About
Saltworks is a strategic branding and experience design consultancy, founded in 1995. Our expertise is in both the science and art of building relationships with enthusiast customers — people who are looking to make a commitment to a brand in a category they genuinely care about.
These decisions involve high levels of both consideration and emotion. Functionality, longevity, value, and track record on the rational side. Trust, identity, pride, and sometimes fear on the emotional side. Brands that understand how those two forces interact at the moment of decision have a significant advantage over those that don’t.
Our clients come to us when they have a problem they’ve been diagnosing from the inside. We look at it from the outside — through the eyes of the customers who are choosing, or not choosing, their brand right now. The alignment between those two perspectives is where the real strategy lives.
That process — inside looking out, outside looking in — is the foundation of everything we build.
What We Do
We've helped in all of them. Which situation your brand is in determines which kind of work will actually move the needle.
Successful
They chose you for the right reasons.
You're the category leader — but challenger brands are becoming an increasing threat.
Maintain your competitive edge, deepen loyalty, and increase customer lifetime value.
Failed
They chose your competition for the wrong reasons.
You aren't getting the consideration you deserve, while dominant brands get unwarranted market share.
Differentiate your brand, communicate your offerings compellingly, and streamline the path to consideration.
Risky
They chose you for the wrong reasons.
Customers are abandoning your brand with negative emotions, reviews, and word of mouth.
Fix misconceptions, improve retention, and prevent the reputation damage that follows a broken promise.
Fair
They chose your competition for the right reasons.
You find yourself wanting to copy your competition, because they offer something different.
Stop chasing the wrong customers. Focus your efforts on the buyers you can actually win — and keep.
Each phase yields standalone value. You can engage at any stage — and build from there.
What you know and what's missing
We consolidate the inside-looking-out perspective. Internal stakeholders are heard. We identify what agreements and disagreements exist, and what unknowns need to be addressed before research begins.
You know what questions customer research needs to answer.
What we learned and what it means
We gather the outside-looking-in perspective. We observe and listen to customers at the moment of decision — finding the answers we need, and the unexpected insights we didn't know to look for.
You can make better decisions informed by the actual voice of the customer.
What to do and how to do it
We align the two perspectives to triangulate the truth of the situation. We develop strategies to address it and articulate those strategies as a roadmap of actionable steps.
You have a concrete action plan to address your real challenge.
From plan to reality
We build out the system for differentiation — implementing changes across a customized ecosystem of communications and experiences. We are channel- and technology-agnostic.
You have new programs to grow and optimize.
The Core Question
“If we only knew __________, we would be able to __________.”
Every engagement begins by filling in that sentence honestly. Gathering the outside-looking-in perspective — what your customers actually experience at the moment of decision — is where the real work starts.
The Team
Paul Caldera
Brand Integration · Cofounder
Doreen Caldera
Brand Design · Cofounder
Christine Bailey
Brand Build
Carlos Alcala
Brand Interactive
Drake Pusey
Brand Ecosystems
Katie Karatzas
Brand Experience