Full transformation roadmap — from brand discovery through design system delivery. Strategic research, competitive intelligence, and brand identity development to establish clear market advantage.
IT Project Manager
API access, system integration, stakeholder coordination
Strategy Director
AI deployment, research synthesis, transformation delivery
Operations Sync
Daily agent output review, milestone tracking, quality validation
Strategic research and competitive intelligence framework designed to deliver clear market positioning insights through systematic analysis and stakeholder collaboration.
Strategic Access & Research Framework — Secure access to internal materials and confirm stakeholder availability. Establish research framework for comprehensive brand intelligence gathering and competitive positioning analysis.
✓ Internal brand documents accessed
✓ Leadership stakeholder list confirmed
✓ Existing competitive intelligence reviewed
✓ Customer research data integrated
✓ Competitive monitoring protocols established
✓ Research synthesis methodology confirmed
✓ Strategic insight dashboard configured
✓ Quality validation framework active
Leadership Strategic Conversations — Direct conversations with eToro leadership to extract strategic insights and understand positioning opportunities, competitive perspectives, and transformation priorities across 4-6 key stakeholders.
Interview schedule: 4-6 strategic stakeholders, 45-minute focused conversations, internal brand context sharing for deeper discussion
CE Strategy TeamInterview execution: Strategic questioning framework, insight extraction methodology, pattern recognition across responses, strategic synthesis and analysis
Brand Perception Research — Comprehensive perception analysis across multiple platforms to identify positioning gaps and market opportunities. CE conducts systematic research using existing materials plus independent platform analysis to deliver strategic brand intelligence.
Existing research: Brand guidelines, marketing materials, customer research data, internal perception insights, existing survey data
CE ResearchIndependent analysis: Social platform research, review site analysis, competitive messaging tracking, perception pattern analysis with strategic reporting
Market Intelligence Research — Comprehensive competitive monitoring tracking messaging evolution across key competitors. Pattern recognition identifies emerging market shifts and positioning gaps to deliver strategic advantages.
Competitive scope: Target competitor list for monitoring, existing competitive intelligence integration, market segment priorities
CE ResearchCompetitive tracking: Systematic competitive monitoring, visual brand analysis, messaging pattern detection, market evolution analysis with strategic recommendations
Strategic Foundation Development — CE team synthesizes multi-source research into actionable brand transformation frameworks. Strategic analysis generates positioning architectures, mission variants, and competitive differentiation strategies to deliver market advantage.
Collaborative validation: Strategic direction review, transformation framework feedback, positioning refinement approval, final strategic synthesis confirmation
CE Strategic DevelopmentStrategy synthesis: Multi-source data analysis, positioning framework creation, mission architecture development, strategic direction modeling with comprehensive strategic validation
Complete brand transformation strategy delivered faster than traditional consultancy with comprehensive research quality
Timeline: 13 business days (traditional timeline: 8-12 weeks)
Quality: Multi-platform research with strategic validation
Advantage: Comprehensive competitive intelligence + strategic foundation ready for immediate implementation
With strategic foundations locked, we move into the creative heart of the transformation — defining how eToro looks, feels, and sounds across every touchpoint. Multiple directions explored, one selected, then built into a complete brand system.
Creative Direction Development — CE develops 2–3 distinct design directions based on Phase 1 strategic insights. Each direction includes moodboards, visual references, typography explorations, and color palettes that translate the brand strategy into tangible creative territory.
Brand assets: Existing visual materials, internal references, aspirational brand examples, stakeholder creative preferences gathered during interviews
CE Creative TeamDirection development: 2–3 distinct moodboards with creative rationale, typography and color explorations per direction, initial logo concept sketches, visual language definition for each path
Stakeholder Alignment Session — Formal presentation of all creative directions to eToro leadership. Structured critique session to evaluate each direction against strategic positioning goals. One direction selected and confirmed for development.
Decision session: Review all directions against brand strategy, stakeholder feedback consolidation, final direction selection, alignment confirmation across leadership team
CE PresentationDirection defense: Strategic rationale for each direction, competitive differentiation analysis per path, market positioning implications, recommendation with supporting evidence
Identity Refinement & Lock — Selected direction refined into final brand identity. Logo system finalized, color palette locked, typography hierarchy established. One round of iterations included. Design lock marks the point of no return — all subsequent work builds on this foundation.
