The Human Index · Confidential

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Spinoza × Together With
The Human Index · PlaybookSpinoza × Together With · Confidential
Spinoza × Together With · Working compendium · v1

The higher intelligence isn't artificial. It's Brand HQ™.

A go-to-market compendium for The Human Index™ — the one KPI for human value creation in the age of AI. Built to start a debate, earn the category, and leave leaders wanting the report.

IQ< EQ< HQ the human quotient AI exists to serve
For: Heidi (CCO) working session · Purpose: playback of the story, the property, the audiences and the plan · Status: directional — built to react to, not to ship
01 · The big idea

A fresh cultural insight that stokes the debate — and only our index can settle it.

Business has climbed a ladder of intelligence. IQ made companies smart. EQ made them likable. AI now hands everyone raw capability for free — so the next, higher form of intelligence is knowing what that power is for.

We call it Brand HQ™ — the Human Quotient: how well a brand harmonizes the power of AI with the humanity it's meant to serve. It's the difference between a company that automates and one that stays worth choosing.

"AI unlocks capability.
Humanity unlocks value."
THE ONE LINE THAT CARRIES THE WHOLE STORY
The tension that makes it a debate

Irresponsible to under-use AI

Refusing the tools that make you faster, cheaper and more capable is its own failure. Standing still is not "staying human."

Irresponsible to over-use it

Automating the moments that actually count — trust, judgment, care — quietly strips out the reason people chose you. Great power, greater responsibility.

The winners live in the harmony between the two. Brand HQ™ is how we measure who's found it — and The Human Index™ is where the world sees the score.

02 · The reframe

Everyone is chasing satisfaction. Everyone is being pushed toward AI. Only humanity is scarce.

The Human Index sits in the one place nobody owns — between what AI lets a company do, and what customers report afterward. It measures the human system that turns capability into trust, preference and enduring value.

Context

AI & technology

Speed · scale · automation · intelligence. The floor on capability keeps rising for everyone.

The conversion

The Human Index™

Trust · usefulness · confidence · meaning · connection. The human system that makes capability matter.

Validation

Customer value

CSAT · NPS · loyalty · preference · growth. What the market gives back when you get it right.

Two masters, one story: the leaders who want to dare to be human, and the leaders who need an AI strategy that doesn't automate away the one thing that counts. The Human Index serves both.

03 · The metric

Eight dimensions. Four human capabilities. One score from 0–100.

Memorable on top, rigorous underneath. The public meets four plain-language capabilities; the method holds eight weighted dimensions scored on a disciplined 1 / 3 / 5 scale.

Useful
Do we improve life in a way that matters?
Human Utility15%
Trusted
Do our actions make us believable over time?
Trust & Integrity20%
Responsible Performance7.5%
Connected
Do people care, participate and belong?
Emotional Connection15%
Meaningful Difference15%
Participation & Community10%
Lived
Is humanity experienced through people and culture?
Employee Humanity10%
Cultural Contribution7.5%
Human Index = 20 × ( .15 U + .20 T + .15 E + .15 D + .10 P + .10 H + .075 C + .075 R )
Each dimension is scored only 1 (Limited), 3 (Established) or 5 (Distinctive) — precision by fixed weights, not decimals. Trust carries the highest weight because the model rewards durable value, not likability. The full math lives in the report appendix — the public sees the four capabilities and the score.

Capability grouping shown is a working, story-first arrangement of the eight scored dimensions — a candidate to pressure-test together, not the final rubric.

04 · The proof

Enough signal to be credible. Enough restraint to be believed.

The inaugural 204-company cohort already shows a meaningful, directional link between a strong human system and public advocacy. We show the shape of the truth — and let the depth beg to be inquired about.

Human Index vs. public advocacy
r = 0.66
204-company working cohort · directional, not causal
+7.4
advocacy points between the top and bottom Human Index quartile
Where the 204 land
Exceptional · 90–100
12
Strong · 80–89
21
Established · 60–79
142
Limited · <60
29

Honest framing is the credibility strategy: the advocacy proxy is not independent CSAT, and correlation is not causation. Independent CSAT validation is the stated next step — a reason to follow the index, not a claim to overreach. This is where we drip, not dump.

05 · The click magnet

A digital property that opens with a film and resolves into a score.

High-fashion and consumer-first above the fold; institutional depth below it. Scroll from the story of Brand 4.0 down into a living ranking — that fades, exactly where it gets good, into “get the report.”

Concept demo · interactive — try the filters, then hit the fade
humanindex.togetherwith.com
▶ Above the fold · immersive film

The rules of brand just changed. Meet Brand 4.0.

Full-bleed motion: the quiet un-leveling of brand behavior as AI floods the world with sameness — and the few brands whose humanity makes them impossible to replace. Ends on a single provocation: what's your Brand HQ?

↓ scroll · the film comes down to earth

Below the fold · the live Human Index

The other 185 companies are ranked inside

See the full 2026 Human Index™

All 204 companies, category benchmarks, per-dimension scorecards and the Brand HQ diagnostic for your brand.

