Brand Strategy London
Joined–up thinking for brands
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Whether you’re building a brand from scratch or hoping to breathe new life into an established one, I can help. Some of the brands I work with as a brand consultant begin as no more than a glint in someone’s eye. Others are already well-known but need help to rediscover or redefine their golden thread to keep them on course.
An objective eye
It’s hard to have complete clarity when you’re close to the coalface. Working with a brand consultant brings you an expert outsider’s point of view on your brand.
My process goes through three stages to create or develop your brand strategy: Discovery, Creation and Delivery. The discovery stage is all about getting under the skin of your brand – understanding what lies at its heart, what it stands for, where it’s going and who it’s for. It’s easy to get lost in the subjective detail, so I’m here to offer an objective eye. I ask a lot of questions, and I listen hard to your answers.
Discovery & Creation
From initial discussions, I’ll absorb my findings and look the golden thread that runs through everything your brand thinks, says and does. The creation stage involves decoding this and building a simple, clear and powerful brand story. This builds a clear picture of your brand – starting with vision, mission and purpose, moving on to personality, tone of voice and brand expression.
Delivery
Visual and Verbal Identity are two sides of the coin. As well as uncovering your brand strategy, I’m also happy to brief and work with creatives and designers to bring your brand to life in a visual identity guide or communications. (I was creative director for over 10 years at independent and international agencies, so I’m used to managing creative teams.)
At the end of this process, you will get a practical and usable brand guideline that you can apply to everything your brand does. This includes all your comms inside your organisation and to the wider world. If you need help to socialise the brand story with your teams, I’m happy to help.
I can also work with you to define your key messages, so they align with your brand strategy and tone of voice.
Joined-up thinking: discover your brand’s golden thread
If you’d like to chat about how I can help you develop your brand strategy in London or elsewhere, please get in touch.
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Brand consultancy – development of brand elements and guidelines, on–going advisory.
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Brand Territory & Strapline Development
BRAC is a charity that helps people build the world they want to live in, starting at a local level, perfecting an approach and then scaling it – developed for M&C Saatchi World Services.
“Well done Ed... you’ve absolutely nailed it. Much appreciated. ”
Caspar Shirazi, Snr Account Manager
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Brand development and ToV
working in collaboration with the marketing director to simplify and finesse existing brand elements, create new short guideline with ToV and messaging guide.
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Online accounting business offering Saas with access to personal advice from qualified accountants.
Brand strategy – reviewed and redefined brand positioning vision, mission, values and tone of voice.
“Seriously loved working with Ed. A tune up was required to Crunch’s brand and Ed grasped it perfectly with a process that was effortless. What we have now will take us forward with the clarity and exuberance that our business deserves.”
Darren Fell, CEO & Founder, Crunch
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Independent digital marketing agency
Brand consultancy - refined brand positioning, created tone of voice guide and brand book.
“Ed understood our brief and brand perfectly. We didn’t want to overhaul anything, just refine what we had, which is exactly what Ed did. Throughout the whole process, he clearly explained his work and delivered an output we are extremely proud of. He also went above and beyond the delivery of his work by helping us to educate our team on the importance of the brand.”
Ross Green, Managing Director
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Brand consultancy – developed brand for fin-tech start-up designed to revolutionise the way we protect everything from our mobile devices to our cars and homes. Built on the central idea of 'Connected Cover', created brand positioning and tone of voice to ensure the brand was taken seriously by potential VC investors.
“As a start up in the archaic and slightly boring insurance industry, we needed to highlight our innovative approach. Ed brought that out in the style of communication and language. Whether you’re a start-up or you want to rebrand an existing business, Ed is your man.”
Ralph Hazell, Founder, Gaggel
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Brand consultancy - working with the Strategy team at Engine Group. Brand positioning ‘The Human Face of Tax’ came from the verbal identity/tone of voice I designed for HMRC to inform how they address their many audiences. The brand voice is designed to flex across all communications, internal and external, from compliant tax payers to tax evaders, reflecting the positioning and the people who work in the organisation.
