THe Way
Envision and own the future
We are growth enablers, brand builders, innovation creators, and architects of sustainable success – led by Foresight.
Our Focus
Our singular focus at Upland is Growth. With deep expertise in three core areas of Growth, we empower our clients to thrive. Regardless of which focus area we are called upon to deliver, Foresight is our foundation and proprietary offerings, like our signature DisruptorID, fuel richer, clearer outcomes.
Growth STrategy
Defining the most promising path to sustainable, impactful growth.
- Vision/Mission/Strategic Planning
- Growth and Business Model Development
- Market & Competitive Intelligence
- Commercialization and Expansion
Innovation
Maximizing future impact with disruptive concepts, solutions, experiences and initiatives that improve lives.
- Innovation Strategy and Platforms
- Ideation and Co-Creation
- New Products, Services, and Experiences
- Commercialization Blueprint
Brand STrategy
Empowering brands to create and maintain relevance in a changing world.
- Brand Positioning and Value Proposition
- Brand Identity
- Marketing and Communication Strategy
We lead and facilitate our own Market Research efforts (Qual and Quant) to support all three strategic growth focus areas. This work includes, but is not limited to, Ethnographies, IDIs, Focus Groups, Online Qual / Blogs, Ideation Panels, Creative Consumer / Expert Infusions, and more. We also lead all financial market analyses and Capital Flow assessments.
We start every engagement by giving our clients a vision of where their world is going so they create transformative solutions in it.
Phase 1: Envision The Future
Envisioning the future begins with Foresight, and our signature proprietary DisruptorID offering, and results in a clearly outlined Future Map that rigorously informs the core opportunity areas and spaces for growth.
Foresight
Through DisruptorID, we study market shifts, track investment activity/deal flow, tap into a range of experts and influencers, and use AI-aided social listening to define the disruption most likely to impact our clients’ ecosystems.
Insight
Grounded in these relevant disruption areas, we explore how expectations and needs are evolving and taking shape in consumers’ lives through custom Insight work, designed to uncover more meaningful, actionable learning.
Synthesis
The greatest connections we build are those that bring together our Foresight and Insight learnings to form the basis of our Future Maps, which lead us to rich opportunity spaces and high-potential paths for growth.
Phase 2: Create Your Future
Creating your future is highly collaborative, from building platforms to ideating solutions that address future opportunities and needs. Ideas and directions that emerge become more focused throughout this phase, which ultimately ends in validation.
Ideation
With a clear vision of tomorrow’s needs to solve and inspirational stimulus to “spark” thinking, our high-impact ideation outlines the most promising paths forward and generates ideas that reflect real market opportunity.
Creation
The solutions and strategies that emerge from our ideation efforts are further co-created and explored with consumers, experts, influencers, industrial designers, and other creatives who come together to enhance the outputs.
Validation
As a last but critical step, validation via efficient and effective Qualitative and Quantitative methods instills in our clients the confidence necessary to invest extensive time and resources to bring those solutions and strategies to market.
From award winning innovations, to portfolio expansions, to Foresight work that has pivoted corporate 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.