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Case Studies

The Blake Project helped this startup women's apparel brand for professionals define its go-to-market brand strategy. In this crowded space, Ameliora needed to represent new value to its target customers.

In a brand positioning workshop we leveraged our expertise in brand management and our clients expertise in the apparel category and defined the value this new brand would bring to the world. We explored internal and external forces that could have both positive and negative implications on the trajectory of the brand.

Among our facilitated discussions was the evolving role of women in the workplace. Specifically their increased power, influence and importance as well as their desires to reach the same professional heights as men. TV shows like Shark Tank and successful women entrepreneurs were discussed, the founder of Spanx for example.

This brought us to the market gap between Brooks Brothers and Anne Taylor. A space where success could be nurtured through stylish apparel and meaningful activities associated with Ameliora that can help women succeed and help the brand stand for success.

We helped them understand that Ameliora is in the success business for professional women and success needed to be the underpinning of the brand – well beyond the functional or self-expressive benefits that their products would deliver. This has created an advantage on an emotional level. Our work is now the lens that all decisions are made through and it led to the tagline Limit Less. Achieve More as well as the name Ameliora, also developed by The Blake Project.

With $1.7 Trillion in global client assets, BNY Mellon's Pershing is a leader in providing global financial solutions to advisors, broker-dealers, hedge and '40 Act fund managers.

When a competitor targeted them through misleading campaigns they turned to The Blake Project to evaluate the threat and strategize a response.

Through a strategic session with the senior leadership team we helped them counter-offer rather than counter-attack, keeping their target audience focused on what's known and proven, rather than simply responding to the agitator.

In defining new storylines to thwart this competitive threat we maintained alignment with their brand and changed the conversation being had on their competitor's terms in the marketplace.

The work required our brand strategy and brand storytelling expertise.

Southwest Airlines has celebrated over 40 years of consecutive profitability. As the largest domestic carrier in the United States, Southwest is widely recognized for having the best loyalty program of any airline, garnering top scores from U.S News and Report annual rankings. A major factor in this achievement has been their consistent number one rating in customer service granted by Airline Quality Ratings.

The Blake Project was selected to conduct a brand audit to determine whether the Southwest brand could be extended via licensing. This included first assessing the strength of the brand to evaluate whether it mattered enough to consumers to merit a licensing program. We then generated a universe of potential categories to extend the Southwest brand. The category pool came through a variety of methods including soliciting input from members of the organization, from key suppliers, and from competitor programs.

Using our proprietary methodology, we filtered our universe of categories to derive a qualified list. Once we had our qualified list, we assessed the size of the industry for each category and based upon conservative, moderate and aggressive scenarios, we estimated the sales that could be generated. Knowing the range of sales, we were able to calculate the potential royalties that would be earned across each scenario. From the audit, we determined that the Southwest list of categories was not only significant in market size and projected growth, but would also help Southwest connect with thousands of new consumers helping to extend the brand's presence into a variety of new channels while generating significant operating profit.

LUMINOX is the world's first visible watch in all conditions and the preferred brand of the U.S. Navy Seals. The Blake Project was selected to help build the strategic infrastructure necessary for accelerating brand growth. We positioned the brand globally and consulted on creative strategy, arriving at their pivotal Essential Gear campaign. The result was 55% growth in 18 months.

Deloitte needed a differentiating advantage for its artificial intelligence capabilities and turned to multiple partners to develop brand strategies with the highest chance for success. The Blake Project helped create and analyze the potential of each for putting cognitive technology into real-world action, including the AI strategy Deloitte employs today.

The Blake Project was honored to be selected to lead the brand strategy effort for the National Parks of New York Harbor (Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island et al.) Our brand positioning workshop helped guide them to better link and market collectively the 10 national parks and 22 unique locations in New York City and northern New Jersey.

This initiative created a strategic North star for the organization forged through stakeholder consensus and our experience in working with 200+ B2C, B2B and Not-for-profit brands.

CLUSE is the watch brand that inspires millennial women to celebrate their individuality, together. An emerging brand in six European markets, with 150 employees based in Amsterdam, CLUSE was growing rapidly without the strategic brand infrastructure necessary to navigate to the next level of growth.

Our clients knew that there was little of greater importance to their growing company than their unique reason for existing and the expansion that mission enabled. In light of this, The Blake Project was selected to lead the leadership team to consensus on Mission, Vision, Values, Positioning and Strategic Storytelling.

The world's leading soft drink company sought new strategies for extending its brand at the Winter Olympic Games. The Blake Project gave them clarity and confidence.