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Brand positioning/purpose, vision, values, design philosophy and ToV refresh, with new guidelines.
Working with the founders, collaborating to refresh the brand and create a new statement of the their purpose and approach: ‘Brilliantly Useful Design’ set a clear steer for the future, for the brand, its products and sustainability and still underpins the brand 10 years later.
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Brand refresh, purpose, positioning and tone of voice.
During a period of rapid growth, this project took the brand back to its roots, landing the idea of Joules as ‘the catwalk in the country’, reflecting its beginnings at county shows and its expansion into mainstream fashion.
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Brand Positioning, Brand Identity & Tone of Voice
Lottie doll is the perfect alternative to the usual glamazon dolls on the market. I built the brand positioning, values and tone of voice based on the thinking behind the doll’s development. I captured the attitude and approach in the strapline: Be bold, be brave, be you.
Since launch in 2012, Lottie has become a best-seller with a worldwide following, winning 35+ awards and even spent 264 days in space on the International Space Station. The brand is deeply involved in promoting diversity and inclusion, positive body image, innocent childhood, sustainability, empowerment and STEM education.
“Thanks Ed, our brand guideline book that we did with you before we started has been the pillar which we built it all on.”
Ian Harkin, CEO ARKLU
(reply my comment congratulating Ian following his TEDX Talk)
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Model naming and scriptwriting
Naming for new car – the client had worked with a brand consultancy to develop a naming architecture and names for a new model but hadn’t found a satisfactory answer. I explored a number of territories and names that were benchmarked against the idea of ‘What would Bruce do?’ I also worked on launch TV scripts for this new model. Working with Piggy Lines at Carnage Films.
https://cars.mclaren.com/gb-en/gts
“Ed writes beautiful endlessly flowing words. If I had to sum up his unique offering, it would be his chameleon-like ability to find the brand voice and write in an absolutely authentic tone. Most importantly, he always writes copy I want to read to the last full stop.”
Piggy Lines, ECD Carnage Films
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Brand messaging and brand film copywriting
Working with the team at Morgan, I developed a messaging structure, expressed in a brand film script. This set the brand in context of its history and it’s forward–looking approach.
https://tinyurl.com/MorganTime
"Morgan is a traditional company with a long history, so we called on an expert from outside the company to help define our messaging in a clear and engaging way. Ed was that expert. His approach to immersing himself in Morgan was spot on. He totally understood us from the start and helped us define a structured message and a film script that had a profound effect. I look forward to working with him again."
Matt Jennings
Videographer/Media Designer, Morgan Motor Company
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Purpose Statement & Strapline Development for Nesta, the Innovation Foundation.
Developed a new articulation of the brand purpose and then created external-facing strapline that captured this in a compelling way: Bold Ideas Change Lives.
"Ed helped us turn a lot of research and insight about our organisation into a simple, meaningful narrative. Asking challenging questions and bringing an outsider's view to the table, he cut through the noise and unpicked our DNA. He uses language emotively, and was able to reflect both the big picture and the subtle details, bringing a new energy to our brand. A pleasure to work with and would highly recommend. Thanks Ed!"
Zosia Poulter, Senior Brand & Design Officer, Nesta
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Brand strategy, ToV & Website
Start-up anti-money laundering software developer. I helped them articulate their brand positioning, personality and ToV. The brand strategy guided the visual identity and the tone of voice development which I carried through into website copy – built around the central idea of ‘Intelligent Compliance”.
“We brought Ed in to help us redefine our brand position and align our messaging with the new brand. He's helped us cut through the noise and really pin down what is important to us.”
Julian Dixon, CEO
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Brand Strategy, Tone of Voice & Website
The Organic Cotton Accelerator was created retailers and NGOs including C&A Foundation, C&A, Kering Group, H&M and the Textile Exchange. Designed to promote the use of organic cotton in textiles, and develop and support the supply chain from farmer to retailer.
