Brand history
Notes and perspectives from the Value Proposition Studio.
Notes from the studio.
01 / Brand history
Premise, promise, proof · Sep 13, 2026
Blockbuster earned millions from late fees and paid for them with its promise
In 2000 Blockbuster collected about 800 million dollars in late fees and turned down the chance to buy Netflix for 50 million. A case on a revenue line that worked against the promise it was meant to serve.
Read articlePremise, promise, proof · Sep 9, 2026
No Man's Sky paid for its launch promise in a week and repaid it over ten years
Hello Games launched No Man's Sky in August 2016 below what players had been led to expect, then spent a decade adding free updates until the game reached its highest player numbers. A case on the expectations gap and the slow arithmetic of proof.
Category design · Aug 28, 2026
Technogym sold a word before it sold a machine
In the early 1990s a fitness equipment maker from Cesena put "The Wellness Company" on its logo and spent thirty years making the word true. A case on category design, and on what happens when your category's name becomes everyone's vocabulary.
Channels · Aug 17, 2026
The Michelin Guide: a tyre company that gave people a reason to drive
In 1900 André and Édouard Michelin handed out a free guide for motorists. A case on building the channel that creates demand for your product, and the credibility that channel needs to survive.
Blockbuster earned millions from late fees and paid for them with its promise
In 2000 Blockbuster collected about 800 million dollars in late fees and turned down the chance to buy Netflix for 50 million. A case on a revenue line that worked against the promise it was meant to serve.
Premise, promise, proof · Pricing and scarcity · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleNo Man's Sky paid for its launch promise in a week and repaid it over ten years
Hello Games launched No Man's Sky in August 2016 below what players had been led to expect, then spent a decade adding free updates until the game reached its highest player numbers. A case on the expectations gap and the slow arithmetic of proof.
Premise, promise, proof · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleTechnogym sold a word before it sold a machine
In the early 1990s a fitness equipment maker from Cesena put "The Wellness Company" on its logo and spent thirty years making the word true. A case on category design, and on what happens when your category's name becomes everyone's vocabulary.
Category design · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleThe Michelin Guide: a tyre company that gave people a reason to drive
In 1900 André and Édouard Michelin handed out a free guide for motorists. A case on building the channel that creates demand for your product, and the credibility that channel needs to survive.
Channels · Category design · Brand history
Read articleSwatch in 1983: the cheap plastic watch that changed what Swiss meant
In March 1983, with the Swiss watch industry shrinking under cheap quartz competition, a plastic watch with 51 parts went on sale in Zurich. A brand history on category design, and on proof built into the way a product is made.
Category design · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleWhy isn't Sony Spotify? The company that sold every format and missed the listening
Sony owned the Walkman, the CD and a record label, and still left music listening to Apple and Spotify. PlayStation shows what the same company does when it reads the job right.
Portfolio and rhyming · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleCostco: a membership card as the premise, a hot dog as the proof
Costco charges people for the right to shop, and has kept its hot dog and soda at 1.50 dollars since 1985. A case on a premise customers pay to accept, and on a proof anyone can check at the exit.
Pricing and scarcity · Positioning · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleMoncler: how a down jacket for mountaineers climbed into luxury
Moncler was born in 1952 to equip people working at altitude. Under Remo Ruffini, from 2003, it became a luxury group with revenue above three billion euros. A case on climbing the Promise Ladder while keeping the first rung.
Premise, promise, proof · Core values · Brand history
Read articleA Diamond Is Forever: De Beers designed a category, and lab-grown stones are testing it
In 1947 four words tied the diamond to the engagement ring. Seventy years later a machine can grow the same stone. A case on category design and on a value that depends on a story.
Category design · Pricing and scarcity · Brand history
Read articlePeloton built for the demand of 2020, and 2020 did not last
Lockdowns pushed Peloton's revenue past 4 billion dollars and its market value toward 50 billion, then the gyms reopened. A case on adoption, on demand that belonged to a moment, and on the premise that should have sized the factory.
Adoption · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleSamsung spent a decade mocking Apple, and Apple stayed the reference
From queue jokes in 2011 to the UnCrush ad in 2024, Samsung has made Apple the subject of its advertising, then quietly deleted some ads once it made the same choices. A case on adversarial bandwagoning and the frame a challenger borrows.
Positioning · Core values · Brand history
Read articleOn Running: a shoe that wears its proof, and a champion who paid to join
A Swiss start-up entered a running market led by giants, put its technology on the outside of the sole and took Roger Federer as a shareholder. A case on visible proof and the weight of an investor's money.