We delivered an integrated licensed merchandise program and were able to quadruple Coca-Cola's original conservative retail revenue projections. The Blake Project also assisted in the strategy, design, contract negotiation and execution of the Coca-Cola Olympic Pin Trading Center, a focal point for their presence at the Olympics.

Entrepreneur magazine, the premier source for everything small business, selected The Blake Project to help extend their brand via licensing. We began with a brand licensing audit where we identified and evaluated new categories the brand could extend into, projected the range of sales the brand could generate through brand licensing and the range of royalty revenue that could be expected.

With this insight we launched Entrepreneur's brand licensing program, strategically extending the brand in categories from training and education to broadcast television. We managed every aspect of the program from identifying new licensee's to negotiating and finalizing deal terms.

The program increased the brand's awareness and has proven a successful growth strategy.

FootJoy is the number one shoe and glove brand in golf with a 67% marketshare. FootJoy's management selected The Blake Project to build a more emotional appeal into the FootJoy brand. That is, they wanted to infuse the brand promise with emotional appeal. And they wanted to increase the brand's appeal to younger audiences and women. We helped them do that through qualitative consumer research, a brand positioning workshop and the development of a new tagline. The new aspirational tagline, "FJ: The Mark of a Player" and accompanying brand messaging are designed to reinforce competitive advantages vis-à-vis Nike and Adidas. We also crafted an elevator speech to help employees bring the brand positioning to life.

By focusing on building a strong emotional connection, Footjoy has accelerated brand growth and maintained their dominant position in the marketplace.

Phonak is a global provider of hearing solutions. With an extensive network of international subsidiaries and distributors, they are represented in over 100 countries.

As the innovative force in hearing acoustics, Phonak strives to overcome technological limitations - so that all people are able to hear, understand and fully enjoy life's rich landscapes of sound.

The Blake Project was selected to help craft the strategic foundation of Phonak's brand story. Through our strategic brand storytelling work we helped them gain clarity, consensus and confidence on the universal theme, tone, personality and expression that informs all brand messaging.

Phonak: Life Is On.

The Blake Project was selected to work with EA Sports marketing teams to build the strategic infrastructure necessary to meet aggressive growth goals in Asia.

Through our workshop based approached we developed their brand strategy, product strategy and growth strategy for Asia. We audited their market research and interviewed key stakeholders, gaining a deeper understanding of important, current perspectives. We coupled that insight with our proprietary models to arrive at desired outcomes in the strategic steps that followed.

EA Sports is now on a more advantageous growth trajectory and its marketers are better equipped to manage their brands and navigate the business complexities of their largest market - China.

Abbott Vascular is a global leader in cardiac and vascular care devoted to discovering new medicines, new technologies and new ways to manage health.

Abbott Vascular selected The Blake Project to co-lead a wide range of B2B brand strategy initiatives. We helped them position two of their largest product brands, MitraClip and their 1.5 Billion dollar Xience brand, infusing both with much greater emotional appeal to their target audiences, interventional cardiologists. Both product brands are industry leaders in their respective categories.

In addition The Blake Project was selected to measure the equities of their brands, position new product brands, develop their messaging pillars as well as design and deliver a comprehensive brand education program for all marketing teams.

Today our methodologies and frameworks serve as the basis for their brand management infrastructure.

With $130M in sales Good2Grow is an emerging brand in the children's beverage category. Differentiated by true health properties and a toy-like container, good2grow needed deeper customer insights and a new strategic approach to accelerate brand growth.

The Blake Project was selected to give them clarity and confidence in the strategic direction of their brand.

We conducted a series of 12 expert-moderated depth insight groups, composed of consumers with young children in 4 U.S. markets, to assess the brand's current position and identify ways to grow the brand.

In the depth insight groups we explored:

–Concerns about children's diet and nutrition
–Shopping experiences
–Beverage usage
–Good2Grow purchase factors
–Good2Grow brand personality
–Purchase barriers
–Good2Grow multi-packs
–New product concepts
–Potential Good2Grow brand positioning strategies
In addition to these depth insight groups, we gained insight through a market segmentation study and a brand equity measurement study which we used to make recommendations for strengthening their market position. We also helped the brand leadership team think through the brand purpose and brand licensing strategy.

Hyster-Yale selected The Blake Project to strategically simplify its brand architecture. By keeping the focus on sources of value we helped them see which brands to keep and which brands to eliminate.

