A brand & IP development studio
Breakthroughs in technology don’t automatically mean breakthroughs in what people understand or trust. You can build the next new thing or be a household name and still lose the next generation. Moving forward takes more than a new message. It takes a story with conviction, and the sense to know how it must evolve.
That’s where we work.
Be worth seeking out.
When people can’t remember what makes you different, the most convenient option wins. We help leadership teams establish a position people recognize, remember, and actively prefer.
Audience & cultural insight· Leadership alignment· Core narrative· Messaging architecture· Brand voice
Compound your story’s value.
Articulating brand value is one thing. Compounding it is another. We turn hidden intelligence into enduring assets, and evolve established IP into new experiences, audiences, and revenue opportunities.
Original concepts & formats· Series development· Existing-IP expansion· Creative direction & production
As company priorities shifted, we helped Lululemon's North American brand & community team give voice to what made its culture distinct, giving the team a clearer narrative to carry forward through change.
As CharacterStrong navigated rapid growth, we guided the evolution of its storytelling, developing an original content suite that contributed to adoption across over a quarter of its addressable market before acquisition.
As Whole Foods grew, we helped stores stay connected to the communities around them, creating one-of-a-kind local experiences that increased foot traffic and preserved a sense of place inside an increasingly national brand.
As MGM expanded into digital, we helped them develop new IP from concept through execution, translating the 100+ year old legacy brand's evolving strategy into short-form stories built for a new generation of audiences.
When HealthStream brought a new innovation to market, we helped them bypass the usual industry jargon, building a clear, versatile storytelling format that turned technical complexity into steady product adoption.
As more families began flying together (aka the Togethering Trend), we helped Delta expand its in-flight entertainment with original, family-friendly stories that transformed brand values into meaningful moments.
As the way kids consumed content continued to change, we partnered with Sesame Workshop to create original IP that brought the organization's enduring brand to an entirely new format designed for the next generation of viewers.
When a noisy category threatened to blur what made DeliverFund distinct, we helped this nationally recognized nonprofit define a point of view it could own for the long haul, creating language that continues to shape how the organization shows up today.
When the United Nations Foundation needed a story about motherhood to carry across cultures, we created a universal visual language that could retain its meaning across borders, ultimately reaching millions around the world.
Conformity is costing you. In the age of synthetic monotony, generic brands get ignored while the courage to go off script and sing off beat is scarce tender. Let the machines automate typical. Your only remaining advantage is to get weird.
“Frictionless” is a lie culture is no longer buying. Beyond dope hits, we now crave stories that give us some skin in the game. To compete in today's crowded market, brands don’t need to fake certainty or beg for attention. They need be reasons to travel into the unknown when everything else feels boring.
There are stories that entertain, and stories we simply can’t shake loose from our souls. They remind us who we are and what matters, getting passed down, retold, and remixed over and over again. Becoming impossible to forget is our Northstar.
For over 15 years, C.J. has helped Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, public leaders, and social enterprises navigate the moments their story needs to evolve.
An international speaker and author of several books, C.J.'s work is guided by a simple mission: to shape the kinds of stories that help us change without losing ourselves.