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The challenge
Having disrupted mobile and established itself in broadband, the senior team needed a view of where the next decade of growth would come from.
giffgaff built its reputation as the mobile network run by its own community, taking on an industry known for poor customer service and competing on value, simplicity and flexibility. It has since moved into home broadband.
Revenue was not the only test. A new territory also had to suit what giffgaff is good at, sit comfortably with its B Corp status and values, and be somewhere its community would actually want it to go. That last one is the difficult test: the easiest markets to move into are often the ones where a distinctive brand counts for least.
What we did
Four steps took giffgaff from an open question about the next decade to three sized opportunities its own community had tested.
1. We started with where the tensions are.
We looked at how the digital market was changing and where it was leaving people's needs unmet.
Stakeholder interviews, market and competitor research and workshops with the board then set out what giffgaff could realistically take into a sector it had never operated in.
Revenue potential alone
Potential, capability and values
A view from the boardroom
Tested with giffgaff's community
A long list of possibilities
Three opportunities, sized and prioritised
What the assessment was built on
Stakeholder interviews
What the leadership team believed the brand could carry into a new sector
Market and competitor research
How the digital market was changing and where needs were going unmet
Board workshops
Agreeing the criteria every sector would be judged against
Consumer workshops
Testing the shortlist with giffgaff's own community
Market sizing
Addressable market and how widespread the unmet need was
2. Then we assessed every sector the same way.
Seventeen sectors were tested against one set of criteria: the potential to differentiate against competitors, fit with the brand's capabilities and assets, and alignment with its ESG values.
Because every sector went through the same test, the leadership team agreed on the shortlist as it emerged.
3. Then we asked the community whether they would follow.
Three opportunities came through with enough potential to justify deeper work. Consumer workshops tested whether giffgaff's own customers would want the brand in those sectors.
We looked at the needs underneath, how people meet them at the moment, and how credible giffgaff would be if it offered something there.
01
The need underneath
What people are trying to get done in the sector, rather than the product they buy today.
02
How it is met today
Who serves that need at the moment, and where the experience leaves people short.
03
Whether giffgaff would be credible
Whether the community would want giffgaff in the sector, and believe it if it arrived.
4. Then we sized all three.
Each was sized for addressable market and for how widespread the unmet need was, so the shortlist came with a commercial case as well as consumer evidence.
01
The unmet need
What people are trying to get done in the sector, and how well it is served today.
02
Consumer evidence
Whether giffgaff's own community would want the brand there, in their words.
03
A market size
Addressable market, and how widespread the unmet need is.
04
An entry strategy
How giffgaff would move into the sector, and what it would lead with.
The outcome
The output was an investor pack for the board, putting consumer need, commercial opportunity and brand fit into a single argument.
Sectors
17
assessed against one set of criteria
Every sector went through the same test, so the shortlist was agreed as it emerged rather than sold afterwards.
Shortlist
3
opportunities prioritised
Each with an entry strategy, consumer evidence from the community and a commercial case.
Horizon
10 years
of growth to plan against
The pipeline was built to cover the next decade, not the next budget round.
Output
1 pack
for the board
Consumer need, commercial opportunity and brand fit brought into a single argument.
The conclusion
The board had worked through the criteria themselves, so nobody had to be sold the shortlist afterwards. The pack has since opened conversations at senior level about what the business could become beyond telecoms.
The ouputs
From seventeen sectors to three sized opportunities
Three outputs carried the work from an open question to a board-ready case. The examples shown here are representative, as the client work is confidential.
Sector assessment
Seventeen sectors scored the same way, against differentiation potential, capability fit and ESG values.
Opportunity profiles
For each shortlisted sector: the unmet need, how people meet it today and how credible giffgaff would be.
Investor pack
Consumer need, commercial opportunity and brand fit combined into one argument for the board.
STRAT7 really helped us take a step back and reimagine what growth could mean for giffgaff. They didn't just hand us a list of opportunities - they worked with us to align our leadership team, test ideas with our community, and give us confidence.
Kevin Hains
Head of Insight, giffgaff
