Brand Strategy Partner for Brand and Design Agencies

A strategic powerhouse as part of your offer

Hello. I’m Garrett Reil – an independent brand strategist with 30 years’ experience working with brands from Aton to Zurich, and senior roles at FutureBrand, Landor, and Brand Union. I work as a strategic partner to design agencies in Ireland and the UK.

I spent years working at the point where strategy meets creative.

…I kept seeing the same thing happen. A sound strategy would be signed off – everyone would agree it was right – and nothing would move.

The creative teams couldn’t connect to it. Designers wouldn’t know where to start. The work that came back felt generic, disconnected. The strategy wasn’t wrong. It just didn’t land.

So I started moving back up the process. Not to ‘redo’ a strategy, but to understand where the signal was getting lost. To hear the full story myself. To get the feel for it – because without that feel, no amount of rigour produces something people can use.

And when I got there, I recognised it. This was where I’d started. Early in my career, before anyone called it strategy, this was simply what you did – you listened, you understood, you sought and shaped meaning. You found clarity. Somewhere along the way, our industry model separated thinking from making, and something essential had been lost in the gap.

So now I guide that journey. From the first conversations to strategy on a page – and when required – beyond into messaging, voice, the words that make it real.

Because clarity of vision isn’t something you bolt on at the end. It has to be there from the beginning, or it isn’t there at all.

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What I bring to agencies

Brand strategy

Positioning, purpose, principles and personality – the strategic foundation that gives your creative work a solid platform. This isn’t a templated exercise. It’s built on proper discovery: stakeholder interviews, customer research, market analysis, and the synthesis that turns insight into clarity.

Messaging and voice

The verbal side of the brand: messaging frameworks, tone of voice, key narratives. Your visuals deserve the words that work just as hard. The words that make the visual identity make sense.

Naming

Trickier than the trickiest of creative and strategic challenges. But don’t sweat. I have a process that gets results.

How we work together

Part of your team

I work as an extension of your agency. Your client knows I’m involved – I conduct stakeholder interviews, customer conversations, and facilitate workshops. But the relationship is always yours. I’m introduced as your strategic partner, not as a separate consultant they might call directly next time.

Some agencies want me closely integrated throughout. Others prefer I handle the strategic phases, then hand off to creative development. We agree the best model upfront based on what suits you, the project and the client relationship.

Preferred pricing (and a win-win)

Because you handle the relationship and project management, I can offer preferred rates that allow you to build margin while expanding your offer to clients. A win-win. You’re not passing through a cost – you’re adding to your bottom line as well as your service to clients.

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Why this works

Deeper strategy, without the overhead

You can offer the depth of strategic thinking that comes from decades of international experience – without hiring a senior strategist or building a strategy department.

Clients who are bought in

Strategy developed through proper stakeholder involvement creates ownership. Your clients aren’t receiving a document – they’ve been an active part of building it. That makes the creative phases easier and the work more likely to stick.

Strategy that leads to creative

I’ve spent my career on both sides, often needing to interpret between strategy and creative departments. I understand what you need from a brief, what makes positioning actually useful, and how to write strategy that leads naturally to creative. No translation required.

Your client is your client

I’m your partner, I’m not competing with you.

If you’re curious how this could work for your agency, I’m always happy to have a conversation.

No sales pitch, no pressure (it has to feel right and work for both of us) – just a chat about whether there’s a fit.