How I work
An impactful brand strategy must be:
simple, actionable, and sustainable.
(Then it must be sharply executed.
Or what’s the point).
That’s what I deliver.
First, we get the strategy right – what makes you different and why people should care. Then we make it work – turning that strategy into words your people can use and ideas your customers can feel.
It’s not about frameworks and PowerPoints. It’s about clarity that moves you forward.
A wise man once told me, ‘execution eats strategy for breakfast’.
One:
The Strategy
Brand strategy isn’t a workshop and a framework. It’s a process of discovery, synthesis, and definition.
We start by understanding the context. Your customers, your market, your company. What do people actually value? What does the competitive landscape look like? What's authentic to who you are?
This isn’t about sitting in a room inventing positioning – it’s about finding (and building on) what’s already there but hasn’t been clearly articulated.
Then comes the breakthrough. The insight (and inspiration) that’s obvious once someone points it out. The position that’s both true to who you are and meaningfully different in your market. This is where rigour, curiosity, and creativity meet. There’s no formula (but having a process helps).
Then we define the strategy. Once we’ve found what makes you different, we articulate it clearly:
- Your positioning – who you’re for and what you value
- Your purpose – why you exist and why people should care
- Your principles – what you believe and how you behave
- Your personality – how you show up
These create your brand foundation. But more importantly, we crystallise them into your unique brand idea – the core truth that drives everything. Your Northstar.
What it involves: Stakeholder interviews, customer and market research, competitive analysis, collaborative workshops, strategic definition, synthesis, and distillation.
Timeline: Typically 8–12 weeks, depending on complexity.
Two:
The expression
Now we put the strategy to work. This is where strategy becomes language people can use and ideas people can feel.
We develop your brand story – the narrative that explains who you are and what you’re about. Your core messages – the essential things that need to be consistent everywhere. Your value propositions – what people actually get. Your key messages by audience – what matters most to customers vs investors vs employees.
Then we define your brand voice – not word lists, but practical principles people can actually use when they're writing anything from an email to a web page.
This is craft. Every word choice matters. We’re looking for the phrases that make people nod, the language that feels true, the tone that sounds like you on your best day.
What this involves: Messaging development, voice definition, guidelines creation, examples and templates, implementation support as needed.
Timeline: Typically 6–8 weeks for full messaging and voice work.
You already have a strategy?
Some clients come with brand strategy sorted – they have an internal brand team, or they've worked with an agency, or their strategy is clear and working well.
If your positioning, purpose, and principles are well-defined and agreed, we can start with messaging and voice that brings your strategy to life.
I'll begin by fully understanding your strategy, then develop the messaging frameworks and voice that make it work.
Why it works
It’s partnership, not presentation. It isn’t about me disappearing for six weeks and coming back with slides. We work together – your insight into your business combined with my experience translating that into clear brand strategy.
It delivers both thinking and craft. You get the strategic clarity and the words that make it work. Not one or the other. Both.
...the ability to grasp complex subjects and translate them into simple, straightforward, messages.
His grasp of the complex technical solution and his ability to create consumable and very easy to understand messaging was second to none. While keeping the essence of our value proposition he elevated our tagline, mission statement, vision statement and all of our website messaging with ease and expertise.
Where to start
Every project begins with a conversation about where you are and what you're trying to achieve.
If you're at a pivotal moment – growing, repositioning, entering new markets, emerging from a crisis – and clarity on your brand would help move you forward, let's talk.
