# Company Brand FY2 S4 # Catalina ![Catalina.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Catalina.png) Catalina is a homebody. She likes to say it does not take a lot for her to be happy. - Some people feel like they need to win sports competitions or win career promotions to feel confident. She does not feel that way. She exercises just for her own fitness and joy, and works diligently for her own fulfillment. - Some people feel like they need to cover them up in expensive uncomfortable clothes to feel respected. She does not feel that way. She prefers to be wrapped up in her soft blanket while melting into her cozy sofa. A pleasant day for her goes like this. Catalina wakes up pleasantly, on a pleasant weekend morning, in a pleasant California beach house. She sits down on her pleasant fabric sofa in her pleasant reading room, with a pleasant cup of caffe latte with ice. She stares peacefully at the wall of books, a pleasant sight to behold, while noticing every drop of the sweet flavor and the rich aroma of the fresh coffee, then stands up to pick up a book that has won her attention today. She loses sense of time while reading the book. Then she closes the book. Then she remarks how happy she is to be alive. Through the open windows, cool sea breeze brings into the room floral scent of the lily flowers in her garden and the sound of ocean waves softly crashing onto the shore at the distant beach. She makes herself a light seafood pasta for lunch. After lunch, she goes for a stroll along the beach. She visits an adorable local shop that sells cute fabric tote bags, small leather wallets. floral teas, and many other things. She buys a hand cream that feels and smells really nice. She continues the stroll, lost in thoughts. The day is beautiful. The world is beautiful. It is a pleasant day for Catalina. # Julia ![Julia.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Julia.png) Catalina considers Julia her mentor in life. Catalina met Julia for the first time three years ago at a local yoga studio shortly after Catalina moved to California from Seattle, then Julia invited Catalina to a brunch at a nearby restaurant after the yoga session. Julia is 5 years older than her, knows a lot about many things. Julia is always the one between the two who suggests where to eat, especially when there is a new restaurant in town. Even when they visit a new restaurant together for the first time, she seems to have checked photos and reviews in advance. She seems to know the menus all the time. She knows how to cook. She knows how to choose vegetables and fruits. She knows how to get great products at great prices. When Catalina told Julia that she needed to fill up her empty kitchen, Julia told Catalina when and where to go to get the big discounts on the big name brands. Seeing that Catalina is not familiar with purchasing kitchen products, Julia even followed Catalina to the mall and helped Catalina understand which products she needs to buy to cook which kinds of dishes, which brands are famous for which products, and which factors she needs to consider to make wise purchases. If Julia wasn’t there to help her, Catalina would have felt so much stress navigating through the complexities of the unfamiliar space. As a homebody, Catalina feels too lazy to think about reaching out to her friends, but fortunately Catalina has Julia in her life, and Julia invites Catalina to occasional lunches and dinners and tea parties and dessert parties where Catalina can meet friends who are much like Catalina and Julia. Visiting Julia’s home is a great learning opportunity for Catalina each time, because Catalina gets to see and learn so many things that she did not even know that she did not know, such as how fragrance diffusers can make a home feel so much more pleasant. Inviting Julia to her home is even better, because Julia teaches her wisdom she did not know she needed, like that time Julia let Catalina know after seeing inside her refrigerator that tomatoes are best kept at room temperature. Sometimes, Catalina texts Julia quick questions, like whether tea bags are compostable, and sometimes hears back responses with bonus wisdom such as how paper and cotton tea bags are not only compostable, but they are also great for polishing hard surfaces like glass, metal, and wood. Other times, Julia texts Catalina first, letting Catalina know useful information like how Julia saw the weather forecast that a heat storm is expected in 2 weeks, so Catalina should get an air conditioner in advance. Julia is a patient guide. Julia does not command Catalina what to do. Julia does not even encourage Catalina to do something or even just imply that Catalina should do something. Julia just lets Catalina know information that are important and helpful for Catalina to know, then patiently supports Catalina to make her own informed decisions. Julia wants Catalina to succeed, not in Julia’s way, but in Catalina’s way, and Julia will do whatever she can as a supportive mentor for Catalina. Julia is a mentor and a friend to Catalina, not her mom, and that is why Catalina finds Julia to be such a pleasant presence in her life. Catalina loves her mom, Catalina loves Julia, just in different ways. Catalina feels lucky to have Julia in her life. Catalina trusts Julia, not just because Julia gives Catalina good advice, but more importantly because Julia cares about Catalina, because Catalina knows that Julia, as a genuinely kind human, sincerely wants Catalina, her friend and fellow human, to be happy and live pleasantly. # California Beach House Have a pleasant day! 🩵 California Beach House is a brand that is Julia for people who are Catalina. When it comes to comfort, we are fans and experts. We love comfort. We want everyone to feel comfort. We will do anything and everything to give homebodies comfort. ## Market of Catalinas Market of Catalinas presents a great business opportunity. ### **There are many Catalinas.