Your brand has a job to do.
I make sure it does it well.
Strategic brand leadership that helps your brand attract attention, build trust, and drive revenue.
A selection of the clients I’ve worked with over 25 years, from early-stage businesses through to global brands:
What I can do for your business
STEP 1: Develop a brand strategy that’s backed by data
No guesswork; a strong brand strategy grounded in business objectives, customer insight and market understanding.
I get all the right people involved so the strategy is co-created, not imposed. You get to understand exactly what your audiences are thinking, plus clear positioning, differentiators, messaging architecture, voice and more.
STEP 2: Give your teams what they need to bring it to life
Let’s infuse that brand strategy into your entire business. Not just in marketing and sales - brand strategy should be baked in to every part of the company, as well deeply understood by your external agency teams.
I’ll help your people understand the brand strategy and why it matters. And give them the context, training, tools and guidance to feel confident applying it in their work.
STEP 3: Keep it on track, consistently and thoroughly
Think brand guardian, not brand police: Course correcting when needed. Adapting as the business (or the world!) evolves. Letting the brand strategy deliver, without distractions.
This ongoing oversight steers everyone to implement the brand strategy as it was intended, and the best chance of success.
Why would you care about all this?
Instead of basing your brand comms on guesswork, you’ll know exactly what your customers are thinking.
Your brand isn’t lost in a sea of similar… it’ll stand out and be memorable. Particularly important in crowded markets and the AI era.
You’ll know exactly who you’re targeting and what messages are going to resonate with them (= better sales).
It will be immediately clear who your product or service is for and how it will make lives better. Cue lightbulbs in your target audience’s heads.
You can allocate your marketing budget more efficiently.
Consistent and clear messages make for a trustworthy and reliable brand.
Your team is more motivated, because they know why their work matters - and they have the tools to apply the brand in their day-to-day.
(You’ll have guidelines and support for your external agencies too. Everyone will be on the same page.)
Hey, I’m Jo
I’m a Fractional Head of Brand Strategy
Throughout my 25+ year career I’ve worked with hundreds of brands in 28 countries. They’ve ranged from huge multinationals to government departments, a load of tech and SaaS businesses, insurance companies, financial services, higher ed institutions, broadcast and media organisations, startups and more.
The big names include L'Oréal, Spar, Southern Comfort, BT (British Telecom), STA Travel, the UK Department of Health, Johnson & Johnson, Triumph, Primedia, Motorola, Jeep. I worked in agencies in London and Cape Town, founded and ran my own full-service marketing agency alongside South Africa’s biggest directory of freelancers.
These days I work as a Fractional Head of Brand Strategy. I have greatest impact when I can work directly with founders and senior management, where we can make decisions and take action fast. The fractional part means you get my expertise and ownership without a full-time cost - and I get variety.
“Rarely do things exceed my expectations, but this was money well spent. Jo was an amazing partner on this project.”
— Drew Lanham, Cypress.io, USA (Brand & Messaging Strategy)
From ‘fluffy BS’ to ‘absolutely critical’:
How Step ‘n Wash embraced brand strategy and elevated its product from nice-to-have to must-have.
CASE STUDY:
“When I bought this business, it had a great product. But its brand communications weren’t doing much to explain the need for it, or to convey how safe and useful the steps are.
Now you land on www.stepnwash.com and it looks like the highly credible company that it is, with a product that solves an important problem."
- Jacob Fedosky, Step ‘n Wash