Category design · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleAperol Spritz: Campari sold a time of day, and the bottle came with it
Aperol was a regional bitter from Padua until Campari bought it in 2003 and put all its weight behind one drink. A case on designing a category around a ritual, and on owning a recipe you cannot patent.
Category design · Channels · Brand history
Read articleOld Spice talked to the woman holding the basket, and an old brand found a new voice
In February 2010 Old Spice launched an ad that addressed women about a men's body wash, and turned seventy years of age into a claim of experience. A case on choosing the recipient of a promise when the buyer and the user are different people.
Rebrand · Premise, promise, proof · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleMagnum: the stick ice cream that changed who it was for
In 1989 Unilever put a thick Belgian chocolate shell on an ice cream on a stick and sold it to adults. A case on perceived benefits, willingness to pay and the category that followed.
Pricing and scarcity · Category design · Brand history
Read articleQuibi raised 1.75 billion dollars for a moment that disappeared at launch
Quibi launched in April 2020 with premium shows cut into episodes under ten minutes, built for phones on the move, and shut down six months later. A case on a premise that rested on a context, and a new format the market had no way to learn.
Adoption · Category design · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleFerrero and Kinder: how values pass down a family of brands
Kinder carries Ferrero's trust and adds childhood; Kinder Surprise adds play on top of both. A case on value inheritance in an umbrella architecture, and on the 2022 recall that showed the same channels carry damage.
Portfolio and rhyming · Core values · Brand history
Read articlePolaroid: the phone won the instant picture, and the slow print came back
Polaroid went bankrupt twice and stopped making film in 2008. A group of enthusiasts bought the last factory and relaunched a slower, less predictable product. A case on how a value wears out and how a new one can live in the same object.
Core values · Rebrand · Brand history
Read articleAirbnb's Belong Anywhere: a value promise, and the fees at the last screen
In 2014 Airbnb rebuilt its brand around belonging. Over the following decade cleaning fees and checkout chores tested that promise, until the company changed how it shows prices. A case on core values and proof.
Core values · Premise, promise, proof · Rebrand · Brand history
Read articleBarilla: the brand that promised home, at home and abroad
In Italy Barilla sells the family table; in the United States it sells Italy. A case on a fourth-rung promise, the narrow room it leaves, and what happens when a promise built for one market is read in another.
Premise, promise, proof · Channels · Core values · Brand history
Read articleNintendo Wii: the console that counted the people who did not play
In 2006 Nintendo launched a console with less power than its rivals, at half the price of the PlayStation 3, and sold more than 100 million. A case on a premise written for non-customers, and on how hard it is to keep them.
Positioning · Category design · Brand history
Read articleMcDonald's has changed for fifty years, one value at a time
Calorie counts, espresso, fresh beef and a return to the value meal: McDonald's has added values under pressure without dropping the ones its customers came for. A case on how values evolve over long horizons.
Core values · Pricing and scarcity · Brand history
Read articleFerrari builds one car fewer than the market wants, and the wait is part of the car
Ferrari has kept supply below demand for decades, with waiting lists and limited series offered to buyers chosen by their history with the brand. A case on scarcity as part of the promise, and on a moat made of time.
Moat · Pricing and scarcity · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleIntel Inside: how a part nobody sees became a reason to buy
In 1991 Intel began paying PC makers to put its name on their ads and their machines. A case on proving an invisible component, borrowing the shelf of your customers, and what visibility costs when something goes wrong.
Premise, promise, proof · Channels · Brand history
Read articleDomino's read its worst reviews on air, and the new recipe did the rest
In December 2009 Domino's ran ads in which its own executives read customers calling the pizza tasteless, then changed a recipe it had used for decades. A case on closing the gap between promise and perception, and on why the admission only worked because the product changed.
Premise, promise, proof · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleVolvo gave away its best safety invention, and made safety its moat
In 1959 Volvo fitted Nils Bohlin's three-point seatbelt and opened the patent to other carmakers. A case on proof as the moat behind a promise, and on what it costs to keep one for sixty years.
Premise, promise, proof · Moat · Brand history
Read articleFiat 500, 2007: a relaunch that rhymed with 1957
Fiat presented the new 500 in Turin on 4 July 2007, fifty years to the day after the original. A case on portfolio rhyming, a name that carries a family, and how far a rhyme can stretch.
Portfolio and rhyming · Rebrand · Brand history
Read articleTropicana redesigned its carton and shoppers could no longer find it
In 2009 Tropicana removed the orange with a straw from its Pure Premium carton. Sales fell about 20% in under two months and the old pack came back. A case on the assets customers use to find you on a shelf.
