We are a brand strategy + design studio based in Shanghai - with an APAC clientele.
The Origin & Evolution
Alternative-Brands was founded in early 2020: at the beginning of a very unpredictable phase led by Covid-19. Born amidst a pandemic, originally as a "Brand Growth Advisory" for early Stage, B2C Startups - it gave us a chance to start from the macro-shifts happening around us - vs merely adapting to them. Being born in that time, made change & ambiguity management a core value for us. We saw consumers changing, their habits & motivations changing, brands adapting to lower budgets and higher sales gaps. That, was our starting point.
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Alternative-Brands evolved from there on, and started expanding it's clientele to Fortune 500 companies looking to incubate newer, younger businesses, as well as refresh their existing brands. We kept upgrading our talent pool to incorporate more domain experts, as well as expand our services into DESIGN, as consumer brands of today face an exceptional challenge of breaking the clutter.
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As of current year, 2024, we work on BRAND STRATEGY & DESIGN with early stage startups & their founders, as well as larger corporate brands and leaders: in either case, we take pride in solving problems, and those unique challenges that don't fall into typical & traditional agency mandates.
Our Sweet Spot
We do get asked often: So how are you different from XYZ agency?
The answer, in short, is that we are not tactical / short term solution providers. We DO NOT do social media campaigns, influencer campaigns, and performance marketing. What we do are medium-long term tasks in nature, e.g. Brand strategy, Insight mining, visual & verbal identities, strategic growth paths, innovation building, annual brand planning, and other works on these lines. We co-own the brand with you, during our project term.
HERE, is where we best operate.
While we are greatly informed & influenced by data & “current” evidence, we are also equally inspired by the “future”.
Our output(s) are on the lines of strategic roadmaps & design solutions that you can run off with: In the present + in near future. The focus of our work is to ensure your brand’s continued value generation & relevance.
