Hello Friends,

Here are this week’s headlines:

Enjoy the read,

Angelique

That was the challenge I had with a client whose category had turned into a modern version of the gold rush. There was plenty of opportunity and plenty of market activity, but every competitor was jostling for position. It meant that it was hard to know what to do or where to go next. We needed to uncover the real why behind the shifts so that we could find the mother lode.

Digging for that elusive gold
Big data sets and focus groups are great when the time is right, but they only give us snapshots, not the hidden, rich and meaningful insights that strike gold. Which isn’t easy, and as David Ogilvy once said, “The trouble with market research is that people don’t think what they feel, they don’t say what they think and they don’t do what they say.”

Striking it rich
That’s why we chose a technique called Hidden Needs Analysis (or Repertory Grid is its proper name). It’s like panning for gold: carefully sifting through deep conversations to uncover the why behind consumers’ choices. We want to get to what their perfect product or brand might be — the ideal that’s currently missing from the market. That’s the gold we need.

The joy of this mining is that you get to push consumers in different directions to see what they think about all the things that help them to relax, or all the things that help them socialise. This comparing and contrasting opens them up to think in ways they hadn’t before. As one said, “This felt like therapy. I didn’t even realise what I wanted until now.”

One consumer shared how they blended two unrelated products into a ritual the market hadn’t imagined. Another revealed their choice hinged on an intimate moment, not taste or buzz. Those insights lit fires, mine included.

Piecing it together, consumer style
Those raw stories gave us a map of the category, a vivid, human one full of quirks. We mapped eight hidden needs and layered on a cultural dig: scouting dispensaries, decoding emerging brands, and tracking lifestyle shifts, to shape six opportunities.

That’s when our FTSE 100 client said to me, “We’d never have found this gold without you,” because those insights gave them a clear path to their next big move. (Now you know why I went with the gold analogy).

I live for these moments. As when the market’s shaking, tidy reports don’t cut it. You’ve got to roll your sleeves up and dig into the real stories from the people living it. A few prospecting tips:

As Hunter S. Thompson put it, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Embrace the oddities, the surprises, the human messiness — that’s where the real gold hides.

This was just the start. The real fun was turning those insights into ideas that had the team buzzing. If you’re thinking, “My team needs this,” hit reply. I’ll share how we went from hidden needs to concepts that lit up the room.

A few little bursts of wonder, weirdness, and joy that made me smile, and think all at once.

Icons carry deep meaning, and these iconic brands know how to honour them, and reimagine them, in ways that bring even greater connection.

Celebrating an Icon

When your brand ambassador is a generational talent like Novak Djokovic, you’ve got to rise to the moment. Lacoste did just that, swapping out their iconic croc for the GOAT himself on a limited-edition drop on the eve of the US Open.

Elevating Icons

Disney+ turns the dull ride up an escalator into a brush with magic, placing iconic characters right beside you. It’s a simple moment, but suddenly their world and yours feel seamlessly connected.

Local Icons

To mark IKEA Brighton’s opening, the brand celebrated community connection and the iconic role seagulls play in local culture. The execution framed moving to a new place (or store) as about more than furniture, it’s about fitting into the neighbourhood.

As an American, I’ve always had a different view of the Brits than my international friends. But it seems that after 20 years of living here, the world doesn’t see the British as polite and proper anymore.

Those old stereotypes are being replaced by something way messier, and with way more realism and energy than we’ve come to expect from the land of Mr Darcy.

From the Ibiza Final Boss to the Schooner Scorer, the UK’s chaotic internet icons are going global. As Vice puts it, “British Chaos” has become a cultural export in its own right; full of swagger, silliness, and unfiltered energy.

It seems that Brits have been unleashed, and their unhinged ways are something that the whole world can’t look away from.

Enjoy the long read here.