pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Strategy and planning

Runway, 2006. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

It was never just blue. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Trend report

  • 1 sweater
  • 5 steps to the bin
  • 6 rooms decided
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
2006 Trend report

Runway

It was never just blue.

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

The story→11 slides

It's a live deck. Press start, then scroll or use the arrow keys, or play it full screen.

Play the 2026 deck

Runway's trend report, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Runway deck, slide 1: This room picked your sweater. 01This room picked your sweater.
  2. Runway deck, slide 2: Cerulean never just happened. It was handed down, one room at a time. 02Cerulean never just happened. It was handed down, one room at a time.
  3. Runway deck, slide 3: Blue is a category. Cerulean is a decision. 03Blue is a category. Cerulean is a decision.
  4. Runway deck, slide 4: Cerulean began as a forecast in 2000, then walked the runway in 2002. 04Cerulean began as a forecast in 2000, then walked the runway in 2002.
  5. Runway deck, slide 5: Cerulean reached the clearance bin in five steps, cheaper at every one. 05Cerulean reached the clearance bin in five steps, cheaper at every one.
  6. Runway deck, slide 6: Six rooms chose your sweater. You were in none of them. 06Six rooms chose your sweater. You were in none of them.
  7. Runway deck, slide 7: Cerulean is fully adopted. The room has moved on to white. 07Cerulean is fully adopted. The room has moved on to white.
  8. Runway deck, slide 8: When the assistant wears it, the top has already left. 08When the assistant wears it, the top has already left.
  9. Runway deck, slide 9: Three moves for the run-through, each with a name on it. 09Three moves for the run-through, each with a name on it.
  10. Runway deck, slide 10: Watch the first markdown, not the first runway. 10Watch the first markdown, not the first runway.
  11. Runway deck, slide 11: Nobody picked cerulean by accident. Pick the next one on purpose. 11Nobody picked cerulean by accident. Pick the next one on purpose.

Then · 2006

How it really went

Read the real storythe film (2006), via Wikipedia
  1. Andy, Runway's new assistant, thinks fashion has nothing to do with her
  2. She scoffs while the team agonizes over two nearly identical belts
  3. Miranda names the exact shade of Andy's lumpy blue sweater: cerulean
  4. She traces it back to cerulean gowns from Oscar de la Renta in 2002
  5. Then cerulean military jackets from Yves Saint Laurent
  6. Then eight designers, then the department stores
  7. Then a mall chain's clearance bin, where Andy found it
  8. The point: the people in that room chose it for her

Now · 2026 · 11 slides

What we changed

  • Scrub it down the curveDrag cerulean along Rogers' adoption curve from the runway to the clearance bin; the sweater rides the curve and the price tag marks itself down at every step.
  • A swatch book with mathRe-dye the sweater in real Pantone Colors of the Year and read the CIEDE2000 distance: Serenity (2016) is only 6 away. Cerulean came back.
  • The org chart that chose itSix rooms, from the color council to the markdown desk, each with what it decided and the instrument it used. You report to all of them.
  • Theory, sourcedVeblen's imitation and Simmel's differentiation drawn as a staircase, so the "so what" lands: mass adoption is the top's exit signal.

Steal the structure

Build your trend report like Runway did.

  1. 01 The signal State the trend in one sentence anyone could repeat, with the exact thing being tracked.
  2. 02 Definition Pin it down precisely against its nearest neighbors, so the team chases the right thing.
  3. 03 Origin Date the first sightings and name the source for each.
  4. 04 Spread Plot who adopted it, in order, on an adoption curve, with what changed at each step (price, channel, audience).
  5. 05 Who decides Map the gatekeepers who move it, and what each one actually controls.
  6. 06 Where it is now Place it on the curve today and say what has replaced it at the leading edge.
  7. 07 What it means for us Say which end of the curve you sell to, and what this stage means for that.
  8. 08 What we do Stop, harvest, seed: each move with an owner, a date and a measure.
  9. 09 What we watch next Leading signals in the order they fire, each tied to the action it triggers.
  10. 10 The decision Close on the one call you need from the room.

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