Product Concepts

Half art. Half science. All insight.

Writing a concept for a new product begins with an insight—a hypothetical point of view that presumes a consumer need, want or desire. The idea forms around that... leading into a benefit, supported by product features that lend texture and specificity to the proposition. It's tested. It's tweaked. It's tested again. And if consumers dig it... chances are, you'll be able to buy it.

Kleenex Now! - Product Concept

COMMENTARY:

Kleenex sought to release a portable/on-the-go offering mainly targeting millennial females. The insight espouses tensions relevant to this segment and captures a sense of attitude that reflects independence and intelligence. This concept directly inspired Kleenex’s “Go Anywhere Packs,” which enjoyed market success for several years.

pie poppers - product concept

COMMENTARY:

A national client with established offerings in the frozen dessert category engaged Seed to help them push the boundaries of their current portfolio. In qualitative research, consumers gravitated to “Pie Poppers” as a compelling exploration of form and flavor.

Welch's Refreshingly simple - product concept

COMMENTARY:

The proposition for Refreshingly Simple centered around the idea of pure, simple refreshment, with no need for unwanted, unhealthy ingredients. After testing well in focus groups, Welch’s Refreshingly Simple launched in 2015, leveraging concept copy on-pack.

Consumer Personas

“Nutraceutical” Target Consumer

COMMENTARY:

A global pharma client sought richer context on who to target for the emerging “nutraceutical” category, defined by performance-enhancing botanicals and supplements. This persona illuminated the fundamental motivations and need states that define this segment.

food-insecure consumer

COMMENTARY:

Another global client sought to understand food-insecure audiences in regions of Africa. Combining focus-group insights with secondary research, we created rich consumer archetypes based on motivations defined by access to food/resources.

Ads & Campaigns

Burke, Inc. - Quirk's Magazine

COMMENTARY:

As soon as I wrote the headline, I knew the visual had to be spaghetti on a wall—which we actually cooked and shot, in-house. We saw this iconic image as an impactful way to visualize the inadequacies of using untested ideas in the innovation process.

Burke Institute - 50th Anniversary Campaign (click image to visit site)

COMMENTARY:

Now in its 50th year, Burke Inc.’s dedicated research-education division—Burke Institute—sought a campaignable idea to celebrate its heritage while also embracing a future-forward equity. The headline, “50 Years of Forward,” achieved both—succinctly and impactfully. Stakeholders loved the idea and it set the tone for Burke Institute’s 2025 campaign.

John Crane - Campaignable ad concept

COMMENTARY:

After doing JC's corporate rebrand (shown in Branding & Strategy), we were tasked with creating the essence of an external communications campaign. Their core equity centered on teamwork (Brand Story: "Tomorrow, Together") and we sought to bring it to life in a unique way. After a moment of cognitive dissonance... you get it. The body copy resolves any questions by showing how divergent thinking leads to success.

Web

burke inc. - complete website redesign (click to visit site)

COMMENTARY:

To move beyond its traditional identity as a quantitative research provider, Burke shifted its brand positioning to embrace more of a consultative equity. This new thematic direction manifested in the idea of “perspective”—which I brought to life in the voice of Burke’s corporate website. I rewrote every word of copy throughout the site, crystallizing Burke’s new corporate identity with engaging prose that conveyed a distinctly human narrative.

Sofusa - Introducing a New Method of Treatment (Click to visit site)

COMMENTARY:

With Sofusa, our client had a revolutionary new way to deliver medications, via the lymphatic system—painlessly, conveniently, and more efficaciously. Our challenge was to introduce this new “take” on administering injectable medications, clearly, concisely and with a touch of humanity. Copy-wise, there was a lot of technical ground to cover, while maintaining an optimistic, inspiring tone suitable to motivate investors and institutional audiences. Today, the Sofusa technology is owned by Sorrento Therapeutics and was undergoing clinical trials in 2022, as noted in this press release.

