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An eight year story of better business growth

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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Membership program growth into the 100Ms</span></h2>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Entering and owning new cultural spaces</span></h2>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;">New approach to inclusive product design &amp; sizing</span></h2>
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UPSIDES

<h2>In the early 2010s, adidas was struggling to keep pace. Revenue was falling and the competition was getting fiercer. Not only did the business have to compete with established sports brands, but there was a new wave of training-focused and lifestyle-led sports brands making ground. adidas needed to be re-energised.</h2>


<p>We have been a partner throughout adidas’ accelerated growth in the last eight years. During this time, we have contributed to the evolution of a new brand marketing and innovation function for adidas Women’s, the development of products, services and partnerships for this category, and the co-creation of a new app ecosystem.</p>
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Breaking down the barriers preventing women participating in sport, we created a blueprint for future women’s initiatives, including the Creator Studio women’s wellness space, more inclusive product sizing, an everyday athlete skincare range in collaboration with COTY, and a partnership with IKEA for ‘sport at home’ products and services. 

1. Breaking barriers

Whilst adidas already had a clear approach to sustainability, they were looking for a strategy that could guide diversity and inclusion throughout the company. Working at speed, we devised a total brand inclusivity approach, across product, storytelling and community engagement, across all business categories. With clear commitments and focused resources, the result is an impactful and authentic approach to both people and planet. <br />


2. A people-led purpose  

Undertaking extensive research into the creator economy, we defined key user segments, behaviours and a roadmap of opportunities for the brand to play an authentic role. Our work to date has informed many initiatives, including The MakerLab and their ventures into the metaverse with Confirmed App. 

3. Powering the creator economy

Highlights

The team at The Upside are perfect thought partners for a myriad of business challenges. They are the ones I consistently turn to when we need to solve the toughest problems.

The Upside are amongst my most recommended partners. I’ve always appreciated them as thought partners with integrity who aren’t afraid to challenge. They blend the creative with the scientific, they’re highly tuned in to culture - and bring a great network to boot. Every member of their team meets the same high standard too. The work we’ve done together leaves me feeling very well equipped to drive change

It’s so rare that you find a (consulting) partner that you return to time and time again. With The Upside we have nurtured a deep and long term relationship that has helped us across a range of product, consumer, technology and design challenges. Their ability for zooming out, bringing in left field inspiration and pushing us to think differently has made a real difference in our business.

ADIDAS

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logo-adidas

Navigating the path of establishing a platform business

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From helpful products to helping humanity: a multi-year collaboration 

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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>5x growth in Google Brand Studio team</strong></span></h2>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Uplift in positive brand perception</strong></span></h2>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Record-breaking brand campaigns</strong></span></h2>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Sustained commitment to communities</strong></span></h2>
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Google_2015_logo

<h2>Over the past 22 years, Google technology has become an everyday utility, used by billions of people to find answers and organise information. However, as the company has grown, so has skepticism about their motivations and intent. Whilst Google continued to create helpful products, the challenge has been to demonstrate their wider commitment to improving the lives of as many people as possible.</h2>


<p>For the past 5+ years, we’ve partnered with the Global Brand Studio to show how Google makes a positive impact, at scale. Working with them from initial opportunity to final delivery, our end-to-end partnership has helped to create a home for the brand on about.google, a global publishing engine, a rigorous analytics capability, industry-leading campaigns, and a more sustained commitment to underrepresented communities.</p>
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We partnered with Google to create a dynamic and all-encompassing home for the brand, on about.google. From this home, we’ve since helped to create a COVID-Hub to provide critical and relevant information, developed a storytelling platform to communicate brand values, and are currently working on a new content strategy to demonstrate how Google is helping to build a world where everyone belongs. <br />


1. A single brand home

We helped Google develop their process to manage, measure and analyse data to optimize their brand communication, content and experiences. Pulling together a range of both qualitative and quantitative data sources, our team at The Upside works on an ongoing basis to generate insight and intelligence to inform key brand decisions. <br />
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2. Data-driven excellence 

Through two primary research projects, we helped Google get a clear understanding about how they can have a more impactful and purposeful role in supporting both Black America and gender equality. Moving away beyond a sporadic approach based on showing up in one-off cultural moments, we illuminated the issues both communities face, their perception of Google and identified opportunities to provide genuine and authentic support. <br />


3. Impactful inclusivity 

When you work with the Upside you don’t just get a consultancy, you get invested partners - a dedicated team of passionate strategists, innovators, thinkers and doers who work side by side with you to create great work.

When you work with The Upside you don’t just get a consultancy, you get invested partners - a dedicated team of passionate strategists, innovators, thinkers and doers who work side by side with you to create great work.

The Upside is an incredible team of collaborators and strategic thinkers. They are passionate about getting to the heart of the impact, especially when it came to our efforts around disability inclusion. As trusted partners, they come alongside the journey with you and elevate your purpose.