Working with Jim Holt/Agitprop, we built the brand positioning and values, along with tone of voice and brand identity. Executed online and in print
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Brand Positioning, Personality and Tone of Voice Development
This project set out to develop a unique positioning for the OS Leisure brand to set it apart from the corporate mother brand. I created a new positioning, personality and tone of voice to appeal to their target audiences. Guidelines developed with OS Design team and studio Death & Glory.
https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
“We’ve been really happy with the level of thinking and support Ed has brought to the project. He has been fantastic to work with and brought great intelligence to the development of the leisure brand.”
Nic Hamilton, Senior Content Lead, Ordnance Survey
“WOW!!!!”
Feedback on guidelines from OS copywriter.
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Brand positioning, ToV & Copywriting
Working with the marketing director, I’ve spent over five years working on building the brand positioning and tone of voice, delivering it through every channel, from ads, video, website to brochures and social media.
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Brand development & board advisory
Working as part of brand consultancy North Star, we developed an approach to brand development for Roland Digital Group (printer manufacturer). This was realised in a board presentation built through our experience, research and workshops with the UK MD/Marketing Director. We are now looking forward to the next stage of the project, applying the learnings and approach to develop the global brand.
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Brand positioning, TOV, concepts, copywriting and website
Five-year relationship (through Engine Group) working on integrated launch campaigns for five models, including film, web, eDM and high-end print DM. As a result, I was invited to work with a strategist from BMW to refresh the brand positioning and expression. I also wrote the entire website from scratch. My favourite line I wrote for the brand: “When a Rolls-Royce drives down the street, the world stands still.”
I later worked with digital agency Zone on a successful pitch for the Rolls-Royce global retail account. My understanding of the brand and UHNWIs helped build the social-led strategy.
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Brand naming and Tone of Voice
Start-up holistic health and wellness brand for dogs.
Working with the Counter Studio, I was briefed to come up with options for the brand name and a tone of voice. Exploring movement/motion, wellness and mythical inspirations, I hit on Rova as a memorable reference to generic “Rover”. The tone of voice captured the energetic nature of happy dogs, while retaining a level of trustworthiness around key messaging.
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Brand Naming & Tone of Voice Development
Working Nick at Vincent Design, I led the naming process for a consortium made up of Rothamsted Research and Societe General, designed to drive change through a combination of agricultural research and entrepreneurial expertise. We defined the brand values, personality and tone of voice, which fed into the naming process. Shake Climate Change was the winner, inspired by a quote from Mahatma Ghandi: “In a gentle way you can shake the world”.
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Personal estate agency based in SE London.
Developed brand positioning, ToV and website copywriting
"Ed has an incredible talent for capturing a brand's voice. He took the time to understand our my personality and translated it perfectly into our website copy for the brand. The content feels authentically 'us' and we've received amazing feedback from clients since launching. I'd highly recommend Ed to anyone looking for copy that genuinely reflects their brand."
Tanya Baker – Founder & Personal Estate Agent
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Brand Positioning, Tone of Voice and Comms
Working with the Chief Marketing Officer to develop the brand positioning and tone of voice guidelines. Followed by producing a range of comms, including brand video, app launch and print ads.
“Ed is a great listener. He quickly extracted value from simple conversations across the business and articulated them into our brand proposition and tone of voice.”
Dan Northover, Chief Marketing Officer, Victor
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Brand Tone of Voice development and copywriting
Developed a usable tone of voice guide for the brand, building on existing brand assets. This required a review of the brand elements (purpose positioning, vision, values etc) which I finessed to streamline the approach and make sure it told a consistent story. This was followed with development of new and refreshed copy across elements of the website and marketing campaigns.
“I first came across Ed on LinkedIn while searching for a brand copywriter. From our very first conversation in 2023, it was clear he’d be a great influence on the creative team and the wider business. Since then, we’ve collaborated closely on developing Watchfinder’s new tone of voice, which continues to evolve month by month thanks to Ed’s dedication and insight. He’s an absolute pleasure to work with—super friendly, highly skilled, and deeply knowledgeable in all things copywriting.”
Rachelle Camp – Head of Brand & Design, Watchfinder
Due to the confidential nature of many of these projects, I can’t share much detail here. If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch.