Brand strategy and production infrastructure for one of Austria’s most recognised food brands — built to last another seventy years.
We studied eighteen brands across the condiment category — from Heinz and Kewpie to Maille and Sarson’s. We looked at how the category leaders built and held their positions, how they managed change without losing identity, and where consumer expectations are moving.
What we found: the brands that are pulling ahead are not doing it with better products. They are doing it with better infrastructure. A clearer story, applied more consistently, produced more efficiently across every touchpoint.
Felix has the rarest thing in the category: genuine heritage and genuine market leadership. That is the starting point most brands can only aspire to. The question is not whether the brand has a future. It is whether the communications system behind it is built for the pace at which the market is now moving.
We are not here to change what works. We are here to make it work harder — more consistently, across more channels, with less friction between strategy and output.
Curious Endeavor is a brand strategy and production studio. We work with established consumer brands who need agency-grade output without the overhead — from positioning through to campaign execution, built on a system that runs consistently across every market and format.
Reference brands studied in the condiment and specialty food category. Full analysis available in the research section.
Of shoppers are influenced by packaging and brand communication at point of purchase. In a category defined by habitual buying, brand is the primary lever for switching.
Branded condiment leaders hold repeat-purchase rates roughly double that of private label equivalents. In a category defined by habit, the brand that gets into the routine is almost impossible to displace.
Felix’s position as Austria’s leading condiment brand was not built in a day. We start by understanding exactly what has created that equity — and what the market needs from it next. Our strategic work defines the one clear thing the brand stands for, and builds the language to say it at every level.
The gap between brand strategy and campaign reality is where most brands lose. A brief passes through multiple teams, each one interpreting it differently. By the time it reaches the channel, the brand logic has drifted. We close that gap — the strategy governs the output directly, at every level.
Faster from brief to first output than a traditional agency process — in our experience, consistently. Without sacrificing brand standard or creative quality.
In classic food categories, the threat is not a flashy new entrant — it is the slow drift toward private label as branded identity weakens. The brands that hold position are the ones with the clearest story and the most consistent presence. We track the signals: competitor moves, packaging shifts, promotional patterns, retail dynamics. So Felix is never caught responding to something it should have seen coming.
We review your brand guidelines, existing campaign materials, and one live brief. No workshops, no audit reports. We learn the standard — what Felix approves, what the agency produces — and show you what CE would deliver for the same brief, at what cost.
We produce a campaign alongside your existing process. You compare the output and the cost. No commitment until you have seen both and decided the quality holds and the saving is real.
Your agency keeps strategy and direction. CE takes briefs and executes — seasonal campaigns, channel adaptations, product launches, market variants. Consistent output, lower overhead, nothing changes in how Felix works with its agency.
We start with one brief. Your current setup stays intact. You decide whether to go further only after you have seen the work and the cost difference.
Lukas Richthammer — Vienna — Curious Endeavor
