Director of Strategy (Contract) · Elva / Third and Grove
The Company Store
From premium to proven.
The Company Store was founded in 1911 with quality bedding built to last. In recent years, the category became crowded with new direct-to-consumer bedding competitors, making it hard for the brand to break through. I built the strategy that gave it a reason to be chosen.
Leadership saw it as a game changer and asked me to present it to the whole company
The challenge
Every premium bedding brand promised the same things: quality, comfort, craftsmanship and design. The Company Store said them too. Its real advantage was products that last for decades, backed by a lifetime guarantee, and it wasn't leading with it.
What I did
I led two engagements. In the first, I built the rebrand, new naming and activation strategy and presented it to senior executives of both The Company Store and its parent company, The Home Depot. In the second, I audited the competitive landscape and built a new positioning, Proven to Last.
“Every competitor says premium. Nobody says proven.”Competitive audit finding
Competitive audit
Landscape · Claims vs. reality · White space
I evaluated six competitors on brand position, territory and key messages. Reviews showed that brands leading with style and fashion failed on quality, with sheets wearing through in months.
Only two brands could show durability with a track record, and only one had a century behind it.
Positioning: Proven to Last
Positioning · Brand house · Proof
The clear differentiator was quality backed by a lifetime guarantee. Instead of chasing new competitors into fashion, we returned to the brand's roots in enduring quality.
The proof was already there: a Wirecutter durability pick, the Good Housekeeping Seal, and customers still using comforters they bought decades ago.
Making it work
Brand layer · Seasonal launches · Creative
The business runs on five seasonal launches a year, and the positioning had to strengthen that engine, not slow it down. Every campaign keeps its seasonal newness and adds the promise of enduring quality, backed by a lifetime guarantee.
Rebrand, naming and activation
Naming · Activation playbook
The first engagement explored seven naming territories and compared three rollout playbooks: a hard cutover to the new brand, a slower step change, and a hybrid of both. I recommended the hybrid, which builds momentum through tentpole moments while keeping costs flexible over 18 months.
