How outside-in thinking sharpens and de-risks strategy, brand and website projects
Why clarity and alignment matter more than speed, and how to avoid Rotten Tomato Syndrome
Strategy, brand and website projects rarely fail because of a lack of ideas.
More often, they falter because teams can’t quite agree (or can’t fully commit) once the work is underway. Momentum slows, confidence dips, and good ideas get chipped away through rounds of internal feedback.
I’ve seen this pattern play out many times, including some years ago when I was Head of Content Design at Nationwide Building Society. Someone there coined a phrase for it that has stayed with me ever since:
Rotten Tomato Syndrome.
Rotten Tomato Syndrome
Rotten Tomato Syndrome is a common and highly toxic condition in the business world.
It’s what happens when the big idea is presented and:
everyone has an opinion
people start poking holes
the strategy doesn’t quite land
momentum ebbs away
Not because the idea is wrong, but because there’s no shared, outside-in evidence to anchor the conversation and decision-making.
Without that anchor, strategy becomes a matter of taste. Feedback becomes personal and subjective. And even strong ideas can slowly get picked apart and die.
The issue is rarely a lack of clever ideas or creativity. It’s about decision-making, buy-in and confidence.
The hidden risk in inside-out thinking
Many organisations approach strategy, brand and website work from the inside-out. That makes sense: you start with what you know, what you believe, what you want to say.
But inside-out thinking carries a hidden risk. When decisions are based largely on internal opinion, assumptions and preferences, disagreement is hard to resolve. There’s nothing external to point to. No shared reference point. No evidence that sits outside hierarchy or personal perspective.
This is where projects stall.
And this risk is only increasing. Websites are quicker and cheaper to build than ever. AI has lowered the cost of producing words, visuals and ideas. But that makes it even more important to be confident you’re building the right thing.
Speed without clarity increases risk. Outside-in thinking reduces it.
What outside-in thinking really means
Outside-in thinking starts from a simple but powerful shift in perspective.
Instead of asking only, “What do we want to say?”
you ask, “How are we actually experienced by those we serve, and what do people really need from us?”
That insight comes from clients, customers, referrers, partners and other stakeholders: people who already interact with your organisation and carry a lived understanding of its value.
When that perspective is brought into the work, something important changes. Conversations stop being purely subjective. Decisions have something solid to rest on. Teams can move forward with greater confidence.
What changes when outside-in clarity is present
When outside-in insight is part of strategy, brand and website work, I see the same shifts happen again and again:
clarity and confidence rise
disagreements dissolve more quickly
alignment comes earlier in the process
decisions stick
momentum builds
This doesn’t just improve the final outcome. It de-risks the journey.
How outside-in insight sharpens brand and website projects
One of the most underestimated aspects of outside-in work is how specific it becomes.
With the right questions, patterns emerge very quickly:
what people value most (often not what you expect)
how they naturally describe your role in their world
the language and metaphors they reach for
where trust, confidence or reassurance really comes from
This is where the real gold is found.
Not in abstract positioning statements (useful as they are, they still need grounding), but in the golden thread that runs through multiple conversations, revealing your true value and the clearest way to express it.
When that thread becomes visible, brand and website decisions get much easier. You know what to lead wit, and what to leave out, what feels true, and what doesn’t, where the real difference lies and how to speak in a way people recognise immediately.
That clarity gives teams confidence to commit.
What this looks like in practice
Here’s how clients have described the impact of this kind of outside-in work.
Recognition and alignment
“Sometimes you can be in something for so long that you lose the ability to communicate clearly about it. We wanted to rebrand and develop a new website, but what should we say?
The listening work was invaluable. It allowed our brand, messaging and website to be built on the back of it. And I’m convinced that’s why our brand is so strong in the eyes of our network. They can see themselves in it. It is their words, their images and their perceptions reflected back at them.”
— Nick Gardham, CEO, Community Organisers
Confidence and decision-making
“The interviews were a real game changer for me when repositioning my business. They gave me a huge boost, and the language to write with, using their words, not mine.
The feedback idea felt exposing at first, but it’s a very positive experience and absolutely worth it if you want to make bold, confident decisions for your future.”
— Sue Bush, Founder, The Co-Foundry
Clarity at organisational level
“We didn’t want to rely on assumptions, so we sought an objective outside view. The interviews resulted in extremely valuable insight and helped us to better communicate our purpose – what we do and why we do it – with clarity.”
— Becca Massey-Chase, then Head of Strategy & Governance, Sustrans (now Walk Wheel Cycle Trust)
What all of these examples have in common is this: outside-in insight creates a shared reference point.
When decisions are anchored in how you’re actually experienced, strategy, brand and website projects stop being opinion-led, and start moving forward with confidence.
Listen outside-in
If you’re looking to refresh your strategy, brand, message or website this year, my advice would be simple:
Listen outside-in, as well as inside-out.
Build it into your project timeline. Slowing down at the start is often the fastest way to move forward with confidence.
It’s one of the most reliable ways I know to sharpen thinking, align teams, and de-risk what comes next.
You can read more about the power of outside listening here:
https://www.sonjanisson.co.uk/blog/power-of-listening-and-feedback
Curious about the approach in more detail?
https://www.sonjanisson.co.uk/stakeholder-research
And here’s me and Sue Bush talking about the role of listening in a brand strategy project:
https://www.sonjanisson.co.uk/blog/the-secret-to-a-successful-rebrand-project