Scope stretch is where we deliberately look beyond the current category to explore credible, future growth. I break it into three moves:

1. Look across at alternative industries
Who is solving similar problems in completely different spaces? We scan adjacent and “far” categories to see how others create value, shift models, and set new expectations.

2. Define demand spaces in adjacent scope
We map where customer needs, contexts and willingness to pay naturally stretch beyond the current business. This isn’t blue-sky, it’s structured, evidence-led adjacency mapping.

3. Overlay category drivers
Then we layer in what’s driving choice and margin today, for both incumbents and these adjacent spaces. This shows where the business has a right to win, where it would need new capabilities, and where it simply shouldn’t go.

The outcome is a clear view of “where growth could plausibly come from”, filtered through both opportunity and organisational readiness.

Critically, this gives leadership a shared, fact-based way to talk about moves that might otherwise feel fanciful or “too risky”. Instead of opinion vs opinion, we’re looking at structured demand spaces, capabilities and trade-offs on the table.

In the next post I’ll show how we turn this into a concrete opportunity map, and ultimately, into sharper choices about where to focus brand, investment and innovation.

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