Businesses rarely speak design, and design rarely speaks business.
Design defines everything a customer sees, touches and experiences. Good design is fundamental to business success, yet many companies don't understand design's potential. And neither do some design departments.
Design studios often argue in emotions. Product planning argues in segments, volumes and cost. Brand argues in positioning. Each is correct in its own language, but what customers actually value gets lost in translation.
Stance Strategy works in the spaces between. We build the argument that ties what a company says to what it builds and how it delivers it.
Three disciplines, one stance.
We don't replace your design studio, product planners or brand team. We work across disciplines, building a single case that holds up under scrutiny.
Brand
Framing why your company exists, why people on the outside should care, and where it sits against design and cultural movements. Positioning clearly what you stand for, and identifying the spaces you can legitimately occupy. And those you can't.
Product planning
Defining how products earn their place in the portfolio. Bringing together market dynamics, product segments, customer insights, competitor landscape and the business logic underneath to help uncover the right direction.
Design
This is where products come to life — but also where they can die, without nurturing, protection and the right presentation. We work from brand-level design strategy down to the finer details of execution.
Our methodology
Sized to the decision in front of you.
Most work starts with a conversation about the direction you're working towards, and what's standing in the way.
Strategy sprint
A focused piece of work ahead of a key milestone: the argument, the evidence and the story, ready for the next step.
Advisory
Senior strategic input on call for design and product leaders — an external view on positioning, briefs and reviews.
Partnership
Working alongside your team — from concept to launch, keeping the essence intact as it evolves.
Owen Ready, Founder.
I founded Stance Strategy after ten years in-house at Volvo Cars — most recently as Head of Design Strategy — working across design strategy, product briefing and creative direction, and making the case for good design, the right products and a strong brand.
Before that, I was an automotive and design journalist, including five years as Editor of Car Design News.
That mix of design and journalism is why I care about storytelling that holds together end to end — from a brand's position down to the detail execution of its products. Stance Strategy exists to bring that thinking to companies and leaders who recognise why it matters.