Academic Work
Universal Store
Universal Store was competing everywhere and owning nothing in particular. I recommended a focused pivot, narrow the audience, sharpen the strategy, and activate it through three tactics that work as one system.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Fashion Retail
Client :
Universal Store (academic engagement)
Project Duration :
24 Weeks
Problem :
Universal Store was competing everywhere. Broad range, broad audience, broad positioning. In a market where ultra-discount platforms were eating the price-sensitive end and premium brands held the other. The brand had real assets: Perfect Stranger as a private label, strong fulfilment infrastructure, genuine full-price discipline. What it didn't have was focus. Without that, those assets weren't compounding. They were just sitting there.
Solution :
The recommendation was to stop trying to be for everyone. Differentiation Focus - narrowing the target to Gen Z and young Millennials who buy on identity, not price. A smaller, more intentional audience the brand could actually own.
Three tactics built the strategy out.
Creator capsules under Perfect Stranger. Limited-run collections co-designed with creators - scarcity built in, waitlists, shoppable video. Not inventory. Cultural moments. Each drop treated as an event, not a restock.
Fast Click and Collect and same-day delivery using the existing store network as a fulfilment mesh. Real-time stock visibility on product pages. A pickup promise customers could rely on. Infrastructure that was already there, being asked to do more.
Members-only access and drop calendars in owned channels. Early access tied to membership, not discounts. Lifecycle journeys built around the drop schedule. Referrals that rewarded advocacy with access, not percentage-off coupons.
Challenge :
Three separate tactics are easy. Three tactics that work as one system is harder. The fulfilment promise had to be actually supportable. The membership programme had to feed the capsule calendar, not sit alongside it. The financials had to hold once operational costs were in the model.
The Balanced Scorecard was how I made the logic visible. Tracing from organisational alignment down to revenue outcomes, with specific metrics at every link. Without it, it's just a recommendation. With it, it's something a management team can act on.
Summary :
Delivered to Universal Store's management team as the capstone of the Strategic Marketing programme at RMIT. A 3-5 year strategy with phased implementation, from codifying capsule assets in the short term through to personalised omni-channel delivery at scale.
The brand was trying to be for everyone. The opportunity was in being exactly right for someone.
More Projects
Academic Work
Universal Store
Universal Store was competing everywhere and owning nothing in particular. I recommended a focused pivot, narrow the audience, sharpen the strategy, and activate it through three tactics that work as one system.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Fashion Retail
Client :
Universal Store (academic engagement)
Project Duration :
24 Weeks
Problem :
Universal Store was competing everywhere. Broad range, broad audience, broad positioning. In a market where ultra-discount platforms were eating the price-sensitive end and premium brands held the other. The brand had real assets: Perfect Stranger as a private label, strong fulfilment infrastructure, genuine full-price discipline. What it didn't have was focus. Without that, those assets weren't compounding. They were just sitting there.
Solution :
The recommendation was to stop trying to be for everyone. Differentiation Focus - narrowing the target to Gen Z and young Millennials who buy on identity, not price. A smaller, more intentional audience the brand could actually own.
Three tactics built the strategy out.
Creator capsules under Perfect Stranger. Limited-run collections co-designed with creators - scarcity built in, waitlists, shoppable video. Not inventory. Cultural moments. Each drop treated as an event, not a restock.
Fast Click and Collect and same-day delivery using the existing store network as a fulfilment mesh. Real-time stock visibility on product pages. A pickup promise customers could rely on. Infrastructure that was already there, being asked to do more.
Members-only access and drop calendars in owned channels. Early access tied to membership, not discounts. Lifecycle journeys built around the drop schedule. Referrals that rewarded advocacy with access, not percentage-off coupons.
Challenge :
Three separate tactics are easy. Three tactics that work as one system is harder. The fulfilment promise had to be actually supportable. The membership programme had to feed the capsule calendar, not sit alongside it. The financials had to hold once operational costs were in the model.
The Balanced Scorecard was how I made the logic visible. Tracing from organisational alignment down to revenue outcomes, with specific metrics at every link. Without it, it's just a recommendation. With it, it's something a management team can act on.
Summary :
Delivered to Universal Store's management team as the capstone of the Strategic Marketing programme at RMIT. A 3-5 year strategy with phased implementation, from codifying capsule assets in the short term through to personalised omni-channel delivery at scale.
The brand was trying to be for everyone. The opportunity was in being exactly right for someone.
More Projects
Academic Work
Universal Store
Universal Store was competing everywhere and owning nothing in particular. I recommended a focused pivot, narrow the audience, sharpen the strategy, and activate it through three tactics that work as one system.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Fashion Retail
Client :
Universal Store (academic engagement)
Project Duration :
24 Weeks
Problem :
Universal Store was competing everywhere. Broad range, broad audience, broad positioning. In a market where ultra-discount platforms were eating the price-sensitive end and premium brands held the other. The brand had real assets: Perfect Stranger as a private label, strong fulfilment infrastructure, genuine full-price discipline. What it didn't have was focus. Without that, those assets weren't compounding. They were just sitting there.
Solution :
The recommendation was to stop trying to be for everyone. Differentiation Focus - narrowing the target to Gen Z and young Millennials who buy on identity, not price. A smaller, more intentional audience the brand could actually own.
Three tactics built the strategy out.
Creator capsules under Perfect Stranger. Limited-run collections co-designed with creators - scarcity built in, waitlists, shoppable video. Not inventory. Cultural moments. Each drop treated as an event, not a restock.
Fast Click and Collect and same-day delivery using the existing store network as a fulfilment mesh. Real-time stock visibility on product pages. A pickup promise customers could rely on. Infrastructure that was already there, being asked to do more.
Members-only access and drop calendars in owned channels. Early access tied to membership, not discounts. Lifecycle journeys built around the drop schedule. Referrals that rewarded advocacy with access, not percentage-off coupons.
Challenge :
Three separate tactics are easy. Three tactics that work as one system is harder. The fulfilment promise had to be actually supportable. The membership programme had to feed the capsule calendar, not sit alongside it. The financials had to hold once operational costs were in the model.
The Balanced Scorecard was how I made the logic visible. Tracing from organisational alignment down to revenue outcomes, with specific metrics at every link. Without it, it's just a recommendation. With it, it's something a management team can act on.
Summary :
Delivered to Universal Store's management team as the capstone of the Strategic Marketing programme at RMIT. A 3-5 year strategy with phased implementation, from codifying capsule assets in the short term through to personalised omni-channel delivery at scale.
The brand was trying to be for everyone. The opportunity was in being exactly right for someone.