Rebrand · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleKFC's 'FCK': a chicken chain without chicken, and an apology that waited for the fix
In February 2018 a change of delivery partner closed most of KFC's restaurants in the UK. A week later the chain apologised with three rearranged letters on an empty bucket. A case on repairing a broken promise in the right order.
Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleVolkswagen, 'Think Small': a premise that told most buyers to look elsewhere
In 1959 Doyle Dane Bernbach sold the Beetle to an America that wanted big cars by saying plainly what the car was. A case on an honest premise, a refused value, and proof you can picture.
Positioning · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleSpotify Wrapped: the campaign customers publish for free every December
Since 2016 Spotify has handed each listener a summary of their year, and since 2017 it has called it Wrapped. A case on channels and proof built from the customer's own data.
Channels · Moat · Brand history
Read articleDyson: one engineering value, carried from vacuums to hair, and where it stopped
Dyson moved from vacuum cleaners to fans, hairdryers and stylers on the strength of one value, and made that value visible in every product. A case on product proof, portable value, and the two launches that found its limit.
Portfolio and rhyming · Core values · Brand history
Read articleRed Bull: a Thai tonic, a new category, and the stories that sell the can
Red Bull brought a Thai energy tonic to Austria in 1987, built the energy drink category in the West and then began producing the stories that sell it. A case on category design and channels.
Category design · Channels · Brand history
Read articleMoonSwatch: how Omega lent its legend and kept it
In March 2022 Swatch and Omega put the Speedmaster's design into a colourful Bioceramic watch at a fraction of the price, and Speedmaster sales rose. A case on bridges between brands and the perimeter that protects the original.
Moat · Portfolio and rhyming · Brand history
Read articleBalenciaga in 2022: a value without a boundary
In November 2022 two Balenciaga campaigns, one with children holding teddy-bear bags and one with a court ruling on child abuse imagery among the props, set off a global backlash. A case on core values, the limits they need, and the decisions that followed.
Core values · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articlePatagonia told customers not to buy its jacket, then gave the company away
On Black Friday 2011 Patagonia ran a full-page ad in The New York Times that said 'Don't Buy This Jacket'. In 2022 its owners transferred the company to a trust and a nonprofit. A case on proofs that cost, and values that hold under pressure.
Core values · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleZara: speed is the promise, and the factory next door is the proof
Zara built its value proposition on newness, then made the supply chain carry the evidence: design near the stores, production close to Spain, deliveries twice a week. A case on proof that lives in operations.
Premise, promise, proof · Moat · Channels · Brand history
Read articleYETI: a cooler priced like equipment, built for the guide and bought by everyone
Two Texan brothers took the cheapest object on a fishing trip and priced it like equipment. A case on a premise written for a few serious users, and on what stays defensible once the design is copied.
Positioning · Pricing and scarcity · Moat · Brand history
Read articleBottega Veneta left social media in 2021, and the conversation stayed
In January 2021 Bottega Veneta deleted its Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts without explanation. A case on a channel decision read as a value, and on letting other people carry your brand.
Channels · Core values · Brand history
Read articleThe milkshake that competed with bananas and bagels
Clayton Christensen's best-known teaching story is about a fast-food chain that tried to sell more milkshakes by asking buyers what they wanted. A reading of the anecdote, what it teaches about competition, and how to use it without treating it as data.
Positioning · Value to Market · Brand history
Read articleOatly: a carton that argued with the dairy aisle, and a café that proved it
From 2012 Oatly rewrote itself as a voice against dairy, entered the US through coffee shops and went public in 2021, then struggled to turn the category it opened into profit. A case on category design and channels.
Category design · Channels · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleNew Coke: the taste test was right, and the customers owned the value
In April 1985 Coca-Cola replaced its formula with a sweeter one that had won blind taste tests, and brought the original back 79 days later. A case on core values that belong to the customer, and what research cannot see.
Core values · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleLEGO went back to the brick, and its films and games finally rhymed
In the early 2000s LEGO diversified into parks, in-house games and toys with few bricks in them, and came close to collapse. A case on portfolio rhyming and on returning to the core you already own.
Portfolio and rhyming · Core values · Brand history
Read articleGoogle Stadia: a promise of faith from a company with a public record of closures
Stadia launched in November 2019 as console-free gaming in the cloud and closed in January 2023 with full refunds. A case on adoption, and on trust as an asset a company carries into every launch.
Adoption · Premise, promise, proof · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleKodak built a digital camera in 1975 and kept protecting film
A Kodak engineer built a digital camera prototype in 1975, and Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. A case on the portfolio a company protects, and the value its customers carried somewhere else.
