencing campaign required a full year of technical work to cover 7,000 BK restaurants and over 40,000 McDonald's locations across the US.

1.5m

New app downloads in 9 days

700%

Increase in app product sales

27:1

Campaign return on investment

200%

App sales growth post-promo

Nike · Wieden+Kennedy

Dream Crazy

Nike signed Colin Kaepernick to headline the 30th anniversary of "Just Do It." The campaign polarised opinion and immediately became international news, moving the needle for the brand faster than almost any campaign before it.

31%

Sales increase within 48 hours

$43m

Earned media in 24 hours

1300%

Rise in Nike Twitter mentions

$83.47

Share price all-time high

SK-II · Forsman and Bodenfors

Marriage Market Takeover

SK-II transformed a Shanghai marriage market - where unmarried women over 25 are publicly advertised - into a celebration of the women themselves, replacing suitor-seeking signs with messages of independence and filming their parents' emotional responses.

50%

YoY sales growth, first 6 months

100%

Brand awareness increase in China

7.2m

Social actions generated

3×

New SK-II customers in China

Coca-Cola · Ogilvy + Wieden+Kennedy

Share a Coke

Launched in Australia after research found half of teenagers hadn't tried Coke in the past month. The campaign swapped the logo for 150 of the country's most popular names. It later rolled out to over 70 countries.

11%

Overall volume & revenue increase

19%

YoY growth in 20oz category

Virtual bottles created online

1.16bn

Paid & earned media impressions

Pedigree · Colenso BBDO Auckland

Child Replacement Programme

Pedigree found its next growth segment in empty nesters. A microsite matched each parent to a rescue dog based on the personality of their departed child. New Zealand already had one of the highest dog ownership rates in the world.

16%

Sales increase in 6-week campaign

825%

Rise in dog adoption enquiries

4.5:1

Campaign return on investment

Dry dog food in NZ for first time

Core Creative Strategy

Craft Skills
Matrix

Six disciplines. Six career stages. A full-stack map of what strategic planners do and what they need to master - from Graduate to Partner.