** There are many consumers who are like Catalina. For sure, many people are homebodies in general. But also, even the most energetic people who love sports and outdoors and trips and parties and work have days they want to be homebodies. By speaking directly only to homebodies, we can make our audience feel like they are finally addressed as members of a special minority who have been hitherto ignored by the society, while still addressing the majority if not the entirety of all consumers. ### **Catalinas engage in a lot of activities.** Homebodies actually engage in many activities. Homebodies of course cook and clean and lounge at home. But also, homebodies have hobbies like reading books, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, and crafting arts. Homebodies can be fit and social too, enjoying yoga and trips to local shops and cafes, sharing deep conversations with thoughtful friends. And whereas comfort matters most to homebodies, they also like beautiful things just like everyone else. It is just that homebodies have a refined taste for elegant fashion. ### Catalinas spend a lot of money. Homebodies spend a lot of money and also have good reasons to do so. Homebodies enjoy products for a long time in their clean peaceful homes, shielded from the noises and the odors of the outside world, so they get to really appreciate the differences that make expensive items expensive. One might say they even deserve to have the chocolates, chairs, and hand creams that are several times more expensive than the common baseline products that other people use. Besides, those purchases are their gifts for themselves. People do not save money when purchasing gifts for people they love, and it is human nature for a person to love self the most. ## Gap in Market Catalina does not feel like she resonates with top brands in the market today the way she resonates with Julia. Those brands try to target customers who are different from her and try to invoke feelings that do not appeal with her. - Nike, Lamborghini → Sweat and Pain ![Nike.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Nike.png) Brands like Nike celebrate muscular macho men and women expending energy in harsh conditions performing tough tasks such as fighting for victory in a competitive sports. Those brands make Catalina imagine an athlete running as fast she can, covered in dust and sweat, on a hot scorching day, to run away from a growling car and a muscular macho man. Admirable but not relatable. Other similar brands include Lamborghini (machine not body but still “fast” and “strong”), Home Depot (mechanics not athletes but still “heavy” and “tough”). Feelings invoked by those brands {fast, strong, heavy, tough → sweaty, painful} are far from “pleasant comfortable home” that Catalina loves. Catalina prefers to exercise for her own fitness peacefully at her own pace (for example, doing yoga). She prefers brands like Lululemon and Peloton. - Microsoft, Bloomberg → Outdated Bureaucracy ![Microsoft.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Microsoft.png) Brands like Microsoft celebrate office workers completing business tasks such as filling in spreadsheets. Those brands make Catalina imagine an office worker sitting in a dim office entering numbers into a spreadsheet. Admirable but not relatable. Other similar brands include Salesforce, Oracle, Bloomberg. Feelings invoked by those brands {serious professional business → outdated boring bureaucracy}, are far from the joy she feels when she is reading interesting books and writing ideas on her favorite notebook. Catalina feels lucky that she gets to spend time studying topics that she finds interesting and working for causes that she feels passionate about. She prefers brands like Stanford (her own memories from when she was a student there rather than the Stanford brand itself), Taylor Swift (whose brand is that she is producing music because she loves producing music not because she wants to earn money by selling music). - Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok → Crowd and Anxiety ![Facebook.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Facebook.png) Brands like Instagram celebrate the extroverted personality, popularity, and networking. Those brands make Catalina imagine a teenager who is suffering from constant anxiety and peer pressure forcing herself to be at a noisy party. Other similar brands include TikTok, Facebook, Louis Vuitton, Sephora. Feelings invoked by those brands {desperation for popularity → anxiety} are far from “pleasant comfortable home” that Catalina loves. Catalina prefers to engage in deep conversations with trusted friends at peaceful places like her home or a quiet cafe. - Reddit, Discord, Google, Coca-Cola → Reckless Mess ![Google.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Google.png) Brands like Reddit celebrates debauchery and hedonism of jokes and memes. Those brands make Catalina imagine a child who devours junk food and trashes the couch and plays games without first finishing homework. A monster out of a nightmare for a homebody like Catalina who likes to keep her home pristine clean. Other similar brands include Discord, Google, Coca-Cola. Feelings invoked by those brands {recklessness, mess} are far from “clean orderly life” that Catalina enjoys. - On Google brand The brand of Google Search the product is mostly diluted. In order to make nobody feel particularly alienated, they made nobody feel particularly addressed. Nobody particularly hates Google Search and nobody introduces self as a fervent fan for Google Search. Google as a brand and its company culture celebrates its childish personality. It wants to be fun and harmless like a toy. - Example: From the Google event that just took place this year. ![Google.webp](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Google.webp) Catalina sometimes eats snacks and plays games too (like the chocolates she picked up at Whole Foods and Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch). But usually, when it comes to media entertainment, she prefers passive intake over participatory ecstasy (like watching movies on the couch or listening to podcasts while washing dishes). - Amazon, Walmart → Poverty and Hunger ![Amazon.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Amazon.png) Brands like Amazon celebrates cheap prices. Those brands make Catalina imagine a starving person standing in front of an depleting pantry worrying about food prices. Other similar brands include Walmart. Feelings evoked by those brands {hunger, poverty} are far from the pleasant plentiful life that Catalina is enjoying. Catalina eats food for the flavor not for suppressing hunger. Similarly, whereas she does shop on Amazon for some items, she usually prefers to shop slowly, visiting malls or searching online for days checking out different products, because she likes to have fun along the way and because she fortunately need not make purchases out of needs. - Apple, OpenAI → Cold Hard Technology ![Apple.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Apple.png) Brands like Apple celebrate advanced technology and polished products. Those brands make Catalina imagine an aluminum chair that is amazing to look at but terrible to sit on (similar to the Apple Vision Pro which may have been packed with pioneering technology and sealed in a sleek encasing but was too heavy for her to wear for more than 15 minutes). Apple is better than other similar brands like Samsung and Sony in that Apple adds polish to the technology. Some other people might appreciate the technological innovations inside the products or enjoy fitting into the rigid frame ordained by a corporation like Apple. Admirable but not relatable. Like many others, Catalina uses her phone and her computer everyday too, but her favorite electronics are actually unremarkable appliances like her Fellow electric kettle she got from Williams-Sonoma for boiling water. She likes drinking tea, so she uses it everyday. She prefers her simple kettle, which she can press a button to start boiling then press a button again to make it stop, because it just works. It is simple enough for her to understand it and to feel comfortable handling it. Even if there existed a technologically advanced electric kettle that can connect to her phone over the internet to be controlled remotely, she will prefer her current unimpressive kettle, because it is more comfortable for her to interact with her unimpressive kettle even if the innovative kettle is the exact same price as her unimpressive kettle. Same for chairs. She prefers her simple upholstered sofa over the imaginary metal couch made by Apple, even if Apple couch is more artistic, even if Apple couch has more technology features. And she also knows that Apple would not make a couch at all in the first place. And that is why, whereas she does respect Apple from afar, she does not identify particularly as a fan for the Apple brand. - Example: Desk designed by Jony Ive who established design identity at Apple ![Jony Ive Marc Newson Desk.png](Company%20Brand%20FY2%20S4/Jony_Ive_Marc_Newson_Desk.png) This desk, which is amazing to look at, is a 1.5 ton aluminum monolith. Brands like Apple and Samsung first advance technology and then make a product out of the invented technology. Catalina prefers brands that fit new technology into pleasant classic products. Such brands include Mercedes-Benz, Yamaha, Bang & Olufsen, and Montblanc. Catalina rather likes these brands: local shops, Williams-Sonoma or Carmel Home Collection, Blue Bottle Coffee, Frette, Jo Malone and Parnier des Sens, Lululemon, Bang and Olufsen, Taylor Swift and IU, Airbnb and Pinterest, Whole Foods. ## Guidelines for Resonating with Catalina ### Philosophy Catalina loves comfort. To resonate with Catalina, we must too. (And fortunately, we do.) To impress Catalina, we must love comfort intensely: so much that we want to fill this entire world with the feeling of comfort. We want everyone to have comfort. We do anything and everything to give homebodies comfort. Implication for Enterprise: Without any work left to do, a company cannot stay in business. As for us, we will have work to do for as long as homebodies desire more comfort. Fortunately for us, all homebodies, at all times, want even more comfort. ### Application of Philosophy To assess any decision, ask whether the decision is one that Julia will choose in order to help Catalina feel more comfort. - Product: Shall we make the product? Make it if we can make it the way Julia will and at the same time if doing so will maximize comfort for Catalina. Make a chair if that new chair will gift Catalina more comfort. Make an app if that app will help Catalina get more comfort. Keep her interests in mind. For example, make shoes, not for running, but for yoga or for walking on beach sand. - Feature: Similarly, add the feature if adding the feature will add comfort. - Finish: Our products must be made in ways that make Catalina feel comfortable to use them. There are many ways to get this wrong. It is trivial to say that cheap finishes undermine comfort. But products can also feel expensive and uncomfortable at the same time. Beautifully polished metal can feel too heavy and too cold to hold comfortably. Beautifully woven cashmere can feel too brittle to touch and wash comfortably. Remember that we are making products for consumers, not artworks for museums. - Pricing: Price products to maximize comfort. Say we are making a blanket for Catalina. We have to decide whether to use a better material which is $10 more expensive than the baseline material. If additional comfort from using that better material exceeds comfort that Catalina gets from having $10 in cash, then use the better material. If Catalina can exchange $50 for some comfort that is greater than the comfort of having $50 in cash, then we have made her life better for her. In this calculation, an important detail is that Catalina is a homebody, free from noises and odors and tremblings of the street, so the comfort that she can feel and appreciate in her peaceful home will include finer details that normal consumers cannot perceive. - Privacy: Privacy is important to us, because privacy is important for comfort, and comfort is most important to us. Homebodies, relaxing at home, do not want to be seen let alone be watched. So privacy is on the side of comfort. At the same time, the cardigan that Catalina feels most comfortable to wear will be the one that was made to fit her. So choose the decisions that will give most comfort to Catalina. - Technology: Shall we use the new technology in our products? Our decision will not be impacted by the fact that the technology is new. We will use available technology to maximize comfort of all our products. - Communications: When speaking to Catalina, Julia will provide information, and sometimes even add unsolicited advices or opinions, but she will not make Catalina feel pushed to do something. Julia will wait patiently for Catalina to make her own decisions, and simply help Catalina make the best decision by giving her important information, including info that Catalina did not know she wanted. ### Comparisons | Them | Us | | --- | --- | | Microsoft: Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. | I started my business to help homebodies like you feel more comfortable in life! | | Nike: Just do it! | Try it! I will help you however I can. 😉 | | Apple: Here’s to the crazy ones. Think different. | Homebodies like me and Catalina just enjoy living peacefully, avoiding unnecessary trouble. | | Google: Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. | Here are the things that I know that might be useful to you now. | | Amazon: The Everything Store | We do not have everything in the world, but the products that we do sell, we sell them, because we are confident they will make you more comfortable. | | Facebook, Instagram, Louis Vuitton, Sephora: Show off to other people. | Prioritize your own comfort above all else. | | TikTok, Coca-Cola, Sour Skittles: This is fun! This is wild! Here are some wacky flavors! | If you can only have one thing for the rest of your life, here is what will be most comfortable for you. | **Example product decisions** - Versus Google Google answers asked questions. Julia would prefix with context or suffix with other helpful information even if Catalina did not know that she needed or wanted such information. For example, “what is the best brand for dutch ovens?”. Google will say “It is Le Creuset”. Julia might say it is Le Creuset, but she will also ask what Catalina is trying to get done with the dutch oven, so that Julia can help Catalina understand if dutch oven is the correct product for Catalina to be looking for in the first place. - Versus Wikipedia Wikipedia is focused on the subject. Julia is focused on the audience. When Catalina asks about a matter, Julia will tell her aspects that will matter to Catalina instead of presenting every single fact Julia is aware of about that topic. Also, Julia can have opinions unlike Wikipedia. “What is merino?” Wikipedia: “The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the breed were not allowed, and those who tried risked capital punishment. During the eighteenth century, flocks were sent to the courts of a number of European countries, including France (where they developed into the Rambouillet), Hungary, the Netherlands, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden." Julia: “Merino wool refers to wool that comes from merino sheep. Best merino wools today come from Australia and New Zealand, but the merino sheep are originally from Spain. People say merino wool is softer and warmer than regular wool.” # Added Later ### Memo: On brand names California Beach House is a placeholder name like Santana and Centum. Also considered Catalinas, Catalonia (Catalog from California), Lounge, Montecito, Carmel. - Brand Name: Lounge The word “Lounge” conveys comfort. If you want to wear something comfortable, you wear a lounge wear. If you want to sit and relax, you sit on a lounge chair. A lounge at an airport or a hotel is where busy travelers can finally relax for a moment until they are filled with enough energy to get back up and charge on. The word lounge is applicable to home, office, and vacation. To the same person, the word lounge can evoke memories of relaxing at a California beach house as well as memories of admiring a cityscape at night. Lounge means comfort for the wearer herself and also generous hospitality for her guests. Lounge is accessible yet luxurious. Lounge is community yet privacy. ### Memo: Carmel I visited a city in California called Carmel. Carmel feels like a great place for people like Catalina and Julia to live in. Ocean Avenue is filled with small local shops. - Instead of Starbucks, Carmel has small cafes like the Carmel Valley Coffee. There are also local stores, with pretty big store space, dedicated to specific products like Olivier Napa Valley, Lula’s Chocolates, Carmel Honey Company. Their products can be purchased only in their stores in Carmel. - Some other stores carry products that are selected by locals. Examples are Carmel Home Collection and Jazzy (select shop for apparels and bags carrying luxury brands like Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli). - Pleasure of Writing is a beautiful stationery store. Pilgrim’s Way is a beautiful bookstore. Harrison Library is a beautiful local library. I can imagine that Catalina is working part-time at Olivier, Julia is working at Carmel Home Collection. I cannot imagine brands like Nike and Walmart thriving there. Reference Carmel when working on Company Brand.