CB2
MARKETING CASE STUDY
Product Pitch
OVERVIEW
Comprehensive Case Study
This concept pitch was developed to explore CB2’s potential to enter the pet product category—an area aligned with its lifestyle-driven aesthetic and design-forward values, yet one it has not yet addressed. The result was Turf: a brand-right concept designed to deliver emotionally resonant, design-conscious solutions for modern pet owners.
Rather than feeling tacked on, the proposed line was crafted to emerge organically from CB2’s own material language, customer identity, and editorial sensibility. Designed for customers who see pets as family, Turf reflects the same visual refinement and lifestyle cues that define CB2’s core offering.
OUTCOME
The result was a brand-right campaign concept—strategic in tone, emotionally resonant in message, and aligned with CB2’s aspirational positioning. While the product line itself was intentionally left unrevealed, the video presentation established a clear opportunity for CB2 to lead within a category that has been underserved by design-forward brands.
The pitch made a compelling case for Turf as both a lifestyle-enhancing offering and a business growth strategy, giving CB2 a chance to build emotional connection, increase cart value, and further distinguish itself from competitors.
Strategic Brand Alignment: Positioned Turf as a natural extension of CB2’s lifestyle offering, supporting the brand’s tone, aesthetic, and customer identity.
Visual Storytelling: Used mood, tone, and suggestion to hint at the product line without revealing it—mirroring CB2’s own editorial approach.
New Category Opportunity: Proposed a line that taps into a multibillion-dollar industry while maintaining design integrity.
Conceptual Rigor: Supported by research, material exploration, and three distinctly curated product categories and accompanying products (product designs intentionally kept under wraps).
Suggested Visuals:
Text overlay or caption: “A new category, ready to lead.”
Mood-driven video stills: champagne tower, cat silhouette, CB2 campaign elements
Suggested Video Clip: [0:52–1:03] – “SMART. SEXY. PET PRODUCT LINE.” section
PROCESS
SCOPE & OBJECTIVES
Conceived and developed independently, this project explored how CB2 could expand its lifestyle offering into the pet category—without compromising its aesthetic or editorial tone. The proposed line, Turf, included elevated pet essentials such as beds, perches, scratchers, and bowls, all filtered through CB2’s unique lens of materiality, mood, and minimalism.
Rather than revealing the product line directly, the pitch was delivered as a teaser-style video, using tone, typography, and pacing that echoed CB2’s brand campaigns. This approach emphasized aspiration and alignment—while preserving ownership of the IP.
BRAND ANALYSIS
& MARKETING RESEARCH
CB2 is known for bold, architectural forms, refined textures, and a modern-minimalist sensibility. Its voice is confident, editorial, and concept-driven—positioning products as expressions of taste and identity.
Where Crate & Barrel leans timeless, CB2 skews timely—distinguishing itself through curated releases, designer collaborations, and a strong editorial sensibility. Collections are styled with mood and meaning, often shaped around visual storytelling rather than product specs.
Turf was designed to echo this same DNA. The pitch pulled directly from CB2’s materials, forms, and brand tone to show how a pet line could feel intentional, editorial, and naturally integrated into the CB2 lifestyle.
IMAGE OR VIDEO HERE.
Suggested Visuals:
Stills of CB2 campaigns (e.g., hot pink gown, black sofa, champagne pyramid)
Suggested Video Clip: [0:22–0:35] “CB2 design language” segment
AUDIENCE INSIGHT
CB2 customers are aesthetically driven and emotionally invested in their homes. Their pets are family—but pet products often lack the design quality of the rest of their home goods. Nearly 70% of U.S. households own a pet, and the pet industry is valued at over $100 billion—an untapped opportunity for a design-forward brand like CB2 to lead.
CB2’s audience—urban, style-driven, and home-focused—is primed to invest in pet essentials that align with the aesthetic standards they uphold. These consumers aren’t looking for generic pet gear; they’re seeking thoughtfully designed products for their pets that complement the CB2 furniture and décor they already live with and love.
Turf responds to that expectation—offering a unique pet product line that reflects the same thoughtful design standard CB2 customers demand from everything else they bring into their homes.
Suggested Visuals:
Customer quote overlay: “My dog’s bed is in the living room. It better look good.”
Dog or cat lounging in modern home interior
Suggested Video Clip: [1:19–1:30] “Customers see pets as family”
MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE DARK BACKGORUND HERE
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
While the pet-product category has evolved significantly, offering increasingly stylish options, a genuine gap remains for truly brand-aligned, design-led products. Crate & Barrel, CB2’s parent company, has entered this category, but its offerings remain relatively generic—lacking the distinctive, bold aesthetic and strong brand DNA that characterizes CB2. Other competitors often lean towards novelty or utilitarian designs, further fragmenting the market and leaving the premium, style-conscious niche underserved.
