Our difference is embedded in our methods.

Our founder, Bob Drane, has a favorite saying, “it’s all about the methods.” Catalyst is not a fancy re-packaging of old methods. It’s a different and more powerful approach for creating growth.

New analytic and creativity methods.

What’s unique about Catalyst are the methods. GC has always believed that better methods are the key to improved success rates. What follows are seven of the many new methods found within Catalyst that lead to improved success rates.

Usage Centered
GC believes that most of the action for discovering fresh growth opportunities can be found in better understanding “usage”. Most of the data that’s readily available to support your growth efforts describes “buying”. Catalyst employs methods that open up a new and very rich window of usage insight to fuel your growth efforts.

Market Space
Where will you focus your growth efforts? Where won’t you focus? GC helps answer these key questions using our market space methods. Market space defines priority markets based on which users, occasions, benefits, and categories are strategically most important for the brand to penetrate.

DigSites
GC calls growth opportunities DigSites. A DigSite is a specific piece of market space that contains a problem or wish worth solving for a specific user in a specific usage moment. This key framework forces a clear description of the growth opportunity which pays major dividends as the team works creatively to convert that opportunity into new concepts.

Usage Moments
GC believes a fresh way to find growth opportunities is to deeply understand key usage “moments”. Catalyst segments markets first based on usage “moments”. This method is based on a belief that what we choose to use varies by the situation or “moment” we find ourselves in. Same people…different needs/wants in different “moments”.

Lovers
The sales of most brands are driven by a small group of users who really love the brand. GC believes another fresh way to spot fresh growth opportunities is to deeply understand why lovers really “love” the brand. GC also studies people who “love” your competitors or a category overall to help uncover insights to fuel growth efforts.

Pototyping
Excursions are guided creativity exercises GC uses to maximize the creative output of internal growth teams. It integrates strategic thinking with cool stimulus to yield “sprout” growth concepts that are both “breakthrough” and achievable in the marketplace.

Switching
Growth Catalyst’s switching Strategy framework is “positioning” taken to the next level of effectiveness. It’s based on GC’s belief that in order for an initiative to generate growth, it must be “superior” enough to cause someone to “switch” from their incumbent choice.