Portfolio and rhyming · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleNespresso: the same capsule failed in offices and won at home
Nestlé launched Nespresso in 1986 and struggled for years, until the business stopped selling an office machine and started building a category: espresso at home, sold through a club and later through boutiques. A case on category design and the moat after the patents.
Category design · Channels · Moat · Brand history
Read articleIKEA's flat pack: when the customer's effort is part of the price and the value
IKEA has shipped furniture in flat boxes since the 1950s and asks customers to build it themselves. A case on effort as part of the value proposition, and on what researchers named the IKEA effect.
Pricing and scarcity · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleAbsolut: twenty-five years of ads about a bottle
From 1980 TBWA ran more than 1,500 print ads for Absolut, and nearly every one starred the bottle. A case on a product you cannot see, an asset you can, and the discipline of one format.
Moat · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleGillette, 2019: one word kept, a value changed, and a split audience
In January 2019 Gillette turned its thirty-year slogan into a question about men's behaviour. A case on evolving a core value, and on the risk of jumping to a new one in a single film.
Core values · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleRolex explains nothing, and the market leans in
Rolex publishes no figures, changes its watches slowly and appears only where excellence has rules. A case on the steeple, the power figure of a brand that assumes its legitimacy, and on what it costs to keep the posture.
Moat · Core values · Brand history
Read articleGap's new logo lasted a week, because the blue box belonged to its customers
In October 2010 Gap replaced its blue box logo with a new wordmark and brought the old one back about a week later, after an online backlash. A case on the assets customers feel they own, and on asking them to fix what you changed.
Rebrand · Core values · Brand history
Read articleHäagen-Dazs: a Bronx ice cream with an invented Danish name
In 1960 Reuben and Rose Mattus gave their dense, expensive ice cream a name that means nothing in any language and sounded like Scandinavia. A case on borrowing a value from elsewhere, and on the product work that made it the brand's own.
Positioning · Pricing and scarcity · Brand history
Read articleDove's Real Beauty: twenty years on a value, and the cost of every slip in proof
In 2004 Dove moved its brand from product claims onto a value: real beauty. A case on a brand that lives on one value, and on what happens when the proof around it slips.
Core values · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleDollar Shave Club changed how razors are sold, and the category followed
A 2012 video, a monthly subscription and a one-dollar price took on Gillette's hold on the razor market. Unilever bought the company in 2016 and sold a majority stake in 2023. A case on a channel and a price that became the category's premise.
Channels · Pricing and scarcity · Category design · Brand history
Read articleCrocs owned the ugly clog, and the punchline became a business
Crocs went from a 2008 loss and years of jokes to record sales by leaning into the shoe everyone mocked. A case on a rejected value turned into a premise, on identity, and on the channels that carried both.
Core values · Channels · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleBurger King's Moldy Whopper: an ad that let the product rot
In February 2020 Burger King filmed a Whopper decaying for over a month to announce it had removed artificial preservatives. A case on proof that costs the brand something, and on what such a proof commits you to.
Premise, promise, proof · Positioning · Brand history
Read articleBlackBerry owned the keyboard, then the phone stopped needing one
BlackBerry led the early smartphone market with a physical keyboard and secure email for companies. After the iPhone the premise of the category changed, and the strengths that had built the lead stopped counting.
Category design · Adoption · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleNokia sold four in ten of the world's phones and still lost the smartphone
At the end of 2007 Nokia estimated it held 40% of the global handset market. Six years later it sold its phone business to Microsoft. A case on how the strengths that protect a leader can hold it in place.
Category design · Moat · Autopsy · Brand history
Read articleAvis, 'We try harder': a promise built on admitting you are second
In 1962 Avis told America it was only number two in car rental and turned that into its reason to be chosen. A case on an honest premise, a promise you can check, and the risks of defining yourself against the leader.
Positioning · Premise, promise, proof · Brand history
Read articleThink Different: Apple spoke its values a year before it could prove them
In 1997 Apple was losing money, its catalogue was a maze, and its first big campaign after Steve Jobs' return showed no computer at all. A case on core values as the first asset of a turnaround.
