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Brand Territories & Positioning - Case Study

This project focused on defining a clear brand direction for Avast by identifying and validating the most compelling strategic territories and propositions. The challenge was to move beyond internal opinion and establish an evidence-based foundation for how the brand should position itself to drive future growth and differentiation.

Context

In 2020, Avast needed to clarify and evolve its brand direction to support future growth.

While the brand had strong recognition, there was a lack of alignment on where it should play and how it should position itself moving forward. Different stakeholders held varying views on the role of the brand, and decision-making was often driven by short-term priorities rather than a clearly defined long-term direction.

The challenge was to move beyond internal opinion and define a clear, evidence-based view of the most compelling and credible brand territories for Avast.

Objective

Develop a validated brand direction for Avast by:

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  • Identifying the most relevant and differentiated brand territories

  • Testing and refining brand propositions to understand what resonates

  • Providing a clear foundation for future brand, product, and marketing decisions

  • Aligning stakeholders around a shared, evidence-based direction

My Role

Senior Insight Manager (client-side lead), partnering with a research agency

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I led the work from the client side, responsible for:

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  • Framing the problem and shaping the overall research approach

  • Ensuring alignment between stakeholders and the research programme

  • Stress-testing hypotheses using existing knowledge and data

  • Guiding the development and refinement of brand territories and propositions

  • Translating outputs into clear, actionable recommendations for the business

Approach

1. Define initial territories and propositions

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We started by working with stakeholders to define a set of potential brand territories and propositions.

These were designed to reflect different strategic directions for the brand, balancing:

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  • Current brand strengths

  • Future growth opportunities

  • Competitive positioning
     

My role here was to ensure the territories were distinct, strategically meaningful, and testable, rather than vague or overlapping.

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2. Validate through quantitative research

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We then tested these territories and propositions through a large-scale quantitative study.

The research measured:

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  • Overall appeal and relevance

  • Differentiation from competitors

  • Clarity and credibility

  • Likelihood to drive consideration and usage
     

Importantly, propositions were tested in a way that isolated the underlying value and messaging, rather than relying on brand recognition alone.

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3. Identify winning directions and trade-offs

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The analysis focused on:

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  • Which territories had the strongest overall resonance

  • Where propositions overlapped or competed with each other

  • What specific elements (messages, benefits, tone) were driving performance
     

This allowed us to move beyond “which idea wins” to understanding why it wins and what to optimise.

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4. Translate into strategic direction

Rather than delivering research outputs in isolation, we translated findings into a clear strategic recommendation:

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  • Defined the most compelling brand territory for Avast

  • Identified how it should be expressed in messaging and positioning

  • Highlighted trade-offs and implications for future decisions

Output

  • A validated brand territory for Avast, grounded in consumer evidence

  • Refined and optimised brand propositions

  • Clear understanding of what drives resonance and differentiation

  • Strategic recommendations linking insight to brand direction

  • A shared foundation for future brand, marketing, and product decisions

Impact

  • Clarity on brand direction
    Moved the business from multiple competing views to a single, evidence-based path

  • Stronger decision-making
    Provided a clear reference point for brand, marketing, and product teams

  • Alignment across stakeholders
    Created a shared understanding of where the brand should play and why

  • Foundation for future strategy
    Established the basis for subsequent work on brand and audience strategy

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