Challenge
The KidStrong team had just launched their 100th international franchise, but the rapid growth seen during the height of the cross-fit craze had died down. The company needed a new positioning to quickly and easily explain the program and its benefits to parents outside the fitness-guru early adopters.
Charette established a new market category, brand strategy and unified, modern design language that boosted conversion and streamlined national expansion operations.
What we accomplished
New category in children’s programming
Improved conversion across the market
Design system for digital to brick & mortar
Consistent sales scripts and brand assets
What we made
Brand Strategy: new unique value proposition, brand vision, north star, personality, sales script, service descriptions and more
Comprehensive Design System: a completely new brand system, including tone of voice, in-center digital displays, signage and apparel
Testable Assets: prototypes of the new positioning and brand language to validate the strategy with new & existing customers
Target Market Map: market segment categorization, overview descriptions & spend prioritization strategy
Psychographic Customer Profiles: overviews of real people including their mental models, mindsets + jobs to be done segmented by age of child, neurodivergence and family size
How we did it
4-week behavioral and psychological study on parenting values, struggles and extra-curricular activities
Comprehensive design system, brand strategy & qualitative validation testing with both new and existing customers
Deep dive into the science of child development to reframe the program and bring forward hidden benefits
Cultural trend analysis on children’s activity space
Qualitative brand audit
Competitive analysis
Design collaboration with Haikoo Studios
From building muscle to building confidence
The original brand over-emphasized the athletic aspects of the program — fitness buffs loved it, but most parents didn’t found the idea of kid strength training confusing.
Charette dug deep with parents to understand their complex, nuanced beliefs about what really matters when raising kids. We created a brand that highlights how KidStrong shares those values and how the programming can enable their goals.
Three big ideas
Over-emphasizing physical strength hides the magic of the program
Define a new category with familiar language
Don’t forget to have a good time
1 - Over-emphasizing physical strength hides the magic of the program
Everything from the mini-crossfit rig to the bold, all caps typography telegraphed “serious fitness program.” Parents missed what's under the hood: a treasure trove of science-backed play proven to develop the skills parents want to build.
We rebalanced the benefits so physical literacy, emotional skill and critical thinking stand out and support the most important skill of all: teaching kids to believe in themselves.
2 - Define a new category with familiar language
One of the biggest challenges everyone at KidStrong faced was fitting into the existing categories of kid programming. Calling it a “kids training program” or “cross-fit for kids” turned off a lot of parents and obscured the quality of the program.
We needed a new category that would feel innovative and instantly familiar — Athletic Play.
A category-breaking program deserves innovative positioning
Mixing playfulness with rigor and quality checks all the boxes that matter to most to parents
Science-based fitness games connects quality and rigor with playful fun
Validate the new messaging with parents looking for the benefits the program offers
3 - Don’t forget to have a good time
In an effort to stand out from the flimsy, overly cute kid programming, the original visual brand leaned hard into a stark, brutalist aesthetic.
We brought in playful colors, softer edges and dynamic typography that made the edginess fun and kid-centered.
The new brand added in some kid-like fun without losing the brand DNA
Adding dynamism and contrast by combining a bold sans-serif with playful, comic-book display accents
Soften and broaden the color palette
Soften the sharp edges of the graphic style and incorporate playful new patterns
Develop a photography style that highlights the free, empowered feeling kids get at KidStrong
They do this mind meld between the customer and the company.
The customer can't say it, but they're thinking it. Charette uncovers the truth and turns it into the tactical pieces you need."
Let’s work together
We helped KidStrong grow past their early adopters and connect with a mass market audience. Let's see what we can do for you.
FAQ
Not really! We work closely with our clients to build an engagement that fits their needs and their budget.
The range is wide — our engagements run between $25-300k depending on the scope and volume of work.
Yes and you absolutely SHOULD. In fact if we work together, we will strongly recommend you join the sessions with us.Qualitative research is an art form — one we’ve honed for over 20 years.
We find that even for companies who are good about talking with customers, our methodology tends to uncover new and valuable insights.
We know how to get people to really open up and tell us the truth by:
• avoiding leading questions
• reinforcing, synthesizing and following up with compassion and reflective listening
• creating a welcoming, judgement free space where people can relax and say how they really feel
To be honest … we’re never TOTALLY sure — that’s why we always include rounds of testing to check our work.
We do have a pretty good track record though. Our clients tell us we’ve measurably lowered their CAC, increased their conversion rate exponentially and significantly increased retention and LTV.
We’re also happy to build in rounds of quantitative testing if that’s of interest to you.
Ah this is a tough one. The short answer is no, not really.
We’ve tried this approach before — but we’ve found the outcomes of those projects are much less successful in terms of delivering on business goals because we have no control over the quality and depth of the research.
It’s important to us that every client walks away with a beautiful and effective outcome and for us, that means research is a requirement.
