Case Study | Brand And Product Strategy
SHANGHAI FURNITURE FAIR 2025
Context
A mid-sized upholstery factory in Southern China approached MC&Co for help with product strategy.
The Challenge
The development cycle was producing range after range with thin repeat order patterns and no clear commercial spine. Buyers at trade fair were seeing a sample set without a through-line they could commit to. The brief was:
✦ Product.
✦ What to build
✦ What to prototype
✦ Which samples to take through to release
✦ And what to walk into Shanghai with
THE APPROACH
We opened the engagement with a Helix DNA Review. The DNA Review reads a business against the MC&Co Helix framework and maps its existing aesthetic identity, product positioning and customer profile. For this client, the DNA Review became the brief that drove product strategy. It surfaced the aesthetic signals their existing customers were already giving. It located those signals inside the global aesthetic commonality the Helix tracks across markets. And it produced a defined product direction the business could move behind.
From the DNA position the engagement moved into product development. We worked with the factory team through design, prototype review and final sample selection so every piece chosen for release sat inside the agreed product strategy. We then aligned the trade fair release, booth design, booth layout and on-stand messaging behind the same product position. The product on the floor and the way it was presented carried one reading.
The Result
A focused, aligned collection went to Shanghai 2025. Booth traffic increased. Buyer engagement on stand was longer and deeper. Forty percent more in dollars written than the previous release. The lead piece sold into eleven markets on first release, with confirmed buyers from the Netherlands through to Texas. Six months on, new and repeat orders are still coming through.
The product strategy has also shifted the commercial profile of the business. The collection is more evergreen, which has lowered the pressure for constant new development. Private label inquiries have grown, driven by both the product and the way it is now presented.
The DNA Review gave our product strategy a backbone. Every release now starts with direction. Our trade fair conversations are sharper, our collection holds longer, and private label has grown alongside.
Founder
Next Phase
We are now in the second year of the engagement. The product direction set through the DNA Review has become the foundation we work from for every future release. Each season now starts from a defined position. The blank page is gone.
This engagement was led by the Helix DNA Review, part of MC&Co's proprietary Helix analytical framework.
More Case Studies
THE DOCUMENT THAT CLOSED THE DEAL | IFEX 2026
An Italian-owned Southeast Asian furniture manufacturer needed a brand position capable of presenting at the top tier of US retail. Two major accounts requested samples sight-unseen. Neither visited the fair.
THE LOOKBOOK THAT LEADS EVERY CAMPAIGN | National tiles
Three years as National Tiles' seasonal trend partner. Six directions every season. A Helix-driven Lookbook running as the headline asset of every campaign, online and in-store.
Clients
Trusted by manufacturers, retailers, and design-led brands across furniture, homeware, and interiors globally.