Discipline	Graduate	Associate	Senior Associate	Leader	Director	Partner
Clarify the Problem What has been asked of us and what should we do?	...understand the purpose & context of a client engagement and agency's role	...help shape a client engagement and ensure it delivers for their business	...rigorously articulate & interrogate client needs to keep the strategy on track	...reframe the problem to identify new opportunities for the client and agency	...challenge assumptions & lead across disciplines so that the entire picture makes sense	...act as a counsel to C-suite clients and form valuable partnership for the agency
	Summarise a client brief Read a sales or company report Know the fundamentals of branding (emotional/rational, blind/branded) Understand the role, benefits & limits of digital	Interpret a client brief Understand sales & revenue dynamics of a client (volume, value, share, pricing, distribution, AWP) Understand different aspects of client's business (marketing, sales, org, IT)	Capture & Translate a client brief into an actionable plan to guide agency disciplines Understand the fundamentals of a client balance sheet & business plan Complete a Business Model or value proposition canvas for client or project	Senior stakeholder & industry expert engagement Articulate the different types of brand & frames strategy for different sectors (retail, luxury, service, corporate) Define the true nature of a client problem (decreased loyalty, category or favourability decline, new entrants, changed purchase dynamics)	Understands how to give direction and partner with client and different brand, comms, service design and IT agencies Help senior clients to formulate better briefs and tasks	Formulate and make recommendations regarding a client's business strategy
Insight Creation Finding things out, filtering them, rethinking them laterally to inspire	...identify & report on interesting & relevant patterns from diverse sources	...communicate an actionable data-led insight from brand, audience, culture & category	...understands how to use research to create original & innovative insights	...help others to develop actionable insights that are based on rigorous understanding and proof	...develop an insight or research framework that becomes fundamental to a client's or agency business	...develop an insight or research framework that influences wider culture or industry
	Know an Insight v Observation Understands categories & roles of research (Gallery, Qual v Quant) Create & present summaries of trend reports Create & present competitor reviews Synthesise desk research for relevance Well versed in free social & analytic tools (Google Trends etc)	Understand principles & practice of consumer segmentation & profiling Knowledge of key research sources (WARC, Mintel, Forrester, TGI, GWI, IDIOM) Design questionnaires, exit surveys, card sorts, screeners, discussion guides Make recommendations from user testing & usability studies Consistently demonstrates ability to synthesize implications ("so whats?") from analysis	Experience of moderating qual research (on & offline) Originates consumer/technology trend thinking Pushes for the use of more original research approaches (semiotics, Ethno) Knows where to look for insightful research and discoveries Provides a high quality interpretation of research findings	Confident moderating qual research (on & offline) Quick to understand how psychology impacts brand choice & human behaviour Experience applying behavioural economics principles & frameworks Quickly identifies the sources of information & insight appropriate to a defined client problem Existing research, behaviour data, theory, case studies Able to manage data science team outputs (can tell an Intertopic from a K-Means)	Able to assess research findings at speed to find new knowledge & patterns Directs others to quickly access relevant sources of information & techniques for analysis Understands how to create/run a major research project	Produce original research that results in ground breaking or industry redefining innovations Recognised by industry as a thought leader in field(s) of expertise
Set the Path Giving inspiration, clarity & direction. Telling the team about what needs to be done	...understand the role & process of creating a great idea or experience	...see the alternate strategic routes for a problem and articulate the chosen direction	...inspire a wider team and act as the domain expert to keep them on track	...brief and collaborate constructively even when the final course of activity is unknown	...act as a triumvirate with CP & CD to ensure positive direction of activity	...originate a new vision that transforms a client's business and organisation
	Understand a brief v briefing Know what makes a good/bad brief(ing)	Defines clear, actionable objectives Appreciates the components of brand & communications strategy (objectives, segmentation, positioning, targeting) Write a single minded creative brief Confident briefing creative & UX teams	Articulates detailed, cross-discipline objectives frameworks tied to measurement Uses new or inspiring methods of briefing	Knows how to brief for an idea versus different media and channels executions Leads multi-discipline innovation workstreams	Leads the creation of a new digital & brand experience strategies across wider client business not just campaign/project Integrates on/offline business, experience and campaign elements	Defines and communicates "What's Next" and future trends Able to lead other leaders and provide strategic direction to the organisation
Ideation Helping creative & other disciplines come up with better ideas, faster	...express my enthusiasm and passion for ideas in a helpful & valuable way	...support the creation of an idea that is right for audience & brand	...act as a team catalyst via persuasion and facilitation	...develop new & innovative ways for ideas, experiences & campaigns to work	...lead a project commanding attention & action to get the best from people and partners	...ensure ideas are industry leading and reputation building
	Make valuable contributions to brainstorms and workshops Documents and shares great work (problem, insight, idea, execution)	Facilitating brainstorms Supporting creative with relevant and timely stimulus Provide sensitive and clear advice in creative development of an idea Help creative teams articulate ideas	Identify and articulate "the idea" and whether it is on or off brand Act as a producer or activity owner during internal & external workshops Develop & communicate guidelines for content & tone of voice	Design and moderate original workshops Able to develop different territories and brief teams to explore them "Bakes in" channel/technology thinking to creative strategy	Creates radical new models for the future of brand and communication Draws upon external sources & discipline experience to inspire and enhance strategies	Challenges what the agency's expected "product" is and takes it in new directions
Prototyping & Storytelling Defining the idea, proving, communicating & selling it	...assist in the communication and bringing to life of an idea	...make a successful deliverable that tells a compelling story or is a tangible proof	...communicate clearly & intelligently about complex ideas, systems & strategies	...adapt approach to prove concepts and ensure a winning outcome	...pioneer new ways of working and "selling" the idea	...advance ways for realising strategy and ideas that impact industry culture
	Articulate the different types of idea (brand, campaign, execution) Assist in the creation of stimulus and experiments	Can formulate a clear hypothesis and recommend methods for testing it Confident representing data in visual formats and telling a story Transform an idea into a coherent outline, storyboard or paper prototype	Articulate the idea & why it works Can create pitch standard deliverables Engage clients regardless of position with a narrative that wins them over Apply real-time feedback into idea Lead & manage experiments to prove viability of concepts, ideas & executions	Present compelling stories in original rather than formulaic ways Can structure and lead a winning pitch Pre-test, validate and adapt an idea to ensure impact on brand/business (KPIs, System1, Qual & Quant stim tests)	Hold Marketing Director & C-suite level presentations Assists in the creation of "convincers" or proof of concepts	Creates deliverables or think pieces that are widely replicated and built upon internally and externally
Manifesting the Work Crafting the experience journey and delivery detail that brings the idea to life	...help with the practical implementation of strategic & digital work	...take a strategic idea or plan and with supervision & support bring it to life	...take a strategic idea and expand it out into a fully realisable initiative	...implement deeper, practical knowledge about key disciplines & content, data & technology	...influence senior clients in experimenting with new channels, content & technology	...partner with senior clients to transform their wider digital capabilities
	Explain the pros & cons of different channels for a task & audience Understanding of experience journeys Experience in process & requirements for managing social platforms (e.g. YouTube)	Document & visualise simple experience journeys in clear & compelling ways Can write a channel/technology plan across Paid, Owned, Earned media Knows the potential reach, affinity & reaction value of different channels for brand and audience	Identify & prioritise key barriers & opportunities in an experience journey Create a brand experience eco-system Document Requirements Capture & stakeholder interviews Write use cases, user journeys & stories Understands the requirements and practicalities of content/social ideas and how to incorporate into a strategy Creates messaging frameworks	Detailed but clear holistic frameworks Apply service design thinking Roadmap the practical phases to a campaign or project in collaboration with the wider team Develops detailed strategies for specific disciplines (e.g. social, mobile, content, CRM)	Creates recommendations about media spend levels and apportionment Own the development of a T-map or roadmap for digital transformation Develop service/experience blueprints Create tools & frameworks adopted by other strategists	Provide consultancy level digital transformation skills and advice
Measurement & Effectiveness Showing the work works	...understand what drives the impact of strategy & help gather the evidence	...understand the mechanics of effectiveness and how to build a proof	...define what effectiveness looks like and why; gather & analyse the proof	...lead the cross discipline & agency teams needed to prove effectiveness	...show recognised expertise linked to the proven value of work	...evolve and enhance new methodologies & theories behind effectiveness
Measurement & Effectiveness Showing the work works	Understand different categories of measures (e.g. lead, lag, sales, ROI) Reads effectiveness papers Knowledge of SEO & SEM principles Basic analytics reports (e.g. traffic, sources, bounce rates, conversion)	Understands the logic of how to prove effectiveness (controls, econometrics) Understand KPIs, targets & data sources Understands the uses & implications of testing methodologies (A/B, multivariate)	Uses data and analytics tools to measure the effectiveness of activity and optimise as a result of learnings (GA, YouTube) Differentiates between helpful & unhelpful data to enable clients to appreciate its true value and relevance Develop an effectiveness roadmap or model Knowledge of channel specific KPIs and their importance	Write a KPI plan that ladders to clear business & brand objectives with a practical source & implementing RACI Model the impact of traffic, conversion rates & purchase behaviour on ROI (funnels, growth formulas, AWP trees) Can understand, select and optimise different attribution techniques (e.g. Markov)	Writes effectiveness case studies or award entries Contributes to the creation of econometric models and tracking activity Sets up projects for integrated evaluation from the start	Writes winning entries to effectiveness awards (e.g. Effies, IPAs)

