Finding a brand’s FTP
It represents an approximation of your maximal lactate steady state, measured in watts. It’s the highest average power an athlete can sustain for approximately an hour. This value is used as a benchmark to determine training zones and assess fitness level.
Knowing your FTP means you can train smart, race smarter, and structure every session with intent.
Now, what if brands had an FTP too?
What if, before launching new campaigns or rebranding efforts, we put brands through a threshold test to understand what they can really sustain in the market? What they actually stand for? What their identity can endure without crumbling under pressure?
Spoiler: that’s exactly how we start every project.
🩻 Strategic FTP: the threshold test for brands
Before we touch visuals or copy, we start with something closer to a diagnostic ride than a brainstorm: a deep, strategic scan of the brand’s current reality.
In this phase, we’re not chasing KPIs, we’re checking the pulse.
And the questions we ask aren’t softballs:
Is this logo truly aligned with the brand’s values, or just visually “nice”?
Is the brand identity consistent across all touchpoints (from website to packaging to product UI to press kits)?
Is the communication goal actually defined, or just implied?
What actions are active on the advertising front, and are they coherent or fragmented?
Are there real PR efforts or cobranding moves in play, or is it all wishful thinking?
What’s the actual relationship between the brand and its community? Is it transactional, passive, or alive?
These aren’t trick questions. They’re threshold tests.
Just like an athlete can’t pretend to hold a higher FTP than they’ve trained for, brands can’t fake strategic clarity.
If the foundations are shaky (e.g. unclear values, incoherent identity, inconsistent messaging…) no amount of budget or media spend will hold it together under real market pressure.
Testing the brand’s threshold early lets us define a baseline to calibrate the path forward. Once we know the real FTP, we can train smart. Build steady. Push harder, with purpose.
🚴♀️ The takeaway
FTP in sport isn’t just a number, it’s a mirror. It tells you where you are so you can plan where to go. In branding, our job is to hold up the same mirror.
Not to discourage, but to build the training plan that turns potential into performance.
Before you sprint, test your threshold. That’s where the real growth begins.
Want us to run a threshold test on your brand? We bring the power meter. You bring the ambition. Let us be your marketing coach and Trust The Process!