Hyster and Yale are the two consumer brands. They have almost identical portfolios and products but they have different equities. Hyster is positioned as a rough, tough, heavy-duty outdoor brand and is often used in lumber and construction. Yale is positioned as a brand that can be customized to meet the need of any unique application. In the America's theater, 47 independent dealers carry either Hyster or Yale or both brands.

Hyster-Yale selected The Blake Project to strategically simplify its brand architecture, with a special emphasis on gaining better control over subbrands including creating naming conventions that make sense and create greater consistency. By keeping the focus on sources of value we helped them see which brands to keep and which brands to eliminate, increasing their ability to compete.

The Blake Project was selected to help the world's largest timeshare company RCI redefine and articulate its value and overcome negative perceptions.

The Blake Project was selected to lead them through the following project steps: brand audit, customer focus groups, brand positioning workshop, elevator speech development, brand architecture workshop, customer touch point design, emotional connection workshop, internal (inside-out) branding assistance, brand plan development and brand management training.

This was in the midst of an RCI member class-action lawsuit, and negative associations with the brand were high. We helped RCI understand that they needed to own "choice" and consistently deliver on the availability of choice with integrity. This is the number one customer benefit in the category and one that RCI can "own" given its many current and potential proof points. Its primary competitor, Interval International, while smaller than RCI with less choice, had already successfully staked out "quality" within the category

This National Basketball Association franchise chose The Blake Project to help them navigate a new era of digital fandom, increase their emotional appeal and revenue.

For five years we helped guide the over-all brand strategy and social media strategy. One result of our efforts was recognition as the NBA's Top Team Retailer. This marked the first time the Jazz (a small market team) received Team Retailer of the Year, an annual honor that the league has awarded since 2002 to recognize the accomplishments of team merchandise sales and operations.

The Jazz also received accolades for an NBA-first brand community that mobilized fans online, also conceptualized, executed, and driven by The Blake Project.

The Blake Project was selected to help Nationwide Insurance significantly improve its competitive position in each industry segment and uncover obstacles to successful entry into the financial services sector. They wanted to gain a thorough understanding of what is important to customers in each insurance industry segment (life, home, auto, etc.) and how Nationwide compares to other brands regarding perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in each of those segments. Also understand what obstacles insurance brands would have to overcome when entering the financial services sector.

We conducted a comprehensive brand equity study of the insurance industry including all segments and over one hundred brands. We compared brands on the following dimensions for each industry segment: awareness, relevance, differentiation, quality, value, convenience, emotional connection, preference, position in competitive set, top-of-mind associations, delivery against each category benefit and brand personality, among others. We also explored consumer perceptions of the financial services sector including perceptions of specific financial service firms and insurance companies within the sector. Based upon our findings, we recommended specific actions.

Multinational banking and financial services powerhouse, ING turned to The Blake Project for help in bringing its love brand strategy to life. We helped them increase emotional appeal by thinking through how the brand is managed in different markets and refined that process.

Faced with a wide range of competition, OMEGA selected The Blake Project to design and execute a point of purchase training program that would stimulate sales and build brand equity. We built the program with a leading expert on verbal and non-verbal communication, giving OMEGA sales experts a much greater ability to recognize closing signals.

Bausch + Lomb, a division of Bausch Health Companies Inc., is solely dedicated to protecting and enhancing the gift of sight for millions of people around the world. The Blake Project was selected for several strategic, creative and educational projects for their vision care division including pivotal work on Boston and Renu brands.

After identifying higher levels of brand management and marketing as key to strengthening their marketing team's capabilities, Darden selected The Blake Project to design and deliever a focused brand education and training program. We helped Darden's marketers bridge learning gaps through our interactive approach, giving them the tools and techniques to be better stewards of their brands.

Faced with increased competitive pressure in 2018, the University Of Iowa selected The Blake Project to guide them them through critical points in their brand initiative and set them on a course for a more competitive future. Working with the senior leadership team from several university departments we helped them define their brand values, brand positioning, brand architecture and brand story. In 2022, we were invited back to help 80 of their storytellers create more effective messaging. Our work is seen and heard in all of their brand stories and amplified in their brand decisions.

The International Culinary Center was growing rapidly in numerous directions (regarding products, services and geography) due to its very entrepreneurial founder and president. The Blake Project was selected to lead the organization's leadership team in clarifying the brand positioning, strategy and architecture which resulted in a new sense of focus and strategic growth.

