CASE STUDY
Shaping a new ideas platform before its launch.
A new international ideas platform set out to bring leaders and the public together around a more hopeful view of the future, through a leaders' summit and a large public festival. The founding team had the vision and the network. What they didn't have yet was a clear answer to who it was for and how it would pay its way.
We came in at the very start, months before launch, and worked with the founders and board to turn the idea into a business: where it could win, who it serves, how it makes money and what to charge.
AT A GLANCE
The results
comparable events analysed to find where a new platform could win.
revenue streams identified, prioritised and modelled into three ten-year scenarios.
from kick-off to a board-ready strategy covering positioning, audiences and revenue.
oUR APPROACH
What we did
Tested the founding idea
We interviewed the core team, reviewed earlier strategy work and checked the founders' thesis against published research, to prove there was a real gap to fill.
Mapped 75+ comparable events
Leaders' forums, prizes and festivals, compared on format, business model and storytelling, to find the space nobody owned.
Defined who it's for
Four ways people discover the platform and four roles they play once inside, with what each group gives and gets, plus a first sizing of the audience.
Modelled the revenue
Fourteen revenue streams, benchmarked against comparable institutes and festivals and rolled up into low, mid and high ten-year scenarios.
Took it to the board
A workshop to agree the synthesis, then an exec-ready strategy and a roadmap for what to decide now and what can wait.
Priced every ticket and tier
Asked back after the board, we benchmarked membership, summit and festival pricing and set the size of the premium audience.
THE OUTCOME
Insight built for decisions
Proved a gap in the market
Leaders' forums offer credibility and festivals offer access. The opening was a platform that bridges the two and turns conversation into action.
An audience model the team can use
Four audience roles, from decision-makers to festival-goers, each with a clear reason to take part and a clear value exchange.
14 prioritised revenue streams
Sponsorship, ticketing and premium membership first. Consulting, members' events and public funding once the brand has pull.
Three scenarios sized & benchmarked
Low, mid and high ten-year cases were built, analysed & presented to the board with full evidence.
Pricing strategy set
Ticket and membership ladders benchmarked against comparable events, with a premium audience sized to balance scale and intimacy.
A three-horizon roadmap
What to establish for launch, what to scale next and which revenue streams to explore later, with lessons from events that over-reached.
Ready when you are