After five years of strong partnership, The Upside has become a strategic lifeline for our team. They bring clarifying perspectives and challenges, always rooted in data and strategic insights. Their partnership pushes our work to be integrated and innovative, while staying true to our brand.

Google 

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Shifting from an advertising-led approach to becoming a content publisher

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CENTRICA

Powering a greener energy future 

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<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Centrica, the holding group containing British Gas, is one of the leading energy providers in the UK. With the increasing onus on businesses to make fundamental shifts to combat climate change, Centrica needed to define a clear and impactful decarbonisation strategy. </span></h2>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With so many teams running on the same issue, we worked with portfolio management leads to build a unified direction to inform Centrica’s investment in heat deecarbonisation solutions. Conducting a vast range of research, including social analysis, policy investigation, primary quantitative surveys and qualitative consumer groups, we identified key consumer profiles, barriers to change and industry-leading product and service concepts to build out their sustainable energy portfolio. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With actionable opportunities, a product roadmap and a clear role for both heat pumps and hydrogen energy within their portfolio. Centrica now has a focused approach to cleaner, greener energy in the charge towards net zero.  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p>


It’s a real skill how quickly The Upside can provide genuine and authentic insight into one's business. They have been invaluable in helping us approach decarbonised heating solutions for the home.

Centrica

proper

Creating the new hero of healthy snacking 

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<h2>PROPER and EAT REAL have pioneered the better-for-you snacks category in UK supermarkets and beyond. In 2021, the two brands joined forces and needed an identity that would bridge the two cultures and direct the Group’s future.</h2>


<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today’s snacking industry is still full of trade-offs, with consumers having to choose between health, quality or taste. We set out to create a new movement &#8211; ‘Snacks with Substance’ &#8211; for snacks without the compromise. Through a 6-week collaboration with the incoming CEO and original Founders, we built out the movement into a new name, logo, purpose, vision and set of internal values. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, the group is known as WARP Snacks &#8211; standing for We Are Real And Proper and representing the DNA of the two brands, as well as a future-facing guide for all internal operations and external communication. The result is an energised team, big ambition and</span> an <a href="https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/results/warp-snacks-reports-exceptional-start-to-trading/659916.article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘exceptional’ start to trading</a>.</p>


Proper X Eat Real

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ASOS

Method

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Counteracting the whitewashing of history 

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<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">CARGO (Charting African Resilience Generating Opportunities) is a collective of artists, poets &amp; filmmakers across the globe, built around the poetry of Bristol-born </span><a href="http://lawrencehoo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><u>Lawrence Hoo</u></span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. With a mission to counteract the whitewashing of history, their challenge was to bring the stories of inspiring, but lesser known, Black leaders of the past to a young, Key Stage 3 audience.  </span></h2>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With </span><a href="http://cargomovement.org/classroom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><u>CARGO Classroom</u></span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> focusing on the curriculum, we recognised that wider culture &#8211; fashion, social media, gaming, influencers &#8211; was becoming the new playground for exploration and learning. We set out to identify new education opportunities beyond school, to inspire 11-13-year-olds with a view of the past that had never been told before.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Through conversations with alternative education experts, we identified two critical opportunities for CARGO to bring to life their poetry through Gen Z gaming and fashion. This pro-bono partnership has now inspired a </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/cargomovement/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><u>sustainability fashion challenge</u></span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and driven brand recognition as the team continue to find avenues to bring to Black history to a young audience. </span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Upside helped us to understand our strengths and focus our energy. They took time to inhibit our world, enabling them to develop a set of targeted creative solutions that helped to unlock our potential and reinforce our belief in what we do. As a small non profit organisation we will be forever grateful for their time, expertise and vision.

CARGO 

heineiken

Seeking growth beyond beer 

<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even since Gerard Heineken invented a new, product-defining yeast in 1886, innovation has </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">been at the heart of the brand. Whilst their beer is known and loved far and wide, with the rise of craft and a younger generation turning away from alcohol, Heineken needed to look beyond their traditional offering to power future growth. </span></h2>


<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spanning 2 projects, we worked closely with marketing and product innovation leads to identify ownable whitespace. Building on cultural and category research, we conducted deep co-creation sessions at drinking locations with hyper-focused trade, brewing and consumer groups to create fresh and authentic concepts.  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This partnership has delivered multiple new business opportunities for the group, including category-disrupting product ideas set to launch in 2022, a beer subscription service and direct, in-bar training &#8211; the latter of which resulted in our joint venture Hello Beer.</span></p>


After trying (and failing) with much more established firms, the team stepped in and gave us a refreshing and smart alternative. Any business would benefit from some time with The Upside.

