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.
APPROACH
Strategy that connects the brand
Brand strategy is rarely only a positioning exercise.
A shift in positioning can affect the product portfolio. A new market can require changes in communication, education or customer experience. Growth can expose inconsistencies that were manageable when the business was smaller.
My role is to understand those connections, identify what matters most and help the business make clearer decisions across the brand.
Strategy should create alignment, not simply language.
CAPABILITIES
Where I work with brands
Brand Positioning & Direction
- Brand proposition and positioning
- Purpose and point of view
- Audience and market context
- Differentiation
- Strategic narrative
- Future direction
Portfolio & Innovation Strategy
- Product and service portfolio review
- Innovation opportunities
- Range coherence
- Product architecture
- Concept development
- Identifying gaps, overlap or strategic inconsistency
Creative Direction & Brand Experience
- Creative frameworks
- Brand expression
- Visual and verbal direction
- Consumer experience
- Partner and agency direction
- Maintaining coherence across touchpoints
Education & Capability
- Brand and product education strategy
- Education systems and programmes
- Internal capability
- Distributor, retail and professional education
- Translating brand strategy into behaviour and experience
Commercial Development
- Market and channel considerations
- International expansion thinking
- Distributor and partner experience
- Commercial implications of brand decisions
- Connecting proposition to how the business actually goes to market
Strategic Advisory
- Founder and leadership support
- Strategic review
- Decision-making frameworks
- Innovation and opportunity assessment
- Fractional or ongoing senior advisory where appropriate
STARTING 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. A strong product business may have an inconsistent identity. 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.
- What has changed?
- What no longer feels coherent?
- Where is the business trying to go?
- What decisions are currently difficult?
- What does the customer need to understand more clearly?
- What should the brand stop, start or strengthen?
ENGAGEMENT
The shape of an engagement
After the initial strategic review, the work is shaped around the problem rather than forcing the client 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
Understand
Current business, brand, market context and constraints.
Clarify
Identify the central problem, opportunity and priorities.
Define
Develop the strategic direction and decisions required.
Align
Connect the implications across product, communication, experience and commercial activity.
Activate
Translate strategy into clear actions, briefs, systems or ongoing advisory support.
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 WorkBACKGROUND
Experience across brand, product and education
David's background spans professional beauty, haircare, product development, brand building, international education, creative direction and commercial development, working across Europe, North America and Australia.
That breadth of industry experience shapes how strategy is developed: with an understanding of how brands are actually built, launched, distributed and experienced.
"David is an outstanding communicator and motivator of sales people and stylists. He is extremely reliable, passionate and a very strategic thinker."
Rick Kornbluth — Ex-CEO, Kevin.Murphy
CONNECTION
When strategy becomes product
Brand and product decisions frequently meet.
Sometimes strategic work reveals that a portfolio needs to change. Sometimes a new product idea exposes questions about positioning, consumer relevance or commercial fit.
Because Brand Strategy and Product Development sit within the same consultancy, the work can move between those disciplines when the project requires it.
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, what feels unresolved and what you are trying to achieve.
Discuss Brand Strategy