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Startup Lab

Guiding Startups To A More Competitive And Valuable Future.

HOMEPAGE

STARTUP LAB

Competitiveness is far more about doing what customers value than doing what you think you are good at.

The Blake Project works with startups and emerging businesses and brands in their embryonic stages through the first five years of their growth journey.

Drawing from our expertise in helping numerous businesses and brands introduce new value our Startup Lab focuses on the core aspects of marketplace success such as business model strategy, brand strategy, innovation, creative execution, culture, customer experience, competitive set and customer insight.

The Blake Project's Startup Lab provides a guided, collaborative process where assumptions are questioned, futures are imagined and mapped to.

Our 6 module program is not an incubator or accelerator but a workshop driven approach delivered online or in person at our Los Angeles Startup Lab.

We launched the Startup Lab to help both funded and boot-strapping entrepreneurs gain access to critical expertise through a phased approach that accommodates smaller budgets, giving new ideas and their founders a greater chance for success.

CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN

Discovery

PHASE 1

Inside The Mind

PHASE 2

Inside The Market

PHASE 3

What is the context in which your offering will compete? How will you compete? Your enemies are the ideas that compete with, or conflict with your purpose. What is your enemy? Together we will create a competitive advantage.

Who represents the most value? What will motivate them to stop buying what they are used to? How will you resonate and create the most impact? Together we will explore the minds of those most important to your future.

What is at the core of your offerings value? What is the underpinning business model? What is the mission, vision, values and purpose? Together we will audit the internal and external drivers of the business.

Startup Lab Phases

PHASE 4

What does your new offering change in the world? Why will that change be welcomed? Why hasn't it happened yet? Is that change big enough to create desired impact? What will you stand for? What will you stand against? Together we will define an emotionally charged, differentiating advantage.

What is your name? What is your most important messaging? Is it memorable? What is the minimum a customer needs to recognize you? Is your story as powerful as your offering? Do you have enough evidence to support your claims? Together we identify the most advantageous name and messaging.

Defining Unique Value

Communicating Unique Value

Experiencing Unique Value

If you could make your customers feel one thing, what would it be? How will your customer experience get the market's attention? How will your offering continue to be interesting? Together we will create the strategic drivers of the customer experience

PHASE 5

PHASE 6

The innovators journey begins with a passion or a problem.
Provocative questions reveal the ideal path and destination.
The Blake Project helps get you there.

THE BLAKE PROJECT STARTUP LAB

PHASES

Our phased approach is rigorous and designed specifically to build key strategic and creative infrastructure.

EXPERTS

Our startup experts are an extension of your team and bring expertise from working with hundreds of brands.

FRAMEWORKS

Our work together strengthens new value through the lens of proven models, preparing you for the journey ahead.

The Blake Project Creates

EMOTIONAL, DISTINCTIVE AND CONNECTIVE ADVANTAGES

Hundreds of diverse brands and businesses have chosen The Blake Project to help change their growth trajectory for a more competitive and valuable future.

CLUSE

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.

We also guided them on bringing the positioning to life via customer experience, design thinking and brand culture initiatives.

The Blake Project's work helped them gain clarity and confidence in the strategic direction of their brand and put them on a higher growth trajectory.

Kiss Cam

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, events and promotions.

After speaking with marketers at several professional sports teams and target customers, we helped them define and articulate this new value and understand where it would have its best chance for success.

AMELIORA

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 lead to the tagline Limit Less. Achieve More as well as the name Ameliora, also developed by The Blake Project.

Southwest Airlines

The worlds most consistently profitable airline sought more ways to extend its brand value. The Blake Project helped create a new revenue stream.

Pershing

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. 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.

LUMINOX

LUMINOX is the world's first visible watch in all conditions. 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. The result was 55% growth in 18 months.

Deloitte AI

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 including the AI strategy Deloitte employs today.

Statue of Liberty

The Blake Project was selected to lead the first brand strategy effort for the National Parks of New York Harbor, enhancing the identity of this global icon.

All Case Studies