From clever product to category-defining brand

Note:Cinch is currently in pre-production and due to launch soon. To protect the commercial advantage of the brand and product ahead of launch, certain strategic and creative elements are intentionally not disclosed in this case study.

The Challenge

Cinch started with a genuinely clever product. But like many early-stage businesses, it was at risk of being perceived as just another product in a crowded, low-value market.

The challenge wasn’t awareness.

It was definition.

Without clear positioning, Cinch would be judged against familiar, commoditised alternatives, limiting its ability to command attention, price and long-term brand value, before it even launched.

Hum’s Role

Hum was brought in to take a smart product idea and build it from the inside out into a clear, scalable brand and go-to-market strategy.

Using a Jobs To Be Done framework, we worked closely with the founders to understand how, where and why Cinch would be used in everyday life, across a wide range of environments and moments.

This process allowed us to move beyond assumptions about what the product was, and instead focus on the job it performed, the value it created, and the behaviours it changed.

Our role spanned business and marketing strategy, positioning, brand foundations and launch planning, ensuring Cinch didn’t just enter a market, but redefined it.

The Insight

Two fundamental insights shaped the Cinch strategy.

The first was human.

Through Jobs To Be Done analysis, we uncovered a recurring everyday frustration that had become so normal it was largely invisible.

In moments where people are busy, mid-task or juggling multiple things, existing solutions fail in small but irritating ways. Things don’t stay where they’re meant to. Flow is interrupted. Cleanliness, efficiency and ease are compromised.

It’s not a dramatic problem, but it happens constantly and quietly chips away at everyday experience.

What Cinch had built addressed this problem in a fundamentally different way. Rather than relying on static form, it behaves dynamically in use, responding to interaction to keep things secure when it matters most.

The second insight was strategic.

If Cinch solved a different job, it couldn’t live in the same category as the products it was being compared against.

Positioning it alongside familiar alternatives would have anchored it to the wrong mental benchmarks, price expectations and competitive set.

This wasn’t about refining an existing product type.

It was about introducing a new way of thinking about how everyday objects should work.

The full articulation of this innovation will be revealed at launch.

The Strategy

Hum reframed Cinch from a single product into a scalable platform by:

• Identifying the core job to be done

  Clarifying the moments where Cinch delivers the most value, without limiting the brand to narrow use cases or obvious comparisons.

  
  

• Defining the nature of the innovation

  Establishing how Cinch behaves differently in real-world use, and why that difference creates meaningful benefit.

  
  

• Creating a new category position

  Designing a positioning strategy that moved Cinch beyond commoditised comparisons and allowed it to set its own mental and commercial benchmarks.

  
  

• Developing a flexible brand idea

  Creating a simple, intuitive brand platform designed to make the innovation easy to understand, memorable and scalable over time.

  
  

• Designing the launch and investment model

  Researching best-practice product launches and building investment and ROI models to guide how Cinch enters the market with confidence and discipline.

The Outcome

While Cinch is currently in the packaging design and website build phase, Hum has laid the strategic foundations required for a confident, high-impact launch and long-term growth.

Our work delivered:

• A clear, defensible category position

• A scalable brand platform, ready to be revealed at launch

• Strategic guardrails to guide creative, media and partnerships

• A disciplined go-to-market framework

• Investment and ROI modelling to support confident, commercially grounded decisions

What could have been perceived as just another product is now positioned as a category-defining brand, built to scale well beyond launch.

For Cinch, this means clarity, confidence and momentum before a single dollar is spent on media.

For Hum, it’s a clear example of how strategy reduces risk and accelerates growth.

Why This Matters

Most startups don’t fail because their product isn’t good.

They fail because the inside isn’t clear before the outside goes loud.

When a business hasn’t clearly defined what it is, why it exists, and where it wins, marketing becomes noisy, expensive and reactive.

Hum works inside out.

We start by getting the foundations right - category, positioning, ambition and economics. Only then do we turn that clarity into brand, messaging and go-to-market execution.

Cinch is a clear example of how building from the inside out sharpens decision-making, unlocks category leadership and sets brands up to scale with confidence.

Credits

Clients:

Founders: Steve Goodhue & Jenna Monteath

Agency Partners:

Branding & Packaging agency: Propeller Brands

Website Agency: Clever Starfish