Strong brands are built through a series of connected decisions: what they stand for, what they create, how they communicate and how people experience them.
I work with founders and established beauty and lifestyle businesses to bring greater clarity and coherence to those decisions, helping brands define where they are going and what needs to change to get there.
Brand strategy here is broader than conventional branding. It sits behind the decisions that determine how the business grows.
APPROACH
Strategy that connects the brand
Positioning does not operate independently. Product, portfolio, creative expression, education and commercial decisions all shape how a brand is perceived — and a shift in one exposes inconsistencies in the others.
My role is to understand those connections, identify what matters most and help the business make clearer decisions with greater alignment between them. The result is a clearer position and a business that knows which decisions reinforce it.
Strategy should create alignment, not simply language.
CAPABILITIES
Where I work with brands
Brand Positioning & Direction
Defining what the brand stands for, who it serves and how it differentiates.
Portfolio & Innovation Strategy
Reviewing the product portfolio for coherence, opportunity and strategic fit.
Commercial Development
Connecting the proposition to how the business actually goes to market.
Strategic Advisory
Ongoing senior counsel for founders and leadership teams on direction and decisions.
Creative Direction & Brand Experience
Shaping how the brand expresses itself visually, verbally and experientially.
Explore Creative DirectionEducation & Capability
Translating strategy into education systems that build internal and professional capability.
Explore EducationSTARTING POINT
Start with the problem, not a package
Brand strategy engagements do not all begin in the same place. A founder may need to clarify an idea before investing further; an established brand may have grown beyond its original positioning; an international expansion may expose weaknesses in the proposition or customer experience.
The first task is to understand what is actually preventing the brand from moving forward. After an initial strategic review, the work is shaped around the actual business question — not forced into a predefined package. An engagement may focus on a single strategic issue or extend across positioning, portfolio, product, creative direction, education and commercial activation.
Understand → Clarify → Define → Align → Activate
EXPERIENCE
Strategy grounded in building and developing brands
Martinsson King
From original concept to international beauty brand.
As founder and creative lead, David helped build Martinsson King from an original personalised haircare concept into an international beauty brand.
The work connected brand positioning, product architecture, product development, creative direction, education and international market development.
Explore Selected WorkCONNECTION
When strategy becomes product
Brand and product decisions frequently overlap. When strategic work identifies a product opportunity, I can continue into Product Development, maintaining continuity between the original brand thinking and what ultimately gets made.
Explore Product DevelopmentStart with the question
If your brand has reached a point where the direction is no longer obvious, tell me what is changing and what you are trying to achieve.
Discuss Brand Strategy