Core values · Positioning · Brand history
Read article- 01Blockbuster earned millions from late fees and paid for them with its promisePremise, promise, proof
- 02No Man's Sky paid for its launch promise in a week and repaid it over ten yearsPremise, promise, proof
- 03Technogym sold a word before it sold a machineCategory design
- 04The Michelin Guide: a tyre company that gave people a reason to driveChannels
- 05Swatch in 1983: the cheap plastic watch that changed what Swiss meantCategory design
- 06Why isn't Sony Spotify? The company that sold every format and missed the listeningPortfolio and rhyming
- 07Costco: a membership card as the premise, a hot dog as the proofPricing and scarcity
- 08Moncler: how a down jacket for mountaineers climbed into luxuryPremise, promise, proof
- 09A Diamond Is Forever: De Beers designed a category, and lab-grown stones are testing itCategory design
- 10Peloton built for the demand of 2020, and 2020 did not lastAdoption
- 11Samsung spent a decade mocking Apple, and Apple stayed the referencePositioning
- 12On Running: a shoe that wears its proof, and a champion who paid to joinCategory design
- 13Aperol Spritz: Campari sold a time of day, and the bottle came with itCategory design
- 14Old Spice talked to the woman holding the basket, and an old brand found a new voiceRebrand
- 15Magnum: the stick ice cream that changed who it was forPricing and scarcity
- 16Quibi raised 1.75 billion dollars for a moment that disappeared at launchAdoption
- 17Ferrero and Kinder: how values pass down a family of brandsPortfolio and rhyming
- 18Polaroid: the phone won the instant picture, and the slow print came backCore values
- 19Airbnb's Belong Anywhere: a value promise, and the fees at the last screenCore values
- 20Barilla: the brand that promised home, at home and abroadPremise, promise, proof
- 21Nintendo Wii: the console that counted the people who did not playPositioning
- 22McDonald's has changed for fifty years, one value at a timeCore values
- 23Ferrari builds one car fewer than the market wants, and the wait is part of the carMoat
- 24Intel Inside: how a part nobody sees became a reason to buyPremise, promise, proof
- 25Domino's read its worst reviews on air, and the new recipe did the restPremise, promise, proof
- 26Volvo gave away its best safety invention, and made safety its moatPremise, promise, proof
- 27Fiat 500, 2007: a relaunch that rhymed with 1957Portfolio and rhyming
- 28Tropicana redesigned its carton and shoppers could no longer find itRebrand
- 29KFC's 'FCK': a chicken chain without chicken, and an apology that waited for the fixPremise, promise, proof
- 30Volkswagen, 'Think Small': a premise that told most buyers to look elsewherePositioning
- 31Spotify Wrapped: the campaign customers publish for free every DecemberChannels
- 32Dyson: one engineering value, carried from vacuums to hair, and where it stoppedPortfolio and rhyming
- 33Red Bull: a Thai tonic, a new category, and the stories that sell the canCategory design
- 34MoonSwatch: how Omega lent its legend and kept itMoat
- 35Balenciaga in 2022: a value without a boundaryCore values
- 36Patagonia told customers not to buy its jacket, then gave the company awayCore values
- 37Zara: speed is the promise, and the factory next door is the proofPremise, promise, proof
- 38YETI: a cooler priced like equipment, built for the guide and bought by everyonePositioning
- 39Bottega Veneta left social media in 2021, and the conversation stayedChannels
- 40The milkshake that competed with bananas and bagelsPositioning
- 41Oatly: a carton that argued with the dairy aisle, and a café that proved itCategory design
- 42New Coke: the taste test was right, and the customers owned the valueCore values
- 43LEGO went back to the brick, and its films and games finally rhymedPortfolio and rhyming
- 44Google Stadia: a promise of faith from a company with a public record of closuresAdoption
- 45Kodak built a digital camera in 1975 and kept protecting filmPortfolio and rhyming
- 46Nespresso: the same capsule failed in offices and won at homeCategory design
- 47IKEA's flat pack: when the customer's effort is part of the price and the valuePricing and scarcity
- 48Absolut: twenty-five years of ads about a bottleMoat
- 49Gillette, 2019: one word kept, a value changed, and a split audienceCore values
- 50Rolex explains nothing, and the market leans inMoat
- 51Gap's new logo lasted a week, because the blue box belonged to its customersRebrand
- 52Häagen-Dazs: a Bronx ice cream with an invented Danish namePositioning
- 53Dove's Real Beauty: twenty years on a value, and the cost of every slip in proofCore values
- 54Dollar Shave Club changed how razors are sold, and the category followedChannels
- 55Crocs owned the ugly clog, and the punchline became a businessCore values
- 56Burger King's Moldy Whopper: an ad that let the product rotPremise, promise, proof
- 57BlackBerry owned the keyboard, then the phone stopped needing oneCategory design
- 58Nokia sold four in ten of the world's phones and still lost the smartphoneCategory design
- 59Avis, 'We try harder': a promise built on admitting you are secondPositioning
- 60Think Different: Apple spoke its values a year before it could prove themCore values