TOSHIN
HASAN Tazdid

Strategy
Framework

Brand Strategy
Methodology

McGuire's 16 Psychological Motives

The Brand Bond Pyramid

The 4C Framework

Strategy on a Page

Simplicity as Competitive Advantage

Referenced Frameworks

The Economics
of Simplicity

Four Projects.
End to End.

House of Recluse

Jeep Bangladesh

Air Astra

FUZION

Campaign
Breakdowns

Free Range Proof
Not Free Range Claims

The Audio Ad
You Can See

Sunny Death Metal

Going Far to Bring
People Together

In a World of Telco
Leaders, You Rule

Published
Works

Books Every
Strategist Should Read

Ideas That Work.
Proof They Sell.

Further
Reading & Resources

Craft Skills
Matrix

GET INTOUCH

TOSHINHASAN Tazdid

StrategyFramework

Brand StrategyMethodology

McGuire's 16 Psychological Motives

The Brand Bond Pyramid

The 4C Framework

Strategy on a Page

Simplicity as Competitive Advantage

Referenced Frameworks

The Economicsof Simplicity

Four Projects.End to End.

House of Recluse

Jeep Bangladesh

Air Astra

FUZION

CampaignBreakdowns

Free Range ProofNot Free Range Claims

The Audio AdYou Can See

Sunny Death Metal

Going Far to BringPeople Together

In a World of TelcoLeaders, You Rule

PublishedWorks

Books EveryStrategist Should Read

Ideas That Work.Proof They Sell.

FurtherReading & Resources

Craft SkillsMatrix

GET INTOUCH

TOSHIN
HASAN Tazdid

Strategy
Framework

Brand Strategy
Methodology

The Economics
of Simplicity

Four Projects.
End to End.

Campaign
Breakdowns

Free Range Proof
Not Free Range Claims

The Audio Ad
You Can See

Going Far to Bring
People Together

In a World of Telco
Leaders, You Rule

Published
Works

Books Every
Strategist Should Read

Ideas That Work.
Proof They Sell.

Further
Reading & Resources

Craft Skills
Matrix