Approval milestones: Logo system sign-off, color palette confirmation, typography approval, tone of voice alignment, design lock formal confirmation
CE Design ExecutionIdentity development: Logo system (wordmark + logomark variations), primary and extended color palette, typography system with hierarchy and pairings, tone of voice guidelines, 1 iteration round included
Brand System Architecture — Locked identity expanded into a comprehensive design system. Component library, usage rules, and application examples built to enable consistent brand execution across all touchpoints — digital, print, and motion.
System requirements: Channel and touchpoint inventory, sub-brand and product hierarchy input, existing template requirements, internal team usage needs
CE System BuildDesign system: Logo usage and clear space rules, photo language and treatment guide, brand architecture (sub-brands, products), UI component foundations, application examples across digital, print, and motion
Final Brand Package Handoff — Complete brand book and design system delivered as implementation-ready package. Everything eToro needs to execute the new brand identity — internally or with any external partner — without constant oversight.
Final deliverables: Complete brand book (strategic + visual bible), design system with component library, asset package (logos, icons, templates), implementation guidelines for all channels
CE HandoffPackage includes: Brand book document, design system files, usage documentation, team walkthrough session, implementation support brief for Phase 3 readiness
Complete brand identity system — from creative exploration to implementation-ready brand book and design system
Timeline: 20 business days (traditional timeline: 12-16 weeks)
Deliverables: Brand Book + Design System + Asset Package
Advantage: Any team — internal or external — can create on-brand materials without constant oversight
Items requiring joint alignment before project execution begins.
Phase 1 Completion Criteria — Define what "done" looks like for Brand Discovery. What deliverables, quality bar, and sign-off process mark the end of Phase 1 and the green light for Phase 2?
Contacts & Escalation Protocol — Establish primary contacts on both sides, escalation paths for blockers, and response time expectations. Who makes decisions when the primary contact is unavailable?
Meeting Cadence — Define recurring sync schedule: frequency, format, attendees, and agenda ownership. Standing meetings vs. on-demand check-ins.
Expense Approval Workflow — Clarify how project expenses are submitted, reviewed, and approved. Approval thresholds, turnaround times, and documentation requirements.
These items should be resolved in the kick-off meeting to avoid ambiguity during execution
Decisions here become the operational foundation for the entire engagement.
Clear validation turnaround commitments to keep the project timeline on track.
Review & Approval SLA — Every deliverable requires eToro validation before the next phase begins. Agreed turnaround time for reviews prevents timeline drift. Proposed: 48-hour validation window for standard deliverables, 5 business days for strategic direction approvals.
Delayed validation = delayed delivery. The 13-day and 20-day phase timelines assume validation happens within the agreed SLA. Every day of delay on validation shifts the entire downstream schedule by the same amount.
Our delivery speed is only as fast as the validation speed
Clear SLAs protect both sides — eToro gets predictable timelines, CE maintains delivery momentum.
Clear financial boundaries and payment mechanisms to ensure transparency and alignment throughout the engagement.
Funding Source Clarity — All project expenses are funded from eToro's payments to CE — not from CE's own operating budget. Clear delineation of what constitutes a project expense vs. CE's internal cost of delivery.
✓ Which expenses are billable vs. absorbed by CE
✓ Expense categories and caps
✓ Reporting format and frequency
✓ Pre-approval requirements for expenses above threshold
Payment Trigger Checklist — Define together what triggers each payment milestone. Objective, verifiable criteria that both sides agree constitute completion — no ambiguity on when invoices are sent and when payment is due.
✓ Phase 1 completion trigger criteria
✓ Phase 2 milestone payment triggers
✓ Deliverable acceptance = payment release
✓ Invoice timing and payment terms
What Constitutes an Iteration? — Clear definition of what counts as an iteration round within the included scope vs. what constitutes additional work. Prevents scope ambiguity and protects both sides.
✓ Scope of a single iteration round
✓ Number of iterations included per phase
✓ What triggers an "additional iteration" classification
✓ Pricing for additional iterations beyond scope
No surprises. Every cost is anticipated, every payment has a clear trigger, every iteration has a definition.
This checklist gets built jointly in the kick-off meeting — both sides sign off before work begins.