Brand Positioning

John Crane - corporate re-brand (click images to open in new window)

COMMENTARY:

John Crane is 100+ year-old industrial giant that needed to refresh its image and message. As these slides show, we worked to characterize John Crane as a modern company that relies on teamwork to build a better, brighter future. The "character" slides show how these values translate into visual equities. As of 2025, John Crane still relies the brand fundamentals we developed during this project.

spot you more - brand vision + b2b brochure

COMMENTARY:

“Spot You More” was developed as a new kind of digital coupon clearinghouse that makes it easier for retailers and CPG brands to run promotions in convenience stores. The concept comes to life via the idea of "connection”—between brands, retailers and consumers. The brand vision statement shown above crystallizes this equity, while the brochure below expresses the system’s benefits from the perspective of a CPG brand.

Strategic Storytelling

INTernational ENTERTAINMENT CLIENT - LANDSCAPE/BRAND EXPANSe STRATEGY (slideshow)

COMMENTARY:

An international player in the entertainment industry approached us with an ambiguous request: “Help us understand how our brand can differentiate in the emerging short-form video category.” We used “Value” as a lens through which to assess the opportunity, exploring 3 key dimensions of what makes content “worth it” to consumers. The slideshow here constitutes a handpicked selection of highlights from that deck with the client de-identified. I collaborated with our strategy/insights team to craft the story that brings this deconstructed vision of “Value” to life.

Naming & Product Identity

national office supply client - product category reorganization

COMMENTARY:

Office paper is well known as a nameless, faceless commodity that’s not categorized intuitively. Thus, we were tasked with creating an entirely new product categorization/naming scheme to drive understanding and renew engagement in the category. To this end, we leveraged various practical—and aspirational—organizational constructs to build functional and emotional relevance with the target consumer.

international pharma giant - pharmaceutical descriptor development

COMMENTARY:

With a new biologic pain-killer—Tanezumab—in clinical trials, our client sought a unique product descriptor that could intuitively express the drug’s function to patients, while still sounding professional enough to be clinical vernacular. To solve this ambiguous ask, we compiled a list of “operative verbs” that clearly and concisely captured the drug’s method of action. We then developed each of these “anchor verbs” into a series of statements and expressions that illustrate how Tanezumab manages pain.

Packaging

Nothing but the fruit - positioning and panel copy

COMMENTARY:

We created the NBTF brand from scratch, with a new kind of "pressed fruit"—unlike anything else currently on the market—as a salient POD. After working to position the brand as a modern, hip, BFY offering, I wrote panel copy that aims to the set the product apart from competitors as the “un-fruit snack.” The product launched via a pilot program with Starbucks and persisted for several years after the outbreak of COVID.

Bush’s Bean Chips - Product Concept + Packaging

COMMENTARY:

Bush’s launched their bean chip line in the U.S. around the same time COVID struck. And while the product is no longer being produced, it was recognized as an innovative brand-equity expanse into an adjacent category. The above represents a round of conceptual exploration—vetted in qual and quant—that led to the final product proposition and packaging.

Content

The following pieces originate from Seed Strategy’s online publication, “the accelerator.”

Thinking

brand-iguity - exploring changing ideas of brand (slideshow)

COMMENTARY:

In an era where traditional brands are facing ever greater challenges in terms of relevance and consumer loyalty (thanks to private label, ecommerce, etc.), I wanted to explore some new ideas around what “brand” means to the modern consumer. So, this presentation discusses how the role of brand is evolving in the modern market—and in the hearts and minds of today’s consumers.

“E3” - a new way to vet ideas for film and television (slideshow)

COMMENTARY:

My experience in the world of screenwriting, coupled with my knowledge of CPG concept testing, led me to a stark realization: Hollywood doesn’t vet their IDEAS for films before production. The result is often 100s of millions of dollars invested on inherently unproven concepts. “E3” presents a novel approach for deconstructing story ideas into standardized stimuli for the purposes of qualitative and quantitative testing. Elements of this idea informed later work with entertainment-industry clients. But, suffice to say, I’d love to pursue this idea further, given the chance. I think there’s a MAJOR need for something like this in entertainment today.

“A presentation on writing” - A Discourse of the Craft of Prose (slideshow)

COMMENTARY:

Here, you’ll find a compilation of the tips, tricks, philosophies, intuitions and insights I’ve gleaned over 10+ years as a professional writer. A lot of this comes out of the creative writing master’s program I went through at Seton Hill University, as well as from years of experience as an agency writer. The bulk of the presentation focuses on 13 tips germane to all writing and all writers—which is also reflected in the post below, titled “Writing for the Reluctant Reader.”