Clients
Over the past 15+ years, I’ve offered strategic advice for all sorts of brands.
Adaily. Adobe. Airport Dimensions. Al-Tayer Group. Amazon. Amex GBT. As A Non-Believer. Ascential. BBC. Barclaycard Business. Birell. Cadbury. Cannes Lions. Chinatown London. cinch. The Club. Contagious. Department of Creative Affairs. Dorchester Collection. Farfetch. Group Think. Hugo Boss. Idea Ape. J.P.MorganChase. Kia. Kurt Geiger. Landsec. Microsoft. O2. Qiddiya. Sage. Sagres. Salomon. Samsung. Sleep ‘n Fly. T-Mobile. Virgin Media. WARC. Zenrelia. ZFA.
Projects
Department of Creative Affairs
Media startup DCA needed help writing and editing their inaugural deep dive report, on brand building advice for the marketing majority. Working with the founder on a series of sprints, I helped them go to market in less than 6 weeks with a high quality report that set the comms foundations for their first quarter.
Airport experience company Airport Dimensions needed help defining a content strategy for two of their flagship brands, The Club and Sleep ‘n Fly. Working directly with global marketing leadership, I was able to identify for both brands the right roles for content, the most pressing category entry points they needed to reinforce, and which themes they should execute for future content programmes.
AI startup Adaily needed help understanding how to best position themselves among the strategy and agency community. They hired me as a strategic advisor to support on product feedback, customer research, and GTM strategy for the UK.
Media company Ascential needed help articulating the value propositions of their LIONS Collective, made up of WARC, Contagious and Cannes Lions. Through internal workshops and customer interviews, we identified a clear role for the collective, and how it filtered down to individual brands, products and services. This led to WARC’s first ever brand campaign, which ran at Cannes Lions.
Skincare startup As A Non-Believer needed help articulating their value proposition to status-oriented B2B customers in retail channels, who bought based on reputation as much as quality. Through prospective customer interviews, we identified a new set of brand codes to reinforce in their communications, as well as new sources of growth within their existing market segmentation.
Zero-alcohol beer brand Birell wanted to normalise low to no alcohol consumption in the Czech Republic, and needed help with translating this narrative on social media. Working with their lead agency, I helped sharpen their role for social and tone of voice, while integrating with their brand platform.
AI startup Idea Ape needed help with understanding how to position themselves for time-pressured strategists. We organised an expert brain trust on WhatsApp, were able to define and prioritise product features in real-time, and identified category entry points to highlight in our future product communications.
Testimonials
“Rob joining as strategy lead on J.P.Morgan was a masterstroke. He quickly established himself as a trusted partner, and always showed up with insight and knowledge. He brings a refreshing honesty and energy to any team and manages agency and client relationships at every level with the same calm, unassuming and professional approach.”
Nick Stringer, Business Director, Droga5 London
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“I really liked the questions Rob asked in our first interview. It didn’t feel like a prescribed set. He consumed what I told him and then shaped the work based on that — not out of the box, but based on where we were.”
Lauren Burill, Global Marketing Director, Airport Dimensions
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“Rob took what were very raw thoughts and research and started to give that structure. We shaped the project together, which was his suggestion, and that adaptability made all the difference.”
Amar Chohan, Founder, Department of Creative Affairs
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“Rob is such a rare and amazing Strategy Director who I have had the pleasure of working with for over 6 years. Not only can he take the most complex of modern day brand challenges, with an acute awareness of the digital ecosystem, he also just gets on and does it in record time and is always a favourite of clients we work with for just this. He is constantly curious, delves into the weird and wonderful out there to find the best insights, and does it in an unflappable way. As an account person, I massively appreciate his proactiveness, his ability to juggle many many briefs and client challenges and just his 'get on with it' attitude. He is also an empath who is a fantastic mentor to younger colleagues, giving them the time and patience to learn with him. I would highly rate and recommend Rob for any thorny business, brand, social, innovation briefs and client challenges out there.”
Alex Dalman, Managing Partner, VCCP
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“It’s great how fast Rob turns things around. I’d never have gotten this with an agency. He felt part of my team from day one.”
Ilaria Pasquinelli, CMO, Ascential
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“We asked Rob to join us in redefining WARC's Brand Promise and to help us create a campaign for the launch during Cannes Lions 2024. He worked closely with my team to refine our ideas and swiftly developed creative solutions to bring them to life. The result was an impactful campaign and a clear and valuable promise that WARC is very excited to get behind. The feedback from our customers has been outstanding.”
Mawa Rodriguez, Global Marketing Director, WARC
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“Rob creates spaces to discuss and debate: be it the client priorities, the brief, or the minutiae of the work itself. He comes with a clear point of view, but without any ego.”
Tom Elias, Group Account Director, Droga5
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“Rob will learn whatever's needed to get the job done.”
Damien Le Castrec, Chief Strategy Officer, Lucky Generals
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“Rob's expertise in market research has been instrumental in shaping our brand personas and guiding our company's growth. His meticulous approach to gathering data, analysing trends, and distilling valuable insights has greatly contributed to our target identification and our ability to bring meaningful campaigns to life.”
Diana Moreira, Brand Manager Holmes Place International
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“I hired Rob to do a talk at one of my team offsite and it was such a pleasure to work with him. From brief to delivery he was absolutely incredible. It took him 2 minutes to get at the heart of what I wanted to achieve with his session. His candour is refreshing and his brilliant thinking challenges you the way you see the world. My team thoroughly enjoyed his session: smart strategy delivered with fun and honesty coming from real life experience. I'd absolutely recommend working with him, no matter how big or small the brief, you won't regret it”.
Ilaria Pasquinelli, CMO, Ascential
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"I invited Rob as a guest speaker for my Strategic Planning class. Rob's exceptional ability to simplify complex concepts without diminishing their substance shone through. His session was a highlight of the Boot Camp, left the students entertained, and sharpened their critical thinking. I wholeheartedly recommend Rob for teaching or training roles to elevate your curriculum.”
Christopher Owens, Miami Ad School Faculty
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“Rob is a sensational public speaker, thought-provoking strategist and machine of knowledge. He always manages to captivate and enthral audiences when doing speaking engagements, really has his finger on the pulse of culture and always leaves behind a poignant impression. We at Virgin Media O2 have always loved listening to Rob speak and glean insight into his immense knowledge and would highly recommend booking him to present to any teams of any size.”
Morgan Browne, Social and Content Lead, VMO2