This is one of the two sample outputs that ship in the Brand Strategy download, published here in full and unedited so you can see what the skill produces before you buy.
Sample output, not a customer story. This was produced in a pre-release test run on 3 November 2026. The business is fictional and the founder's answers were scripted. Rival facts were read from public pages during the run and are cited as found that day. It is shown unedited so you can see what the skill produces before you buy.
What the founder said: "We have three weeks to decide whether to launch a cheaper supermarket coffee line under our name."
The business (fictional): Fieldwork Coffee, a specialty roaster in Portland, Oregon, selling at $22 a bag. A regional supermarket chain wants a $12 blend under the Fieldwork name in 40 stores. Strategy line: "Coffee for people who care where it comes from."
The one-page memo the skill delivered:
Decision: whether to put the Fieldwork name on a $12 supermarket blend in 40 stores, or keep the name for origin coffee at $22, by Tuesday 24 November 2026. Decided by the founder.
Recommendation: Counter the chain this week: the Fieldwork name goes on a $12 bag only if the bag names the farms in it, and if they refuse, decline.
Why: Your strategy is about where the coffee comes from, not what it costs, so it rules out a bag that hides its origins under your name (A) and allows one that names them (D). On the supermarket shelf a nameless $12 blend from a Portland roaster has an obvious stand-in: Stumptown's Hair Bender, a Portland blend that Walmart lists at $13.95 for 12 oz. A shopper who swapped yours for theirs would lose nothing, and in that aisle Fieldwork would be one more Portland blend. Naming the farms is the one thing on the bag a rival blend does not offer, and it carries your strategy to 40 stores' worth of shoppers instead of hiding it. A Portland roaster has done this before: Coava sourced a named Honduran coffee, The Norma Leon, exclusively for New Seasons Market in 2013.
What it costs: You may lose the deal and the cash for the third café this year if the chain wants an anonymous blend or the farm-named beans can't be bought at a cost that works at $12. You also accept that some café regulars will see Fieldwork at $12 next to their $22 bag, and you will need one line on the bag that says why the two differ.
Options considered
| Option | Fits the strategy? | What it gives up | Risk to how the brand is seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Accept as offered | No. A blend that hides its origins contradicts "care where it comes from" [NEEDS: the chain's spec, in case it already allows origins on the bag] | Nothing commercially; gives up the one difference the name stands for | High. Easy to swap for Stumptown and other Portland blends on the same shelf; teaches a new shopper "Fieldwork is a $12 blend" before they ever taste the single origins |
| B. Decline | Yes | The reach, and the cash for a third café on this timeline | Low. Nothing changes; the name stays small |
| C. Second brand | Neutral. Fieldwork's strategy isn't tested, because Fieldwork isn't on the bag | The reach for the Fieldwork name, which is half the upside; a new name and packaging inside three weeks; the chain may not want an unknown brand [NEEDS: whether the chain will take a non-Fieldwork brand] | Low if it stays separate; medium if shoppers learn who roasts it |
| D. Counter with farms named | Yes, if every farm is named on the bag | Possibly the deal; margin, because named lots may cost more than an anonymous blend [NEEDS: green coffee cost of a farm-named blend at $12 retail, after the chain's margin] | Low to medium. Fieldwork stays the roaster that tells you where it came from, even at $12; the price gap with the $22 bag still needs one line of explanation |
First sign it is working: Within three weeks, the chain agrees in writing to farm names on the bag. Within 90 days of the bags landing, your $22 bag sales in the cafés and online hold at their level from before the launch [NEEDS: your current monthly bag sales, as the baseline].
Reverse it if: your $22 bag sales fall in the 90 days after launch, or the chain asks to drop the farm names at the first reorder. Either means the $12 bag is teaching "cheap", not "origin".
Open questions
[NEEDS: the chain's written spec for the blend]: the chain's buyer.[NEEDS: green coffee cost of a farm-named blend that works at $12 retail]: you and your green coffee importer.[NEEDS: whether the chain would take a separate brand instead]: the chain's buyer.[NEEDS: how hard each option is for your team to carry out]: you and the team, before you reply to the chain.[NEEDS: whether people remember "the roaster that names the farm" two days after hearing it]: not checked. If you want it checked before launch, tell three to five people who don't know Fieldwork what makes it different, once, and two days later ask what they remember. Bring back their answers word for word.Strategy note: Decided against the founder's one-line strategy, "Coffee for people who care where it comes from." There is no fuller written strategy yet; this call tests the line, not a complete strategy.
