Garrett Reil — brand consultant
I help brands, agencies, and organisations figure out what makes them different – and find the words and ways to make it land.
You already know what makes your business special.
But when it comes to saying what makes it different – clearly, consistently, in a way that actually moves people – it gets harder. That’s where I come in.
The work is usually one of three things: strategy, articulation, or both.
Brand strategy means getting to the heart of what you stand for – your positioning, your purpose, your principles, your personality. These are the foundations everything else builds on.
Brand messaging and voice means turning strategy into something people can use. Messaging that lands. A voice that sounds uniquely you.
A story your team can feel and tell – and your customers can relate to.
Sometimes a client has the business strategy but can’t quite express it. Sometimes they can – but it’s not translated into a brand strategy. Either way, the job is clarity – the kind that moves you forward. See how I work
Garrett Reil is an independent brand strategy consultant working in Dublin and London – direct to client, and partnering with leading agencies in Ireland and the UK.
‘I’ve spent a lifetime in brand. I’ve worked with the big names, like FutureBrand, Landor, and Brand Union across global projects. With many brands you’ve heard of – Bosch, Microsoft, Heineken, Karen Millen, Kingspan, NatWest, Virgin Media – and some you haven’t. Yet.
The work spans sectors: consumer and B2B, food and fintech, aviation and agriculture. I’ve found that the best thinking comes from not getting too comfortable in one category.
These days I’m independent. Working with clients and agencies across Ireland and the UK. Which means you get the big thinking without the overhead.’
Senior roles in leading London and Dublin agencies including Futurebrand, Landor, Brand Union, Dynamo, and Industry.
RSA Fellow. MA NCAD. Member of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and the International Society of Typographic Designers.
I’ve been a visiting lecturer at NCAD, TUD, TUS, Exeter, and University of Plymouth, and external advisor on Plymouth’s MA in Design Communications.
A-Z: broad international brand experience across sectors
Garrett has directed major brand projects, naming, employee engagement and communications projects for many great organisations including;
Aton (Lifesciences, France) — Around Noon (UK) — Atypical Law (UK) — Arvum (IE/UK) — Bass — Bailey (UK) — Bord Bia (Food, Ireland) — Bosch (Global / Stuttgart) — Cashel Blue — Cedral (BE) — CPL Aromas (UAE) — DAA and Dublin Airport — Engie (France / International) — Equitone / Etex / Eternit (Belgium/ International) — Euronit (Iberia and Ireland) — Failte Ireland – Fexco — FutureBrand — Glenisk (IE) — Heineken — Hilti — Industry Branding — IoD — Karen Millen — KFH Bank (Kuwait) — Kings Inns — Kingspan — KSN — MABI — Merck (Germany) — Mercy Foundation — Media Connect — Microsoft (Seattle)— MII — Mitchells & Butlers – Mitsubishi — Meraas (Dubai) — Metamo —Morrisons (UK) — Natwest — NYK (Japan) — Optimum (UK) — Royal Bank of Scotland — Virgin Media — Warba Bank (Kuwait) — Zurich.
Project examples
As you’d expect, some of my work is client sensitive information so I won’t publish that here (at least until it’s long out in the public domain), but you can get a flavour of the variety of projects I get involved in here.
Ten frequently asked questions — answered
1. What’s the difference between brand strategy and marketing strategy?
Brand strategy defines who you are and why people should care – your positioning, purpose, principles and personality. Brand strategy is a long-term game. Marketing strategy is the plan for reaching the right people and turning them into customers. One without the other is incomplete. Brand strategy without marketing has no audience. Marketing without brand strategy has no foundation – and usually ends up competing on price.
Read: Business strategy made sticky
2. How do I know if I need brand strategy or just better messaging?
If your messaging isn’t landing, the instinct is to fix the words. Sometimes that’s right. But more often the words are fine – it’s what's underneath them that’s unclear. If your own team describes the business differently depending on who’s asking, if new prospects don't get it even though existing customers love you, or if every sales conversation drifts to price – it’s more liekly a brand strategy problem, not a messaging problem.
Read: Do you have a positioning problem? Six ways to tell
3. Do you work directly with clients or through agencies?
Both. About half my work is direct with organisations that need brand clarity – from scaling businesses to established companies navigating change. The other half is through agencies across Ireland and the UK, where I provide the strategic depth that makes their creative work land.
Either way, I work as part of your team, with an outside perspective.
4. How long does a brand strategy project take?
A proper strategy programme – from stakeholder interviews to a signed-off strategy document – typically takes two to three months. That’s not bureaucracy. It’s the time needed to get people together, gather real insight, test thinking, work through options, and get alignment. Compress it into a couple of weeks and you get generic answers that look like strategy but don’t work like it.
Read: Why would you bring in an external brand strategist?
5. What do I need to have in place before we start?
Not as much as you might think. You need a clear sense of where the business is going and a leadership team willing to engage honestly. I’ll do the rest – talking to your people, your customers, and your market to find what's actually true about you. The best brand strategies come from listening, not from briefing documents.
6. Can you help if we already have a brand identity?
Yes. A visual identity is an expression of brand strategy – but it’s not the strategy itself. If you have a strong identity but your messaging isn’t clear, your positioning isn’t differentiated, or your team can’t clearly articulate what makes you different, strategy work is needed. We start where you are, not from scratch.
Read: Digging for foundations of your brand
7. What does the process actually look like day to day?
It involves real conversations – with your leadership team, your people, sometimes your customers. I conduct the interviews directly, not through a junior researcher. From there I analyse, identify the insight that makes you genuinely different, and build the strategic framework from that foundation. You're involved throughout, not handed a document at the end.
8. Do you specialise in particular sectors?
I choose to work across sectors – consumer and B2B, life sciences and food, technology and professional services. I’ve found that the best thinking comes from not getting too comfortable in one category. A fresh perspective from adjacent sectors often unlocks something that category-specific experience can miss.
9. How much does brand strategy cost?
Projects vary considerably depending on scope and complexity – from a focused messaging programme to a full strategy-to-expression engagement. The honest answer is: call me. I’d rather understand your situation and give you a clear picture than quote a number that means nothing without context.
10. How do you measure whether brand strategy has worked?
The clearest signs aren’t always on a spreadsheet. Does your team talk about the business the same way? Do sales conversations get easier? Do the right clients find you more readily? Does decision-making get faster because the criteria are clear? Brand strategy works when it gets used – when it’s in the room when decisions get made, not sitting in a file somewhere.