“For any business attempting growth, the service landscape is incredibly fragmented and complex," explains Jamal Cassim, co-founder of research and strategy studio Untangld. "If you're a C-Suite leader, you’re trying to find a common cause and language between disparate things - data, brand, experience, media, media, technology – and the nature of business and the agency landscape means you might have seven competing strategies instead of one."
This observation led Cassim and his co-founders to launch Untangld in 2020, just two weeks before COVID hit, with a mission to deliver evidence-led strategy that cuts through the noise. Five years on, that mission remains unchanged, though their capabilities and geographical footprint have expanded considerably.
The strategy specialists in a sea of generalists
In an industry where most agencies offer strategy as just one service among many, Untangld's singular focus makes them something of an anomaly.
“We’re not an agency with a strategy team, we’re a strategy studio,” says Emily Gray, who leads Untangld’s London office. “Strategy is our craft. Surfacing the right insight to inform decisions that propel businesses forward. That makes us fundamentally different from companies built around creative or production.
This specialist positioning means they often find themselves competing against an eclectic mix of rivals, from Big Four consultancies to integrated branding agencies, creative shops, and publishers like the Financial Times. The lack of a consistent competitive set is something Cassim finds encouraging: "Our specialism makes us an interesting business because we can usually partner instead of compete." Untangld’s strength lies in how they approach each challenge with curiosity, not a cookie-cutter playbook.
“We come to every problem with openness,” says Gray. “We don’t apply frameworks for the sake of it. We build our thinking from the ground up, so it’s bold, imaginative, and actually fits the challenge in front of us.
Making strategy accessible
At the heart of Untangld’s approach is what they call "Strategic Journalism"—a model that goes beyond insight gathering to shape strategy people can actually use.
“Too many strategies die in slide decks,” says Emily Gray, the Founding Partner who lead's Untangld’s European operation. “Everyone should be able to tell the same story about where the business is going. If strategy isn’t memorable and magnetic, it won’t move people.”
This observation led to their conviction that strategy, like journalism at its best, creates an evidence-led story that’s so clear and compelling that anyone can understand and action it. The approach has proven effective across diverse sectors, from financial services to sports entertainment, telecommunications to funeral services.
“Our clients have an insatiable appetite for impact,” says Emily Gray. “They’re wrestling with big, fundamental questions about who they are and where they’re going—and they want agnostic, strategic minds to challenge their thinking, show them what’s possible, and help them get there. They’re not here to tinker. They’re here to transform.”
Untangld gravitates toward clients facing existential questions. Their work with Aviva exemplifies this approach, tackling the fundamental question: "What does the future of commercial insurance look like?" Through a mix of primary research, expert interviews, proposition development and experience design, the team developed testable prototypes, giving Aviva not just a vision, but something senior leaders could actually play with.
Similarly, their partnership with Substantial Group, a mid-cap telco with ambitious growth targets, spans customer segmentation, brand strategy, architecture, naming, messaging, and measurement. "For clients who want to transform the categories they operate in, having clear evidence led strategy is absolutely imperative," Gray emphasises.
Elevating the mundane
One of Untangld's most illustrative success stories involves Flaus, an American startup that had invented a new way of flossing. The challenge: how could a boutique consultancy help a startup disrupt a category dominated by healthcare giants like GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer?
"Flossing hasn't actually changed since it was invented in the 19th century," Cassim explains. While Flaus initially considered positioning as a beauty brand (following the Kardashian backed Moon toothpaste model), Untangld's research revealed this space was already crowded.
Instead, they developed a technology-focused positioning that influenced everything from branding and communication to the unboxing experience and product design. The result? "A really good fast launch and amazing early success, but was also able to leverage an appearance on Shark Tank and recognition by Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative Ideas in the world," Cassim recounts. "That's a completely different trajectory to the rest of the category that’s occupying a safer, more predictable space."
Navigating economic headwinds with agility
Like many boutique agencies, Untangld has operated in severe economic challenges since its founding. “We started two weeks before Covid hit, and since then there have been a series of phantom recessions and omnipresent economic uncertainty,” Cassim says. “That enabled us to design a business uniquely built to navigate this environment.”
Building capabilities across a unified global team, embracing the best of personal and asynchronous working models, their response has been to maintain quality while adapting their offering to changing client needs. When growth and acquisition spending slowed, they emphasised in-life experience, loyalty, retention, and service design - “so that when acquisition spending returned, these clients would already have an unfair advantage.”
They've also observed shifting market dynamics across regions. "In Europe, there's been a real emphasis on deep, fast research to inform innovation," Cassim notes. Meanwhile, in the US, they've helped non-American businesses break into the market during economic difficulty, leveraging its growth potential.
The future: "The best is yet to come"
Five years in, both founders believe "the best is yet to come." They're developing technology products, expanding AI capabilities, and growing their global team, all while navigating a business landscape experiencing unprecedented disruption.
"If you thought five years ago, even two years ago, that Google wouldn't be the first thing you'd use for search, it would be unbelievable," Cassim observes. "We’re entering an era where giants are falling.”
For a team of entrepreneurs, this volatility represents opportunity rather than threat. "We're energised by change" says Gray “We’ve designed a modern business—one built to evolve, so we're always looking for new ways to create value. We're really only just getting started"
In a marketing world that often fragments strategy across specialised agencies, Untangld's integrated, evidence-led approach offers a compelling alternative. As Gray puts it: “Winning today isn’t about doing more, it’s about making smarter, braver choices. As the stakes get higher, businesses need advice they can trust, agnostic, strategic thinking with implications for the whole business, not just the marketing department.”
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