the IP
This is what a real marketing function looks like. Twelve capabilities every DTC brand needs to grow past its current ceiling. Most growth-stage brands have one or two of these running at a world-class level — usually whatever the founder or the agency stack specializes in — and several others that are partially built or drifting. The math is counterintuitive. A brand with all twelve capabilities running well will outperform a brand with two world-class capabilities and several gaps. Coverage and integration compound. Isolated excellence does not. The Foundation Sprint scores each of the twelve, then prescribes the work in the right order so all twelve can run as one system.
how the scoring works
Every pillar has three depths of work. We score where you are today, then prescribe the work that moves you to the next depth in the right order.
depth one
The capability hasn't been built, or what exists is placeholder. The work is to install it.
depth two
The capability is working, but it can't scale to where the business needs to go. The work is to rebuild it for the next stage.
depth three
The capability is operating as a real system. The work is about optimizing the upside.
A $20M brand might be at Scale on paid media and Build on customer intelligence. A $5M brand might have a strong product story but no creative system. The Foundation Sprint scores each of the twelve pillars at one of these three depths, then prescribes the work in the right order — not a packaged retainer.
layer one — foundation
This is the work most brands skipped on the way to where they are. Not because it doesn't matter. Because no one on the team was senior enough to do it.
When this layer is missing, every dollar you spend on ads gets less efficient over time. The ads aren't the problem. The basics under the ads are.
Have you actually talked to your customers? Read their reviews carefully? Watched what they say about you online?
Can you say in one sentence why someone should buy your product instead of someone else's? In words a normal person would use?
Does your name, logo, color system, and visual identity actually work for the people you're trying to reach? Or did you pick them years ago when you were a different company?
Do you know who your customer is past the demographics? What they want, what they're choosing between, what they're trying to fix.
layer two — buy path
You can run perfect ads to a website that doesn't sell. Most growth-stage brands are doing exactly that. The website is fine. But fine doesn't sell.
When a stranger lands on your homepage, can they tell who it's for, what it does, and why it's better than alternatives in three seconds?
Are your product photos as good as your product? Do you have enough photography to keep ads fresh? Or are you using the same five images your founder shot two years ago?
Can you actually see what's working with enough confidence to make decisions? Or are you running on Meta's last-click report?
layer three — growth system
This is the layer most agencies sell. It's also the layer that doesn't work without the two underneath it. We can run all of this without other agencies, or manage your existing partners inside the same plan. Either way, it runs on top of a real foundation.
Are your emails actually doing work? Welcome series, abandoned cart, win-back. Or are they running on autopilot since 2023?
Are you running segment-led creative against actual customer segments at a known CAC? Or ten versions of the same hook against everyone?
Are you defending your own brand name? Are you showing up when people search for what you sell? Are competitors stealing the customers who already wanted you?
Do you have a plan for what to post and why, or do you post when someone has time?
Do you know your numbers — payback period, contribution margin, LTV by cohort — and do you review them on a regular rhythm?
talk to us
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