Decide it before it is built.
Positioning, naming and campaign architecture, decided while everything is still movable. One room, one problem, before the brief hardens.
Who it is for
- Founders and companies before a launch, a new product or a major campaign.
- Public figures and their teams deciding what they stand for.
- Agencies and in-house teams who need the brief sharpened before they make anything.
- The business problem it solves: money is about to be spent on design, media or talent before anyone has agreed what the brand must make people believe.
What it covers
- Who the brand is for, and what that audience already believes.
- Positioning: what the brand says, and what it must never say.
- Naming, where a name is part of the problem.
- Campaign architecture: the idea, how it travels across channels, and the role of any talent.
What you leave with
- A written position and the reasoning behind it.
- Naming recommendations, where naming is in scope.
- A campaign architecture your team or agency can execute.
- A brief that holds once production starts.
- Collaboration: working sessions with leadership, then a hand-off session with the team or agency that will make the work. They leave with the decisions and the reasons, not a deck to interpret.
How it starts
With a conversation about what you are building, who it needs to reach, and where the direction is missing. If it is a fit, the work is scoped; if it is not, you will hear that instead.
Stephen, directly. The strategy and the creative direction are his work, not a team he hands you to.
The production and day-to-day execution, in-house or through the agency and partners you already have. He works with them, not around them.
Availability, fees and terms go through the talent's authorized representatives. He is engaged and paid by the brand.
Bespoke, and set after a first conversation. Scope is shaped by four things: how many decisions are in play, how many audiences the work must reach, whether the engagement ends at a recommendation or runs through launch, and how long senior involvement is needed. There is no price list on this site.
What should a brand strategy consultant deliver before design begins?
Decisions, not decoration. Who the brand is for, what they need to believe, what it will say and never say, and how the idea is carried. Design and production execute those decisions; they should not be asked to make them.
Can this work alongside our agency?
Yes, and that is usually the arrangement. The work sharpens the brief, develops the directions and prepares concepts the team can take and run. A career on the client side is exactly what tells you what a good agency needs from a client.
Related work
Start before the brief hardens.
The cheapest time to get the idea right is before anyone has made anything.