Granite is one of the largest construction companies in North America and has earned a reputation for excellence since its inception more than100 years ago. To support its growth for the next century, they are actively pursuing mergers & acquisitions, leading to additional brands becoming a part of the Granite family of brands. Granite selected The Blake Project to establish a brand architecture strategy to manage its current portfolio of brands and for all future brand acquisitions.

On any given day, 2.5 billion people use more than 400 Unilever products to feel good, look good and get more out of life – giving Unilever a unique opportunity to build a brighter future for people. To help achieve that end, Unilever identified training in strategic brand management as a key area for strengthening their marketing capabilities. After a global search, The Blake Project was selected to deliver a comprehensive, expert led brand education program for Unilever marketers.

After a national search, The Blake Project was selected by Herff Jones to create the brand strategy for this newly combined 1.2 Billion dollar entity of Herff Jones (graduation gowns, class rings, yearbooks), Varsity (cheerleading uniforms and accessories) and BSN Sports (sports uniforms and equipment) brands and set the stage for new levels of growth which resulted in their acquisition by Bain Capital.

DiGiorno is the number one pizza brand in the frozen food category. The Blake Project helped them strengthen their market lead by identifying new opportunities for the brand and better understand the shared values that link them with their target customers through our innovative approach to brand research and strategy. Our work transformed doubt to confidence.

intel chose The Blake Project at a crucial time in its plan to manage brand associations with the McAfee brand. (McAfee's founder and namesake was threatening the brand's reputation) Senior leadership decided to transition the McAfee brand to Intel Security. The Blake Project was selected to help activate the rebrand, develop the brand story and messaging strategy and educate marketers on key concepts in support of the rebrand.

Growing organizations often find themselves at a stage in their development in which the number of brands and named products that they are managing has become too difficult or too expensive to manage. This could be due to a series of mergers and acquisitions or just the continuous growth of new products and services over time.

LexisNexis, a leading global brand offering legal and professional solutions was faced with these challenges. The Blake Project was selected to help them think through the logical, strategic and relational structure of their brands. As part of our process we measured the equities of each brand in question using our proprietary research methods.

Our efforts resulted in a clear brand architecture strategy for future mergers, acquisitions, naming and growth.

Faced with the complexities that come with growth, Marriott sought help with its brand architecture strategy. One of their global agencies engaged The Blake Project to think through the intricacies. Through our process we guided them in determining the logical, strategic and relational structure of the Marriott portfolio of brands.

Headquartered in Glen Raven, North Carolina, Glen Raven has grown from a small cotton mill into a global leader in performance fabrics. Glen Raven introduced its Sunbrella brand of performance fabrics in the 1960s. Today, Sunbrella is the premier performance fabric for awnings, furniture, marine applications and convertible tops among other uses. Glen Raven recently purchased a distribution company that makes a line of remote controlled retractable awnings. They sell retractable awnings under the Solair name.

Glen Raven selected The Blake Project to guide them in positioning the Sunbrella and Solair brands and to help them develop strategies that overcome channel conflict issues. We conducted three brand positioning workshops for them and measured the equity of their brands. An important part of the brand positioning for them was to carefully identify and prioritize the target customers.

Our work resulted in a surge of growth.

The U.S. Forest Service was celebrating 100 years of caring for the land and serving people. To support their mission they turned to The Blake Project to help them discover the most advantageous brand strategy. Forty key stakeholders forged consensus in The Brand Positioning Workshop on target customer, brand promise, brand archetype, brand personality and brand essence. Our client shared they were able to achieve more in this workshop than in three years of conducting an internal branding initiative.

VSP offers world-class products and services to eye care professionals, employers, and more than 88 million members worldwide. VSP selected The Blake Project to help them build a stronger emotional connection to those most important to their future. We used the world's most advanced emotional measurement technology to identify the emotional associations that maximize purchase behavior for VSP, ensuring that their integrated marketing communications are executed with relentless consistency across all touch points to drive growth and build brand equity.

Rogers is the world's technology leader in innovative solutions for power electronics, advanced foams for cushioning and protective sealing, and high-frequency printed circuit materials. Rogers turned to The Blake Project to employ an effective licensing strategy. We delivered a solution that not only gave them the control they needed to ensure the proper use of its technologies, but also opened up the market to greater awareness and demand for their products. Overall we helped them strengthen the brand's equities and position.

Thrivent Financial is a Fortune 500 financial services organization with the strength of more than $67 billion in assets under management. After a National search, The Blake Project was selected to work with senior leadership in two key areas – Mission, Vision and Values and Brand Positioning. Through a workshop based approach we were instrumental in giving the organization a tighter strategic focus and a more advantageous market position at a time of increased competitive pressure.

