The Challenge
Ember is best known for its temperature-controlled mug, but its ambitions reach far beyond a single product. Founded by inventor and patent expert Clay Alexander, Ember aimed to leverage its proprietary temperature control technology to expand into entirely new categories.
The challenge
Ember is best known for its temperature-controlled mug, but its ambitions reach far beyond a single product. Founded by inventor and patent expert Clay Alexander, Ember aimed to leverage its proprietary temperature control technology to expand into entirely new categories.
The solution
As strategy director at Character, I led the brand strategy workstream in close partnership with the creative and client teams. We conducted internal stakeholder interviews alongside customer research to understand how Ember’s portfolio was currently perceived, and partnered closely with the head of product to map the future roadmap. After auditing all existing and planned products, we explored multiple organizing principles and ultimately aligned on an audience-led structure.
We recommended a hybrid architecture that distinguished—but still connected—Ember’s consumer and B2B offerings. From there, we developed tailored nomenclature systems to reflect the unique positioning needs of each side of the business.
With the architecture in place, we turned to brand positioning. We saw an opportunity to elevate Ember’s inventive spirit into a broader brand philosophy—allowing the brand to stand for a transformational idea, not just a single product. Customer interviews revealed that B2B stakeholders valued Ember’s consumer equity, reinforcing our recommendation to position Ember as a consumer-first brand. And although Ember’s patent portfolio limits direct competition, we knew the company needed to signal staying power in the competitive consumer tech space. We positioned Ember as a high-quality, category-defining brand built to endure.
We arrived at a unifying brand idea: Invisible Alchemy—capturing the almost magical experience of temperature control in your hands. This platform could flex across both consumer and enterprise offerings.
The new strategy informed a refreshed visual and verbal identity. Ember launched its B2B offering, Ember LifeSciences, in February 2023, followed by its first consumer expansion, Ember Baby Bottle, in March 2023.