THe Way
Envision and own the future
We are strategic consultants – growth enablers, branding experts, innovation creators, and architects of sustainable success – led by foresight and insight.
Our Focus
We unlock growth opportunities for clients across three core areas. Grounded in foresight and insight expertise and proprietary offerings such as DisruptorID™, Upland enables organizations to more clearly map their trajectory, build and future-proof plans, and gain critical competitive advantage.
Growth STrategy
Defining bold yet actionable strategies that take organizations to the next level
- Strategic Visioning and Plans
- Commercialization & Expansion Paths
- Partnership Opportunities
- Market & Competitive Intelligence
Innovation Strategy
Creating products, services, and experiences that win the next cycle or drive the next big leap
- Demand Space and Front-End Innovation
- Ideating & New Product Development Process
- Innovation Roadmaps and Validation
- Commercialization Blueprint
Brand STrategy
Building and maintaining relevance to drive distinction and unseat competition
- Brand Positioning and Value Proposition
- Brand Identity and Packaging Design
- Marketing and Communication Strategy
- Go-to-Market and Retail Strategy
We have a deep suite of qualitative and quantitative consumer/customer insights capabilities to support client project needs. This includes traditional methods plus ways to connect with hard-to-reach targets like Gen Z: Influencer-Led Discussions, Hot-Spot Diary, AI Conversational Qual + more.
We start every engagement by giving our clients a growth strategy framework and clear vision of where their world is going, so they can create transformative, future-ready solutions in it.
Phase 1: Envision The Future
Envisioning the future starts with foresight and our proprietary DisruptorID offering, integrates consumer insights, and results in a rigorously defined Future Map outlining emerging opportunities and growth paths.
Foresight
Through DisruptorID, we study market drivers and weak signals, tap into our Foresight Hub experts, track VC/PE investment activity, and use AI scanning to identify disruption likely to impact clients.
Insight
Grounded in these relevant disruption areas, we explore how expectations and needs are evolving through consumer insights work, designed to uncover more meaningful, actionable learning.
Synthesis
To future-proof and inform strategy, we integrate Foresight and Insight learning to create Future Maps, which deliver rich opportunity spaces that leverage disruption and chart paths for growth.
Phase 2: Create Your Future
Creating your future is highly collaborative, from building platforms to ideating solutions that address future scenarios and opportunities. Ideas and directions that emerge are refined with consumers, becoming more focused and ending in concept testing.
Ideation
With a clear vision of tomorrow’s needs and future maps to “spark” thinking, dynamic ideating outlines the most promising paths forward and generates ideas that reflect real market opportunity.
Creation
The innovation strategy and ideas that emerge are further co-created with consumers, experts, influencers, industrial designers, and other creatives who come together to enhance the outputs.
Validation
Critical concept testing via efficient Qualitative and Quantitative consumer insights methods provides clients with the confidence to invest time and resources to bring solutions and strategies to market.
From award winning innovations, to portfolio expansions, to Foresight work that has pivoted corporate and business growth strategies, the result of our unique approach is in the successes it has enabled for our clients.
Haribo
Primed for rapid growth in the US market, Haribo enlisted Upland to conduct DisruptorID and an expansive, Quantitative exploration of the snacking landscape, including a full Market Segmentation, to develop an innovation roadmap and product pipeline.
McDonald’s
Seeking to establish a robust understanding of the Future of Food (3-10 years out), McDonald’s engaged Upland to conduct DisruptorID on its ecosystem to identify key opportunities in the Future of Food for the organization to leverage, as well as threats to plan against.
Why We Do It
We exist to help our clients achieve transformative growth that can be translated into positive social impact, enabling a better future for people, communities, and the planet.
Measurable Results
While our thoughtful approach gives our clients the confidence to pursue big change, our past results and proof points of success showcase our scale of impact.