ThedaCare operates 7 hospitals and 14 clinics and is one of Wisconsin's largest health systems. The Blake Project was selected to help the senior leadership team rethink their brand positioning and architecture in light of increased regional competition and help balance their national identity targeted at physicians with regional identity targeted at patients. We conducted customer research to identify reactions to different brand benefits, positions, naming conventions and architectures, identified the organizational entities and levels of service at which branding makes the most sense to customers, made specific recommendations based upon these insights, also identified new product/service areas that this health system could "own" in its customers' minds. We then helped them identify the most advantageous storylines and created a new visual identity.

As a consortium of 100+ major Ph.D.–granting academic institutions, Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) cultivates collaborative partnerships that enhance the scientific research and education enterprise of the United States. From its member university consortium to its strategic partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), it brings together university faculty and students to collaborate on major scientific initiatives that help keep America on the leading edge of science and technology. The Blake Project was selected to help ORAU refine its brand strategy, identity and messaging which features the Further. Together. campaign, and pitch the government's 1B dollar ORISE contract. The contract was secured and our client rewarded us with other vital work.

Tokio Millennium Re Ltd. is a reinsurance company headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. The lines of business written include property catastrophe, workers compensation and terrorism. To strengthen its position in the marketplace they embarked on a brand research and strategy initiative to help shape perceptions that the value of its offerings is high and unique. The Blake Project was selected for a brand equity measurement study and brand positioning workshop which gave the senior leadership team a deep sense of customer perceptions which was instrumental in arriving at an advantageous value proposition.

Kent Nutrition Group was formed to bring out the best in two highly successful regional feed companies — Kent and Blue Seal. Founded in 1927, Kent has grown to become a leading animal nutrition brand in the Midwest. Blue Seal began in 1868 and has since grown into a leading animal nutrition brand in the East.
The Blake Project was selected to help make the Kent and Blue Seal brands the most trusted and preeminent regionally focused animal nutrition brands in the the United States. This work included research and strategy work for each brand including brand equity measurement, brand positioning, brand architecture, mission, vision, values, strategic storytelling, tagline development and creative executions.

Ekornes is the largest furniture manufacturer in Norway and owns the brand names Ekornes and Stressless. The company is best known for Stressless chairs in the U.S. market. Products are manufactured in Norway and marketed globally. While they marketed Stressless branded products in the U.S. and throughout Canada, they embarked on a more focused marketing effort and selected The Blake Project for help. In preparation for this, they wanted to benchmark brand awareness and perceptions, purchase decision making process, barriers to entry and competitive threats.

The Blake Project was chosen to spearhead the effort to position Downtown Tampa as a thriving destination for residents (primary), businesses and visitors (secondary). This included gathering stakeholder input, establishing the brand position (target customers and brand essence, promise and personality), and achieving stakeholder consensus around the brand position. The new brand positioning united the city's top employers and institutions in articulating the city's unique value resulting in 36% growth while comparable cities realized 17%.

Founded in 1948, Feeney provides cable and aluminum railings, rods and fittings, canopies and other aesthetically pleasing architectural solutions for residential and commercial projects. The Blake Project was selected to help Feeney strategize a bigger competitive future. We conducted comprehensive brand equity research for Feeney with (a) architects/designers, (b) contractors/builders, fabricators and (d) retailers. Based on that research, we facilitated a brand positioning workshop with Feeney's leadership team, leading them to focus on product quality and ease of ordering/installation as their unique and compelling points of difference. From that consensus, we developed the tagline, Feeney Makes It Easy an elevator speech as well as led a branding rally for employees to help them bring the new brand positioning to life.

After a National search, the American Association of Physician Leadership, (formerly the American College of Physician Executives) selected The Blake Project to lead an ambitious re-branding effort for the organization.
In the brand research phase we were asked to help them better understand those most important to their future. We helped them explore and define brand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and looked at key competitors in their market. The research uncovered key perceptions held by their target customers. We used this insight in the brand positioning, brand storytelling, brand naming, tagline development and customer touchpoint design steps. Today the American Association for Physician Leadership has a strategic approach to its marketing and a position aligned with its target customers as well as an identity that eliminates the confusion that existed with other organizations that use the (ACPE) acronym.

As one of the world's largest manufacturers of contact lenses, CooperVision distributes high-quality lenses everywhere contact lenses are worn from a network of facilities in 12 countries across five continents.