Get the report › Score my brand

Showing the top of a real 19-brand exemplar set from the inaugural study. In production the list looks near-exhaustive, then fades — the tease is the product.

▶ See it live
Open the public teaser property
This is the click-magnet destination described above — the immersive film hero, the live ranking and the paywall, built and interactive.
Open teaser ›
06 · The audiences

One score, two brains — designed to be shareable up and fundable across.

The believer
Chief Customer / Creative / Brand Officer
Wants
  • A meaningful ranking to be proud of and rally the org around
  • Proof that "dare to be human" is a strategy, not a sentiment
  • Language that protects the soul of the brand from efficiency creep
Barrier
  • Fears "humanity" reads as soft and gets cut when budgets tighten
The message
"The most human brands aren't the least efficient — they're the ones people refuse to leave. Here's the score that proves it."
The pragmatist
Chief Marketing Officer
Wants
  • An AI strategy with a defensible reason to invest behind it
  • A benchmark against category peers and human-scaled leaders
  • One move that lifts customer value without breaking the brand
Barrier
  • Already owns CSAT, NPS and brand trackers — needs to know why this is different
The message
"In the pursuit of AI and efficiency, how do you make sure you're not automating the one thing that actually counts? Start with your Human Index."

The Cannes Lions playbook: the value is implied until a credible study proves it and opens the coffers. The report is that study — and Together With is the practitioner who can help you act on it.

07 · The go-to-market

The score is the foot in the door. This is everything around it.

The narrative funnel
01 Provoke

The debate

Brand 4.0 + the HQ tension as a POV that earns press and stage time.

02 Reveal

The index

The public property teases scores + the 2026 ranking; gates the depth.

03 Convert

The report

"Get the full report" and "Score my brand" turn intrigue into leads.

04 Advise

Together With

The Human Advantage Snapshot™ becomes the paid engagement.

The build kit
Open the Report #1 build spec
The full reveal sequence (public vs. gated), the design system, and the AI prompt + component kit for Together With's design team.
Open spec ›
Report #1 — spec & design

The flagship asset: the 2026 canonical study, designed to look like a category-defining index (BrandZ / Edelman shelf-presence). We spec the depth, the reveal sequence, and the reusable design system — then hand Together With's design team an AI build kit: the prompts, the component library, the reference decks and the guardrails so they can produce and customize it fast with Claude and their own tools.

Channels & the sales play
Earned

Op-eds, podcast tour, the annual ranking as a press moment.

Owned

The property, LinkedIn POV series, "Certified Human Brand" seals.

Paid + ABM

Warm outreach with a brand's own score as the hook + follow-up script.

08 · The essential extra

An agentic experience that teaches teams to raise their Brand HQ.

You haven't paid me for this — but it's the part that turns a study into a franchise. Like the Scout Motors "pack-out" we built for AI learning, imagine a personalized, agentic coach that trains a brand team on what HQ means and the governance to protect it.

Learn

Understand HQ

An interactive walkthrough of the eight dimensions and the moments that matter — tuned to your category and score.

Govern

AI governance

Where to automate, augment, protect and rebuild — the customizable rules that keep AI in service of humanity.

Practice

Raise the score

Scenario coaching on real journeys, with a 90-day pilot hypothesis the team can actually run.

Start with Together With's own team as the pilot; graduate it into a productized upsell for their clients. This is where the index stops being a report and becomes a relationship.

Interactive demo
Try the Brand HQ Coach
Click through the three-module agentic training concept — capabilities, AI governance, and a live pilot-hypothesis builder.
Open coach ›
09 · The roadmap

Plant the flag now. Earn BrandZ-scale stature over time.

MVP · now

Launch the flag

  • Lock the story & the name architecture
  • Public property + teased 2026 ranking
  • Report #1 spec & AI build kit
  • Audience messages & sales play
Phase 2 · promote

Earn the debate

  • PR + podcast tour on Brand 4.0 / HQ
  • "Certified Human Brand" seals
  • ABM outreach with live scores
Phase 3 · prove

Validate the claim

  • Independent CSAT validation
  • Human Advantage Snapshot™ engagements
  • 90-day activation pilots
Phase 4 · scale

Own the category

  • Live / agentic scoring from public sources
  • Annual ranking as a fixture
  • HQ training productized for clients
For Thursday · decisions to make together

Naming architecture

Working assumption: Brand HQ™ is the metric/idea; The Human Index™ is the ranking property. Confirm, merge, or pick one hero name.

How much to reveal

Working assumption: tease scores + the four capabilities publicly; gate the full 204, per-dimension math and diagnostics behind the report. Agree the exact line.

Where "business value" sits

Honest read of the data: the strong signal today is advocacy/CSAT, not money. We lead with humanity → customer value, and frame ROI as the validation journey — not an overclaim.

Dare to be human.

The world already measures what companies can do, and what customers say afterward. The Human Index measures what creates the difference in between — and Brand HQ™ is the reason leaders will care.