When Product-Market Fit Isn’t Enough: How CURVEJUMPER Helped a CMO Reignite Growth Strategy for two Brands in only 6 Weeks
The global pet food market size is projected to grow from $132.92 billion in 2025 to $193.65 billion by 2032, at a CAGR of 5.52% during the forecast period.
The promising forecast in the pet food market presents a great growth opportunity for brands in this industry. However, as demand grows, so does the competition. Innovation and product-market fit are no longer enough. To stay ahead of the curve, brands must have a relevant, ownable growth strategy consisting of strong consumer insights, compelling brand positioning, and effective execution across their experience and messaging.
Michelle Grant, the head of marketing at a nationally distributed pet food company, faced a similar challenge with brand positioning with her product portfolio across multiple brands, spanning across two distinct product tiers: a well-established, dry kibble line and a growing premium range of treats and refrigerated meals.
Michelle Grant, the head of marketing at a nationally distributed pet food company faced the exact challenge with brand positioning with her product portfolio, spanning across two distinct tiers: a well-established dry kibble line and a growing premium range of treats and refrigerated meals.
Let’s learn how Michelle enhanced her brand equity and established a galvanized brand presence with CURVRJUMPER’S agile growth strategy.
Establishing a Relevant Brand Positioning in a Competitive Market
Michelle’s core, legacy brand had already carved out a market-leading position in the pet food market with its dry kibble line. With consumer interest surging in fresh, high-quality pet nutrition, they assumed it would be a good time to launch their newest category addition, premium treats and refrigerated meals.
Her team had invested in a significant, expensive market segmentation study that, amongst other things, suggested that the legacy brand would struggle to extend itself upmarket. That being said, refrigerated meals did offer category risk to dry meals, so updating the legacy brand positioning would still be essential to charting a growth path forward.
Her team had invested in a significant, expensive market segmentation study that, amongst other things, suggested that the legacy brand would struggle to extend itself upmarket. That being said, refrigerated meals did offer category risk to dry meals, so updating the legacy brand positioning would still be essential to charting a growth path forward.
In addition, Michelle’s team had recently acquired a small, regional, lesser-known brand that offered a limited range of refrigerated options.
With her bias for action, Michelle took her two brands and instantly dove into the segmentation research, working to pull out vast amounts of consumer insights to create a cohesive growth strategy. However, the execution was far more complex than she had imagined.
The consumer insights, while high in volume, were not actionable. With such a large amount of data and insights, she tried and tested different types of traditional strategies, but they barely moved the needle.
Despite having product market fit, the lack of a market-ready growth strategy made it challenging for the acquired brand to establish itself in the premium treat and refrigerated category.
Competitor’s Bold Move Elevates the Pressure
The breaking point came when it was seen that the market was being captured by others - a major competitor launched a national campaign repositioning their brand as “chef-crafted” and “refrigerated fresh.”
The competitor’s campaign created a buzz and also resonated directly with pet owners who wanted to give their beloved pets the premium care and demanded quality assurance. It secured them an exclusive partnership with a top-tier retail chain, giving them a first-mover advantage in the premium fresh segment.
The campaign didn’t just create buzz, but also secured them an exclusive partnership with a top-tier retail chain, giving them a first-mover advantage in the premium fresh segment.
For Michelle, the pressure built up both internally and externally.
On one hand, the competitors were getting more exposure in the market due to their new strategic brand positioning. Having secured the coveted partnership, they were able to leverage bigger marketing channels due to the impact of their growth strategy and smart campaigns, capturing significant market share.
On the other hand, pressure from the management team intensified as they began questioning Michelle’s marketing methodology and future plans, pushing for a sharper, more streamlined brand messaging that would create market disruption.
On the other hand, pressure from the management team intensified as they began questioning Michelle’s marketing methodology and future plans, pushing for a sharper, more streamlined brand messaging that would create market disruption.
To complicate matters further, Michelle’s internal teams were in flux. Several team members had recently transitioned into new roles, while others were brought in to accelerate brand-building efforts. With shifting responsibilities and no central direction, momentum was being lost to misalignment.