The Blake Project helped CooperVision develop the brand strategy for a new global product targeting eye care practitioners. There is an overabundance of contact lens options in the marketplace however this offering introduced new value, possessing the next generation of eye care technology that provided the optimized combination of comfort, wettability and oxygen transmission.

These functional attributes alone would not be enough to differentiate. It's value needed to be clearly articulated and deeply connected to practitioner needs that also resonated with patients.

Through a brand positioning workshop we defined the brand's primary target customer, brand essence and its brand promise resulting in a highly differentiated positioning. We then moved to naming strategy and identified Biofinity as the most advantageous name.

The result; Biofinity is now the market leader.

IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. Today, IATA represents some 290 airlines comprising 84% of total air traffic. The organization also represents, leads and serves the airline industry in general. Areas of activity include airline and aircraft operations, airport and air navigation services, cargo, economics, environment, finance, passenger, legal, government and industry affairs, safety and security and simplifying the business. The Blake Project was selected to help IATA's consulting arm increase its perceived value. We conducted customer /stakeholder research and industry expert analysis, resulting in a comphensive report of findings, implications and recommendations that significatly changed the strategic direction of IATA's consulting arm.

Ipsen is a global specialty-driven pharmaceutical company and also has a significant presence in consumer healthcare. Their ambition is to become a leader in the treatment of targeted debilitating diseases. Ipsen sells more than 20 drugs in over 115 countries, with a direct commercial presence in 30 countries worldwide. The Group employs more than 4,600 people around the globe. The Blake Project was selected to lead an advanced brand education program based on the combination of our brand management expertise and our understanding of pharmaceutical and medical markets.

The Myers-Briggs Company empowers people and organizations around the world to improve teamwork and collaboration, identify and develop leadership, foster diversity, and solve complex personal development challenges. The Blake Project was selected to help marketing leadership audit the brand and identify gaps in their approach to brand management. Further, we helped them think through key brand architecture issues. These insights were used for its rebrand from CPP to The Myers Briggs Company.

Western Governors University is an online university driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs. WGU has flourished into a national university, serving more than 100,000 students from all 50 states. When WGU approached us the stories they were telling were siloed across their 5000+ employees and 100,000 students and alumni. To help correct that, they asked us to help build a powerful culture of brand that brings the groups together, helps everyone to spread the word about the brand and, in the process, lifts brand equity. Our process defined how they could start to build a rich sense of community at the very core of the organization, working its way all the way out to the market by engaging with stakeholders and encouraging them to interact with each other.

As a major contractor to the U.S. Federal Government, PM Services Company is recognized for its expertise and ability to consistently provide reliable and cost-effective full facility support services throughout the United States. With increased competition for government and commercial contracts, PM Services Company selected The Blake Project to build the strategic infrastructure necessary to be more competitive. Through our process, we helped them define their mission, vision and values and brand positioning. The senior leadership team credited our work to a new focus which has accelerated growth.

Known worldwide as an enhancement to the fan experience, only Kiss Cam monetizes surprise in professional sports by creating and capturing emotionally charged moments that connect fans. The Blake Project was selected to lead the brand strategy for Kiss Cam's evolution -- a mobile app based contest that includes viewers at home and expands monetization opportunities to new venues and events.

Dr. Bernice King is a global thought leader, peace advocate and Chief Executive Officer of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center). In April of 2020 The Blake Project was approached to help Bernice build the foundation of her brand strategy, work that had never been done before.

The objective of this ongoing work is to ensure that Dr. Bernice King's brand resonates with audiences driving social change and with those that may consider it. With high tensions, unrest and a push for justice and equality as a backdrop we began our work of defining target audiences, brand essence, brand promise, brand personality and key messaging pillars. The work has now informed more than one hundred interviews as well as official correspondence with world leaders.

Rooted in the unparalleled country music history of the Grand Ole Opry, Opry Entertainment Group produces multi-platform entertainment experiences through its growing portfolio of entertainment venues, including the world-famous Grand Ole Opry, the iconic Ryman Auditorium, WSM Radio, the Blake Shelton-inspired Ole Red brand, Circle TV Network, and ACL Live at Moody Theater. Through concerts, tours, music-inspired restaurants, retail, publishing, digital content, and more, Opry Entertainment Group connects millions of music fans to the artists they love through experiences they'll never forget. The Blake Project was selected to help OEG identify new revenue streams for its iconic brands via licensing. Our work includes an audit of their intangible assets and the launch and management of their first brand licensing program.

The Tory Burch Foundation empowers women and women entrepreneurs by providing access to capital, education and digital resources. The Blake Project was selected to develop a comprehensive learning event focused on strategic brand management and marketing.

