Skip to content
Tactical Industries
Let's chat

Core values

Notes and perspectives from the Value Proposition Studio.

Notes from the studio.

01 / Core values

Core values · Oct 5, 2026

Abercrombie & Fitch: from a premise that insulted to a premise that welcomes

In the 2000s Abercrombie & Fitch made exclusion its selling point, and by 2014 it was in decline. Under Fran Horowitz it changed its audience, its product and its tone, and reached record sales in the 2020s. A case on premise, repelling and the difference between filtering and insulting.

Read article
No. 110Core valuesA premise that repels by contempt will eventually be read by people who were never its target, and they get to decide what it says about the brand.October 5, 2026

Core values · Sep 27, 2026

Coca-Cola Zero goes red: a textbook case of Value Swapping

In July 2026 Coca-Cola dressed Zero in the flagship red, finishing a move that began in 2016. How a brand keeps its core value and changes the product that carries it.

Birkenstock

Positioning · Sep 17, 2026

Birkenstock: the orthopaedic sandal that fashion kept coming back to

A German maker of contoured footbeds became a fashion staple, starred in the Barbie film and listed in New York in October 2023. A case on a premise that stayed still while the culture moved toward it.

Labubu

Pricing and scarcity · Aug 25, 2026

Labubu: Pop Mart made the rare thing easy to get, and the value left

Pop Mart scaled Labubu production a hundredfold and watched resale prices halve. A case on scarcity as the product, and why adding supply can destroy the value it was meant to serve.

Core valuesBrunello Cucinelli: a value proposition built as a villageCucinelli sells cashmere at the top of luxury and declares a philosophy of dignified work, then pays for it in wages, buildings and a school. A case on core values, costly proof, and what a short seller's report tests.Core values
Gucci
Gucci: three creative directors in three years, and the cost of resetting a houseRebrand
Meta
Meta named itself after a future, and a pair of glasses filled the nameChannels
Tupperware: the party built the brand, and the brand never found another roomCore values
Tesla
Tesla in Europe: when the founder's public persona becomes a core valuePremise, promise, proof
Southwest
Southwest made free bags a promise, then started charging for themPremise, promise, proof
Moncler
Moncler: how a down jacket for mountaineers climbed into luxuryCore values
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson: a brand worn as an identity, and the generation that wears itPositioningSamsung spent a decade mocking Apple, and Apple stayed the referenceFrom 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.Premise, promise, proof
Burberry
Burberry went back to the trench coat, one rung down the ladderRebrand
Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel: the Old Timer was an asset, and the redesign spent itPortfolio and rhyming
Ferrero and Kinder: how values pass down a family of brandsCore valuesPolaroid: the phone won the instant picture, and the slow print came backPolaroid 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
Airbnb's Belong Anywhere: a value promise, and the fees at the last screenPremise, promise, proof
Barilla: the brand that promised home, at home and abroadChannels
Duolingo
Duolingo: the owl is the channel, and in 2025 it carried two messagesPositioning
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola at Christmas: the brand that arrives when the joy is already thereCore values
McDonald's
McDonald's has changed for fifty years, one value at a timeCore values
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret: retiring the Angels, then bringing them back on new termsAdoption
Guinness
Guinness and Gen Z: a slow pint becomes a game, and the kegs run shortPortfolio and rhymingTaylor's Version: how to out-build an asset you no longer ownTaylor Swift lost the masters of her first six albums and re-recorded them. Read as music on a staff, it is the cleanest rhyme in recent business history.Portfolio and rhyming
Dyson: one engineering value, carried from vacuums to hair, and where it stoppedCore values
Balenciaga
Balenciaga in 2022: a value without a boundaryCore values
Patagonia told customers not to buy its jacket, then gave the company awayChannelsBottega Veneta left social media in 2021, and the conversation stayedIn 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.Core values
New Coke
New Coke: the taste test was right, and the customers owned the valueVideo
Futurespective: framing a company's values from the futurePortfolio and rhyming
LEGO
LEGO went back to the brick, and its films and games finally rhymedCore values
Gillette, 2019: one word kept, a value changed, and a split audienceMoat
Rolex
Rolex explains nothing, and the market leans inRebrand
Gap's new logo lasted a week, because the blue box belonged to its customersCore values
Dove's Real Beauty
Dove's Real Beauty: twenty years on a value, and the cost of every slip in proofCore valuesCrocs owned the ugly clog, and the punchline became a businessCrocs 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
Think Different: Apple spoke its values a year before it could prove them