Turf was proposed as a way for CB2 to authentically lead within this niche. Instead of suggesting novelty miniature furniture or generic pet accessories, the concept was designed to reflect CB2’s signature design principles—bold geometric forms, refined textures, elevated palettes, and architectural elegance—resulting in products that would feel intrinsically native to CB2 customers' existing home environments.
Additionally, the proposal recommended strategic seasonal rollouts, particularly during high-engagement gifting periods like the holidays, to further amplify Turf’s competitive potential. This approach was positioned as a way to help CB2 build emotional resonance, enhance customer engagement, and further establish itself as a leader in thoughtfully curated, lifestyle-driven product categories.
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Suggested Visuals:
· Visual chart of competitors plotted along a "Design Integrity" vs. "Category Presence" axis, highlighting the gap Turf would fill.
· Still from the video, 1:36–2:01, covering the sections: “But when TURF is available…” and “THE VALUE IT CAN WIELD.”
PRDUCT DESIGN STRATEGY
must retitle this or the one above it as they are redundant
Suggested Visuals:
Abstracted teaser visuals: cropped silhouettes or detail shots from each sub-line (LEAN IN, DOVETAIL, NEST)
Still from video, 1:32–1:35: Visual suggestion of new category expansion without direct product reveal
Text overlay: “Product visuals withheld to preserve IP integrity.”
At the core of Turf’s brand concept is a fully realized product design strategy. This was not a speculative gesture but a deliberate, detailed development of three distinct pet product collections—NEST, DOVETAIL, and LEAN IN—each developed to reflect CB2’s material language, form-driven identity, and editorial tone.
Curated categories were as follows:
- Nest: offered soft, adjustable beds and minimalist scratchers designed to blend seamlessly into elevated interiors.
- Dovetail: explored interlocking, modular scratchers—scalable forms that balanced utility with sculptural composition.
- Lean In: featured a series of forward-tilting pieces, including a dramatic 5’+ cat tower—designed to echo CB2’s sculptural sensibility and gallery-like presence.
While the product lines were thoroughly conceived and refined, final product visuals and specs were intentionally withheld in the public-facing video to protect IP. Instead, the pitch aligned with CB2’s own editorial strategy—using teaser-driven storytelling and mood-driven abstraction to spark curiosity.
For both marketing and product design projects, this section demonstrates the fusion of conceptual thinking, aesthetic discipline, and executional rigor—bridging branding, strategy, and design in a cohesive, business-forward way.
CREATIVE DIRECTION & STORYTELLING
The creative approach behind the Turf pitch was built to mirror CB2’s editorial sensibility—lean, aspirational, and suggestive. Rather than revealing product designs directly, the presentation used mood-driven visuals, brand-right typography, and abstracted cues to spark curiosity. This mirrored CB2’s own approach to storytelling: emphasizing tone, lifestyle, and emotional resonance over hard sales or technical details.
Pets were positioned as design cohabitants, not accessories—highlighted in elegant interiors and humorous moments that balanced sophistication with warmth. Playful elements, such as speech bubbles and unexpected juxtapositions, introduced a lightness that felt emotionally engaging and visually on-brand for CB2’s younger, design-conscious audience.
The video’s structure followed an editorial arc—opening with brand context, building anticipation through mood and tone, and landing with a strong value proposition for the Turf concept. Every frame was crafted to reinforce CB2’s identity: modern, tactile, elevated, and emotionally fluent.
Suggested Visuals:
Stills from 0:05–0:19 and 0:52–1:03: opening montage + “SMART. SEXY. PET PRODUCT LINE.” section
Page 22–23 (dog on Imbu sofa, cat with “Best scratching pad. Evah!” bubble)
Pet silhouettes layered over CB2 interiors (video + stills)
Text overlay: “A concept delivered in CB2’s own visual language”
BY BLENDING BRAND STRATEGY, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, AND VISUAL STORYTELLING, TURF ILLUSTRATED HOW CB2 COULD EXPAND MEANINGFULLY INTO A LIFESTYLE-DRIVEN, UNDER LEVERAGED MARKET.
THE CONCEPT WAS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST AESTHETICS AND NOVELTY — IT WAS ABOUT CREATING OBJECTS THAT FEEL ESSENTIAL, EMOTIONALLY RESONANT, AND UNMISTAKABLY CB2.
POSSIBLY lose the next (which is the last) paragraph here.
FINAL INSIGHT
The Turf product pitch was well received and commended for its strategic clarity, visual sophistication, and brand alignment. While CB2 ultimately chose not to pursue the pet product category at this time, the concept demonstrated a fully formed opportunity to enter a new market with design leadership and integrity.
The pitch made a case for the value of extending CB2’s lifestyle offering into an area where customers already invest deeply—both financially and emotionally.