With too many moving pieces and a lack of direction in brand design, Michelle felt completely lost. She needed a solution that would turn scattered insights into a focused and actionable growth strategy, and she needed FAST!
Two Brands, 4 Sessions, 6 Weeks: CURVEJUMPER’s Sprint Approach to Growth Strategy and Execution
One day, while researching for various solutions, Michelle came across a webinar by CURVEJUMPER on how to translate consumer insights into an agile growth strategy. With a lot of curiosity, Michelle attended the webinar.
She learnt about CURVEJUMPER’s agile consulting methodology and realized this is what she needed. Without any delay, Michelle moved forward with CURVEJUMPER.
A big reason for this was in her first conversation, where the CURVEJUMPER team reassured Michelle that they could take that big, bulky dust-collecting segmentation study and make it work FOR her team. In addition, the CURVEJUMPER team reframed the effort, not making it about ‘reactive strategy development’, but about ‘proactive onboarding and galvanization’ of Michelle’s team – a clear way to not just ‘write’ a strategy, but to ACTION it.
In addition, the CURVEJUMPER team reframed the effort, not making it about ‘reactive strategy development’, but about ‘proactive onboarding and galvanization’ of Michelle’s team – a clear way to not just ‘write’ a strategy, but to ACTION it.
CURVEJUMPER designed the engagement with a four-part sprint for each of the two brands:
Session 1: CURVEJUMPER led Michelle’s team through a deep dive into relevant consumer insights, challenging the team via a structured Gauntlet exercise to capture key purchase drivers, unmet needs, and shifting preferences. The goal: know the PERSON that is your consumer, not the SLIDE.
Session 2: In an unexpected but powerful exercise via tangential inspiration, Michelle’s team analyzed a series of reviews of Michelin-starred restaurants, retail excursions, and high-fashion articles to uncover how people talk about memorable experiences. The team then repeated a second Gauntlet exercise to articulate what they would serve their pets, and WHY, if money, store, and product limitations didn’t exist.
Session 3: CURVEJUMPER facilitated a laddering exercise that connected functional benefits (Session 1) to emotional payoffs (Session 2). Using multiple rounds of the Delphi technique, the team prioritized core truths to amplify in each of the two brand positioning strategies to ensure both brands could THRIVE as portfolio partners.
Session 4: With a clear direction in place, established through independent working teams, CURVEJUMPER finally translated positioning strategies into a comprehensive growth strategy with concrete action. They introduced a practical planning matrix, aligning each of the 4Ps—Product, Price, Promotion, and Placement—with execution timelines: 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 quarters, and 3 years. Existing brand plans were input, reviewed line by line, initiatives were killed to free up resources, and new ideas were proposed. Each initiative across the plan was grounded in strategic intent and linked to internal ownership and budget.
By the end of the engagement, Michelle had more than a refined narrative—she had a cross-functional team fully aligned on a growth strategy that could be implemented across channels, retail formats, and product tiers. Two quarters in, her portfolio was outperforming the market.
Turning Stagnation into Growth with CURVEJUMPER’s Agile Methodology
Thanks to CURVEJUMPER’s agile consulting methodology, Michelle’s brand wasn’t just repositioned—it was reignited. With customized services without unnecessary add-ons and deep expertise working with 50+ lifestyle brands, her team gained clarity, cohesion, and a business design built for speed.
CURVEJUMPER delivers outcomes 3x faster at 70% lower cost, cutting through noise and helping the team act with confidence through deep consumer insights. Unlike traditional firms burdened by overhead and rigidity, CURVEJUMPER brought extensive general management experience and a bias toward action, turning consumer insight into implementation.
Unlock exponential growth at a fraction of the cost with agile business consulting services.
Get in touch with CURVEJUMPER now!
Brian Myers
Founder and CEO of CURVEJUMPER
Brian Myers is the Founder and CEO of CURVEJUMPER Growth Foundry who has specialized in Growth Acceleration, Business Design, World Class Marketing, Brand Management, Innovation, Design, and Growth Strategy for over 25 years. Brian has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, serves on the Kellogg Advisory Council, and is a prior SMD / Practice Leader for Accenture, Partner with Prophet, and General Manager / Brand Manager with SC Johnson and Son.