Waldo created instant landscape clarity
Waldo delivered a high-level read across all 20+ Herschend brands in minutes.
Strategists started with a clear map of category dynamics rather than assembling one manually.
PitchMulti-brand discoveryComplex research
How Crossmedia transformed complex research into a pitch-winning advantage
A 20-brand portfolio. A high-stakes pitch. By bringing Waldo in at the start, Crossmedia turned chaos into clarity, and clarity into a win.
Over 1,000 hours back.
Strategist hours reclaimed from manual research.
Thinking, not Googling.
More time spent on interpretation and insight development.
From signal to slide.
Faster movement from inputs to actionable recommendations.
At a glance
One of the largest independent media agencies in the U.S. Crossmedia partners with bold brands to plan and activate media with rigor, transparency, and a stubborn streak of independence.
- Industry
- Independent Media Agency
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Founded
- 2000
- Employees
- 400+
- Team
- Strategy & Insights
- Use case
- Pitch acceleration & multi-brand research
Jump to a chapter
01The Challenge
A high-stakes, fast-moving pitch across a 20-brand ecosystem
Crossmedia was tasked with rapidly immersing in a portfolio of 20+ theme parks, water parks, and entertainment brands.
The Herschend Family Entertainment pitch was high-stakes and fast-moving. Advancing required decoding a diverse multi-brand ecosystem and identifying strategic through-lines across properties, quickly and precisely.
Relying on traditional, manual research methods would have meant dozens of open tabs, fragmented sources, and days spent gathering new insights.
Crossmedia needed to streamline discovery to accelerate insight development and preserve the rigor that creates space for strategic thinking.
02The Shift
Waldo replaced the manual research workflow, early
Instead of relying on manual research workflows, Crossmedia integrated Waldo at an early stage in the pitch process. The team tapped into Waldo for a continuous analysis of cultural, category, and consumer signals, distilling massive volumes of information into clear and focused strategic inputs.
The impact was immediate.
01
Over 1,000 hours reclaimed from manual research.
02
More time spent on interpretation and insight development.
03
Faster movement from inputs to actionable recommendations.
By modernizing discovery, Crossmedia elevated research from a time-intensive input into a strategic multiplier, creating the clarity, speed, and momentum that define winning pitches.
03How It Worked
Three ways Waldo changed the shape of the work
Waldo cleared the path to unexpected insights
Waldo surfaced emerging patterns, cultural tensions, and unexpected adjacencies that weren't obvious from the sources alone.
The team explored more territories than the timeline should have allowed.
A research partner, not a shortcut
As ideas evolved, Waldo was used to pressure-test hypotheses, validate assumptions, refine direction, and strengthen the rationale behind recommendations before they reached the client.
04Results
What started as a pitch accelerator quickly evolved into a sustained competitive advantage
Waldo supported Crossmedia’s ability to deliver clear, conviction-led recommendations to the Herschend pitch, strengthening the foundation behind the win. After the win, the same Waldo-powered clarity accelerated ongoing work across the portfolio:
Rapid understanding of visitor behavior by market and park.
Early detection of experience-level opportunities.
Highly precise planning grounded in real cultural and behavioral signals.
+Commercial impact & why it matters
When strategy starts focused, everything downstream improves
Commercial impact
Waldo directly addressed Crossmedia's original challenge by:
- 01Reducing non-billable strategist hours spent on manual research during the pitch phase.
- 02Accelerating pitch and planning cycles without sacrificing rigor.
- 03Enabling a faster transition from pitch to paid immersion work.
Why it matters
By removing early research bottlenecks, Waldo helped the team:
- 01Protect senior thinking time.
- 02Increase strategic output without increasing headcount.
- 03Turn speed into a competitive advantage.
The result: thousands of hours saved, sharper work, stronger client confidence, and more efficient use of time, all of which directly support revenue growth and margin protection.