Inner Chapter is a research enabled strategy consultancy.

We transform cultural insight into commercial opportunities for brands.

Founded in 2017, we are a global firm headquartered in China, with studios in Japan, Korea, and the US.

Our work typically involves identifying new spaces: repositioning a legacy proposition or creating new brands to serve changing market conditions, growing audiences by exploring evolving consumer needs, or guiding teams through phases of product, retail, and service innovation

Our briefs start with big societal questions and end in commercial implications.

For example, some of the ongoing briefs our clients engage us for include

• How do changing attitudes towards love and commitment affect the market for fine jewellery, and how does that change our product innovation and communication strategy?
• What are the generational differences in how consumers feel about China pride, and what does that mean for global brands’ marketing?
• How do changes in the consumer spending and digital landscape mean for high-end luxury brands – is scarcity still the right model now, or will the next generation determine value differently?
• What do evolving consumer tastes mean for the future of socialising – and how might we design, distribute, and launch a luxury spirits proposition to serve the next generation consumer?
• From an environmental, social, and physical perspective – what does the future of sport look like – and what are the opportunities for us beyond apparel and footwear?
• What are the unique customer journeys for younger consumers, and how might we design digital and physical retail experiences for them?

To help them get there, we apply a mix of social science and brand strategy thinking to business questions.

Our services include primary research with consumers, consultancy-led approaches with client organisations, and full scope brand work streams with agency collaborators.

Our clients include Chinese and Multinational brands in the lifestyle, leisure, and luxury space. We usually work with cross-functional teams – led by C-Suite sponsors and marketing, insights, R&D, functions.

Most of our client work is upstream and confidential, but we partner with category leading clients in tech, hospitality, F&B, beauty, fashion, auto, and health.

Our official WeChat Account: InnerChapter

“At Inner Chapter, we help our clients understand culture and make meaning – so we’re delighted to help British businesses succeed with that in China.”

Julien Lapka and Alex Wilson, Co-Founders