We designed a multi-day competitive-learning event that enabled each entrepreneur to assess her brand and business with critical tools and techniques.

Our approach considered all learning styles and featured a gamified experience with hands on team challenges to energize participants.

AAA is a membership organization that has been aiding motorists for more than 100 years. It's marketers needed a better understanding of how to strengthen emotional connections to their brand and selected The Blake Project for our depth of expertise. We designed and delivered a learning journey that included both the fundamentals of building brands and deep emotional connections.

Founded by the Mars Family, Heliae is the pioneering food and agriculture company unlocking solutions that can feed and save our threatened planet. With the urgency required to meet global climate threats, Heliae focuses on researching and developing microalgae which has led to dramatic natural breakthroughs for crop growth, most recently converting desert to farmland.

The Blake Project was selected to help them define the unique value they could own in the mind and the marketplace. We helped them with brand strategy, story and are now helping them build new partnerships and brand associations that will propel them in their quest to provide agriculture and food solutions for the next 50 years of challenges on planet Earth. Heliae: The Science That's Saving Our Planet

Founded on the idea that everyone deserves to experience luxury, Stührling's mission is to provide every wrist with a beautiful and affordable timepiece. With that in mind, Stührling engaged The Blake Project to audit and develop pricing strategies commensurate with their growth strategies. Together, we explored the core concepts of pricing strategy and applied the most advantageous approach for their brands.

The executive leadership team of Celtic Sea Salt chose The Blake Project to help the business overcome several barriers to growth. We helped them untangle brand architecture, brand growth and brand strategy issues that were creating customer confusion. Further, we identified a new revenue stream in brand licensing.

MAPCO operates 340 company-owned convenience and fuel retailing stores in 7 U.S. states. They chose The Blake Project to help usher in a new era of retail for the organization. We helped them discover the unique value they could own in the marketplace through a comprehensive brand research and strategy project that included brand equity measurement, positioning and architecture. We also helped them move from a sales mindset to a brand building mindset.

Boba is a fast growing brand in the baby carrier space. The Blake Project was chosen to help build the strategic infrastructure necessary to manage existing growth and set a trajectory for higher growth goals. Our work included consumer research, brand positioning and brand story a process which revealed the concept of 'Freedom Together', the foundation that drives the brand and the business today.

Pittsburgh Parks Conservatory has one focus: Improving quality of life for the people of Pittsburgh by restoring the park system to excellence in partnership with government and the community. For their 20th Anniversary they engaged The Blake Project to help them reframe their value to their target audiences. Through the lens of our brand strategy and nonprofit expertise we helped them differentiate their brand.

Founded in 1981, Karen Millen is an online British fashion retailer and formerly a high street chain with stores throughout the U.K., U.S. and beyond.

As brand management and intellectual property experts,
The Blake Project was retained for rebuttal expertise in an opposition proceeding pending in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board with regards to Ms. Karen Millen, who was seeking to register KARENX in a number of classes.

'Karen Millen Fashions Limited's' expert argued the consumers would be confused in thinking the 'KARENX' brand would be a diffusion line and should not be allowed. We were able to demonstrate that the trend of diffusion brands was dying and not a relevant argument, and the 'Karen Millen Fashions Limited's' had devolved the once prestige brand into a 'bridge' or mid-level brand; only high end designers would have diffusion brands and that the industry did not support mid-price-point brands being diffused.

To assess the consumer's potential confusion, we conducted a forward and reverse confusion study which demonstrated that with an array of "Karen" brands already in the market, no one would confuse 'KARENX' with 'Karen Millen Fashions Limited's'.

The Blake Project tabulated and interpreted the results & findings, and delivered a high-level opinion letter as a rebuttal to 'Karen Millen Fashions Limited's' (the entity to which she sold her name ten years prior) expert report regarding the use of the first name of a designer in a diffusion line.

The Blake Project was selected to help LIFEBRIDGE HEALTH and its marketing partners learn new tools and techniques in brand strategy and brand management.

Through a highly interactive workshop we took their teams on a learning journey that included the latest, most important concepts and jointly applied them to the real world challenges their brand was facing.

We recommended that they include their agency partners to ensure consistency in how they approach challenges.

Pfizer is a global leader in pharmaceuticals and is committed to improving health and well being at every stage of life. In 2010 they acquired our client, King Pharmaceuticals. We crafted a mission statement to help guide the organization in delivering relevant, unique and compelling value to its customers. An audit of the current statement and those of their competitors preceded the project.

