Aha Partners/Work

Selected work

Cases where
brand changed
the number.

Not campaigns. Repositioning that moved what a business was worth.

See the cases → How we work

Brand shapes perception. Perception shapes valuation.

A business is never valued at intrinsic worth. It trades at a premium or a discount, and the difference is perception. We move the perception, and the number follows. The exit multiple, the round, the price customers pay.

The record

Seven businesses. Seven public outcomes.

01 / Mastercard
Mastercard
Payments · Brand capital case study
WithFrank CotroneoFormer CFO, Mastercard International (1996-2000)
The move

Mastercard rebuilt its brand in 1997, while it was a cooperative with no share price. From the 2006 listing, the public market began to price the asset.

~12,000% share-price total return since the 2006 IPO

Mastercard rebuilt its brand across the 1990s, ignited by the Priceless campaign in 1997. From its 2006 listing at about US$5.3 billion, the public market re-rated it to about US$433 billion by 18 June 2026, a share-price total return of more than 12,000 per cent. That is distinct from the roughly 82-times growth in market capitalisation, which is lower because buybacks reduced the share count. This case is informed by Frank Cotroneo, former Chief Financial Officer of Mastercard International, 1996 to 2000, and the company's Regional Financial Officer for Asia from 1992 to 1996.

The case study ↗ Aha The 2006 IPO ↗ Mastercard
02 / Refinitiv
Refinitiv
Financial data · Challenger to Bloomberg
WithTBWA\LondonStrategy. IPA submission.
The move

Launch a credible challenger to Bloomberg from a standing start, then carry the proposition through to the financial markets that set the price.

$27bn sale to the London Stock Exchange Group

The all-share acquisition valued Refinitiv at approximately US$27 billion, against combined annual revenue of over £6 billion. The launch was set out in the £6 billion question, shortlisted at the 2020 IPA Effectiveness Awards.

The $27bn sale ↗ LSEG The IPA paper ↗ IPA
03 / Cazoo
Cazoo
Customer experience · Product positioning
WithMartin ErikssonCustomer experience and product positioning.
The move

Define the end-to-end customer experience and product positioning with the senior leadership team ahead of the listing.

$6bn IPO

Defined end-to-end customer experience and product positioning with the senior leadership team ahead of a $6bn IPO. The engagement was led with Martin Eriksson.

04 / Vodafone Business
Vodafone
Telecoms · Telco to techco
WithOgilvyBrand and product strategy.
$1.5bn ten-year Microsoft partnership

As part of the $1.5bn ten-year Microsoft partnership. In January 2024 Vodafone committed to invest US$1.5 billion over ten years with Microsoft in cloud and AI. Led the brand and product strategy, including Copilot to drive adoption across Vodafone's 7m SMEs across the region.

The partnership ↗ Microsoft
05 / The i
the i
News media · Value of Brevity
WithAtomicBrand proposition and activation
The move

Hold the line on a concise quality daily in a structurally declining category, an identity worth buying rather than a format competing on price.

+7% sales, then a £24m exit

The brand campaign Ben led drove a 7 percent sales increase for the i, a concise quality daily launched at 20p. ESI Media sold the title to Johnston Press for £24 million in 2016.

The £24m sale ↗ Press Gazette
06 / Nash Squared
Nash Squared
Technology & talent · £1bn+ billings
WithPolarBrand strategy and operating model.
The move

Rename a recruitment group as a technology and talent consultancy, and give a multi-business group one coherent story investors could hold.

Harvey Nash became Nash Squared

In 2022 Harvey Nash Group, a group with over £1 billion in annual billings, renamed to Nash Squared and repositioned from recruiter to technology and talent consultancy, with a stated intent to double headcount past 6,000.

The rename ↗ PR Newswire

“Working with a very wide range of senior stakeholders, they were able to distil a complex array of viewpoints and create a proposition that works very well for us. They gave excellent advice, were flexible and agile, but also held firm on things they believed in.”

Rob Grimsey, Group Marketing Director, Nash Squared
07 / CFL
CFL
Air logistics · Challenger brand
WithPolarBrand strategy and activation
The move

Turn an inward-looking logistics business into a challenger brand its own market could understand and choose.

Thirty of the largest airlines won

After the rebrand of CFL, Polar reports a 54 percent rise in online reach.

The results ↗ Polar

“They designed a new brand that perfectly reflects who we are and who we will be for our customers over the next decade. Their support has been a critical strategic asset.”

Matthew Ware, Chief Executive, CFL

The method

Four steps.

The work is instrumented and repeatable. We measure the financial and perceptual asset, name the constraints and enablers informing the multiple, and then move. Each process runs on a similar path, even though every business is different.

01

Diagnose

Instrument the perception asset and name the constraints suppressing the multiple.

02

Position

Move the business into a comparison set the market pays more for, in language buyers repeat.

03

Roadmap

Sequence the interventions to the value window, run with your team, pointed at the outcome.

04

Execute

Deliver with best-in-class partners, and hold the position through to the transaction.

The results

The cases

If the market undervalues you,
change the conversation.

The diagnostic puts a number on the gap between what a business is worth and what it is priced at, and names the constraints holding the multiple down. Four weeks, fixed fee.

See the diagnostic →