Heineken

Tommy Hilfiger

FISKARS

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Creating membership with meaning

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<h2>Born to make energy cheaper, cleaner and simpler, OVO is the largest green energy company in the UK, with a commitment to Net Zero Carbon by 2030. To help get there,OVO needed their consumers to become part of this mission.</h2>


<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The relationship between an energy provider and users is very functional, lasting just ‘7 minutes a year’. Partnering with OVO’s now <u></u></span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ovogroup_marketing-week-top-100-2020-the-top-marketers-activity-6710110072103550976-wbwl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">industry awarded Head of Brand Marketing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, we designed a membership program that moves beyond a transactional points system to build a more rewarding and long-lasting journey. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Drawing on behaviour change theory, we created a system that motivates users at every stage, guiding them along the journey like a coach. The outcome was a breakthrough approach to membership &#8211; a purpose-led program incentivising small steps to change with sustainable rewards. </span></p>


OVO Energy

Fitbit

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THE NEUW

Reimagining wellbeing for a new era 

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<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Health and supplements brand, The Nue Co, has grown a cult-like following since its inception in 2017. We’d previously partnered with them to launch </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.sheridanandco.com/news/nue-co-pop-up-shop-design-new-york/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><u>a new line of wellbeing products during New York Fashion Week</u></span></a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> but, to power their next phase of growth, the founders needed a direction and narrative for the whole team to unite around &#8211; employees, investors, partners and consumers alike.</span></h2>
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<p>The health industry is changing, with consumers prioritising wellbeing of mind, body, society and planet over quick fixes. With this cultural shift in mind, we worked alongside the founders to develop the brand’s purpose, market position, vision for growth and a fresh set of values co-created with employees.</p>
<p>From this, ‘Interconnected Health’ was born &#8211; a new positioning and purpose for The Nue Co. that emphasises the connection between all aspects of holistic health. With a distinctive voice and clear actions to drive the next steps in their journey, this new positioning has helped solidify The Nue Co.’s reputation as a<a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/good-company-the-nue-co-is-revolutionizing-how-supplements-are-made-01614272267" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <u> true revolutionary in the category.</u></a></p>


Time with The Upside is transformational. The magic was how we all worked together and how the team reacted to feedback. They got us to the heart of the themes that matter fast, and they can work across a myriad of business issues. Critical partners that will help us take our business to the next level.

THE NUE CO

Kiehl’s

Preparing a 100 year old company for a new content era

<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">With a 125 year presence in over 70 countries, Shell has an extensive content operation, stretching across multiple geographies and business units. With this much legacy and complexity, they needed to reinvent and streamline how it told stories of the brand, business, people, and impact.</span></h2>


<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When businesses expand, teams and processes are created in isolation, ineffective silos develop and brand messaging becomes disconnected. To counteract this, we developed a strategy to make Shell’s content ‘GO FAR’. FAR, standing for ‘Focus, Agility, and Relevance’, is an operating framework now adopted by global and local content teams. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over the course of a year, we initiated a new ‘Editorial Board’ for quick decision making, ‘Content Squads’ to tackle any content crisis, ‘Audience Intelligence’ and ‘Performance Practice’ disciplines to ensure focus on insights and tracking, and ‘Content Masterclasses’ for employees. The result is empowered and up-levelled content teams that coherently communicate Shell’s purpose and safeguard the brand’s prestige. </span></p>


Royal Dutch Shell

Giffgaff

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VRT_logo.svg

Transforming a national institution into a leader of new media 

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<h2>Founded almost a century ago, VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie) is the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish region and community of Belgium. Whilst they have built a legacy as a broadcaster, they hadn’t kept pace with new consumption habits and relied heavily on linear news and television broadcasts.</h2>


<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Working with their digital leads to uncover emerging user behaviours and leverage new technologies, we created two products that set out to make education, inspiration and imagination accessible to all. The first was </span><a href="https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><u>VRT Nieuws</u></span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> &#8211; a balanced and accessible national news platform that uses a topic-led approach to immerse users in stories that matter to them most. The second, </span><a href="https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><u>VRT NU</u></span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, is an on-demand video service to make broadcasts accessible anywhere, at any time. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Together, these products have transported VRT into the future and re-established their reputation as the region’s top broadcaster and news service.</span></p>


VRT 

Mattel

COTY

Belgian Government

Iittala

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A clear strategic plan to establish a direct to consumer offer

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Creating a marketing strategy built around the new purpose

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Tommy Hilfiger RTW Fall 2020

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Creating and marketing a new skincare line for women

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A distinctive media and comms approach to engage with 20-somethings

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fiskars

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Fiskars_logo

A business case for digital transformation

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Transforming the organisational approach to content

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Addidas-accelerator-secondary

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Speed Takes a Plan -_ - https___www.adidas.com_allday_blog_speed-takes-a-plan_

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adidas

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An open-source innovation process for the women's category

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HEINEKEN

Growth opportunities beyond beer portfolio

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VRT_logo

Partner for a Broadcaster’s internal innovation team

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kiehls

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A Modern Loyalty Program with a Creative edge

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Developing new portfolio of non-alcoholic products

Tommy Hilfiger

Re-surfacing the brand’s true meaning