Good work sits on a shelf. Work that changes decisions doesn't.

The Brief

London Gatwick had a perception problem that decades of marketing had not fixed. Seen as the budget option and assumed to be harder to reach than Heathrow, they needed a repositioning built on what customers actually thought and felt, not what the brand hoped they did.

What We Did

Through phased qualitative and quantitative research, we built a detailed picture of where London Gatwick genuinely sat in people's lives and what different passenger segments actually needed. We used that insight to validate a new mission and customer promise, and to test and advise on new visual identity executions before they went live. The brief was never just research, it was direction.

What It Changed

The resulting vision, to be the airport for everyone, whatever your journey, repositioned London Gatwick as inclusive and personalised rather than budget and functional. Following the refresh, London Gatwick saw growth across all key commercial metrics, including passenger income and on-airport retail spend.

The Brief

Aviva wanted to develop a clear and distinctive brand voice on the future of the workplace — and use it to build commercial authority. The goal was a long-term programme of thought leadership with authoritative research at its heart, ultimately designed to highlight the value of Aviva's workplace proposition.

What We Did

We helped shape the overall concept of a multi-year programme called the Age of Ambiguity, centred on the shifting lines defining modern working life — the blurring of work and home, the rise of semi-retirement, and the evolving drivers of employee wellbeing. We ran a number of major research studies across several years, qualitative and quantitative, working in a combined team alongside PR and specialist wellbeing partners to ensure the outputs landed commercially, not just editorially. Each wave produced an authoritative published report with a dedicated microsite.

What It Changed

The Age of Ambiguity programme not only helped to support Aviva in its commercial conversations but, at its peak, the associated campaign was the biggest driver of positive sentiment towards the Aviva brand across its global business. More widely, the Age of Ambiguity won the Thought Leadership Award at the European Pensions Awards.

The Brief

Tempur needed to understand what really drives purchase decisions in the mattress category — not category assumptions, but evidence. They needed to know which product features matter most to which customers, and whether the proposition they were considering could win commercially.

What We Did

We ran a competitor review across key global markets and mined existing research to map unmet needs and identify NPD potential. We then used a conjoint exercise to establish the hierarchy of product feature differentiators in the mattress purchase decision — identifying the key drivers and barriers for different customer targets and markets. Customer closeness sessions validated and refined the proposition, and defined competitive positioning before go-to-market.

What It Changed

The research and insight was embedded directly into Tempur's strategy. The product was taken to market with a clearly defined positioning, grounded in what customers demonstrably valued rather than what the category assumed they did.

The Brief

The FT had extensive behavioural and transactional data on its subscribers. What it lacked was understanding of the subscriber mindset, why people valued what they valued, what they would pay for, and where the real growth opportunity sat.

What We Did

We combined qualitative exploration, quantitative research and analytical modelling to segment FT.com subscribers by content preference, build an algorithm linking those segments to the FT's marketing database, and model price sensitivity across different subscriber groups. The work was built to be actionable, not archival.

What It Changed

Our work directly informed the subscription hierarchy and package structure the FT subsequently launched. The FT Edit, a condensed digital edition of the paper designed to encourage engagement, was among the initiatives that followed. Since Quadrangle completed this foundational piece of work, FT.com's digital subscriptions have grown threefold.

The Brief

The Volkswagen Group bought a minority stake in Škoda in 1992. In the beginning, the UK team was small, and needed strategic expertise to bring clarity, structure and — most importantly — inspiration to the brand. In mid-1994, a new MD was appointed. He came to us with one question: 'What should we do with the brand?' Great question, we said.

What We Did

We were appointed long-term management partners to help drive a fully developed, five-year brand strategy. That meant we were involved in shaping (and in some cases, delivering) plans across multiple areas and functions, including defining brand values and positioning, brand planning, translation of values into behaviours ('ways of doing business', network strategy, people, etc.), marcomms agency briefing and selection, and customer insight (owner surveys, customer satisfaction, car clinics, competitor benchmarking, and more).

What It Changed

We worked with Škoda as Brand Management Partners between 1994 and 2001. At the start, there was talk of changing the name. Fortunately, even the earliest research showed we'd be mad to do so — for all its negatives, the Škoda brand had near 100% awareness. What's more, although Škoda's image was quite appalling, we found that people didn't know what a Škoda looked like. In blind tests, most people couldn't tell an unbranded Škoda from an unbranded BMW. Suddenly the problem was reframed: not how do you change brand image, but how do you overcome prejudice? The answer: you can't, so don't try. Instead, stress things have moved on and imply people had been right previously. The initial re-launch did both — 'we've changed the car, can you change your mind?' When we began, Campaign described Škoda as the worst-rated brand in any sector ever, and the brand sold fewer than 8,500 cars in the UK. Within five years, Škoda sold around 30,000 cars in the UK, and Marketing described it as 'the greatest brand turn-round in marketing history'.

The Brief

When Jaguar Land Rover was first thinking about launching a new model in the emerging sports utility vehicle segment, they asked us to take an independent look at the market to assess the impact it would have. The new vehicle would be their first foray into the world of SUVs and, as a manufacturer known for making the world's best off-road vehicles, they were naturally cautious about venturing into a different market. The curveball: they didn't want to do any new research.

What We Did

To enable them to commit to the manufacturing investment decision, we created a 'bottom up' prediction of how the new model would perform in the market. We used JLR's sales forecasts together with data from syndicated research studies, the brand's own research, market share and pricing data alongside other factors to build a view which showed JLR they could be far more ambitious in their assumptions.

What It Changed

Originally previewed as the 'LRX', the outcomes were so convincing that JLR decided to launch the new vehicle with a Range Rover, rather than Land Rover, badge — with a price tag to match. The rest, as they say, is history. Evoque went on to be the brand's most successful ever launch, helping the business reach a whole new audience and out-stripping sales of other models in the line-up to become the most successful JLR product ever.