The Blake Project was selected to help the world's first digital concierge build the strategic infrastructure for its competitive future. We helped them define their unique value and decide the most important messaging to communicate that value. We helped them focus on building a frictionless experience that connects consumers with choice and desire.

FieldTurf is the most trusted brand in artificial turf. In light of increased competition and the impact of a global pandemic The Blake Project was chosen to help them maintain their leadership position. Using the Jobs To Be Done concept, we helped them discover the true customer motivations driving their business and translate that insight into a new sales approach. Our work also gave them a new lens in which to manage their brand.

Right At Home In Home Care and Assistance is an international franchise system providing in-home care through independent, locally owned and operated Right at Home franchisee offices. Right At Home serves more than 400 locations worldwide. The Blake Project was selected to help the marketing team strengthen their approach to connecting with their target audiences. We audited their brand strategy and made specific and actionable recommendations for addressing weaknesses and competitive threats.

The Blake Project was selected by Sergeant's Pet Care to help them think through complex brand architecture issues throughout its brand portfolio. We helped them determine their true sources of value and the most advantageous brand architecture strategy. Further we closed knowledge gaps within the marketing team through several brand education workshops that focused on the most important concepts in brand management.

Re-Bath is a 100+ dealer network that services the residential bathroom remodeling market. Re-Bath's competitive advantage is based on the emotional rewards gained by making it easy for its customers to love their bathrooms. The Blake Project was chosen to measure the equity of its brand and competing brands with an emphasis on emotional connection. Our approach to brand equity measurement revealed new and advantageous positioning opportunities that allowed Re-Bath to challenge much larger competitors and reach a new stage of growth.

Founded in 1920, the Home Furnishings Association is America's only trade association devoted exclusively to the needs and interests of home furnishings retailers. Their business has one priority: the success of more than 1,400+ retail members and their 7,000 storefronts. Facing a steep decline in membership and increased competitive pressure they turned to The Blake Project to help them create a stronger brand value proposition and strategy to increase member satisfaction, retention, and loyalty. We measured the equity of their brand and used those insights to rebrand the association. The result: a 45% increase in memberships over a three-year span.

Equity LifeStyle Properties is the leading operator of Manufactured Home Communities, RV Resorts and Campgrounds in North America. ELS owns or has controlling interest in more than 400 communities and resorts in 33 states and British Columbia with more than 165,000 sites. The Blake Project was approached to help them determine if they should operate with one or two brands for their RV and camping properties, and if one brand, what brand it should be. Through our rigorous approach to brand equity measurement we gained the insight necessary to make the right recommendation. In addition, our approach to brand architecture strategy simplified their branding structure and is helping them build brands more cost effectively.

Driven by a belief that pets deserve the same kinds of safe and effective medicines that human family members enjoy, KindredBio's mission is to bring innovative biologics to veterinary medicine. Their core strategy is to identify targets that have already been proven safe and effective in humans. This approach allows them to leverage the billions of dollars of R&D that have been invested in human therapeutics, and quickly and efficiently develop innovative drugs for dogs and cats. They turned to The Blake Project for help in amplifying this point of difference through brand storytelling. Together we crafted messaging pillars and storylines for their target audiences. Our work resonated and in 2021 KindredBio was acquired by Elanco Animal Health.

KORIO is an emerging information technology company leading business-critical digital transformations. With a commitment to disrupt the IT space, KORIO sought out a partner that could help them lead the disruption. Working with The Blake Project, new and valuable insights were discovered about their target customers. We used this insight to inform the brand strategy which was centered on 'trusted transformation'. We brought this to life through compelling messaging that asked the question, 'Are You Part of The Old or Part of The New?'

ROI Hunter is an emerging brand and the first and only Product Performance Management (PPM) platform, that helps e-commerce marketers gain actionable visibility into retail performance. With strategic intent to break into the U.S. market they chose The Blake Project to help build the strategy necessary to successfully compete. We worked with them to undercover key category and customer insights and develop a brand strategy that would differentiate them in the marketplace beyond features and benefits. We then helped them craft brand messaging that was truly unique to ROI Hunter's capability to deleiver actionable insights their target customers didn't know they could get.

Philips is a diversified Health and Well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Faced with increased competitive pressure in their small appliances business, Philips turned to The Blake Project to conduct complex brand research, specifically measure the 'halo effect' of the Philips parent brand. The 'halo effect' is the influence of the brand perception on the product/product line perception. Our research revealed a pathway to thwart the competition through premium brand extensions.