Brand strategy + human insight
In a world of machine-made sameness, I help brands speak human.
Senior-level strategy and consumer research for the AI era.
- 20+years working with agencies and brands
- 1,000sof conversations with real peoplein discussion groups, individual interviews, intercepts, and ethnography
- 125+brands I've worked with
It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
– Henry Thoreau or someone equally insightful
I plug into teams of every kind, helping them see the big picture and craft enduring strategies that move businesses forward.
01 · How I work
Some brands I've worked with
- Travelocity
- Dr Pepper
- Baylor Health Care
Some agencies I've collaborated with
- The Richards Group
- The Marketing Arm
- The Integer Group
- BBDO
- Three Headed Monster
- TracyLocke
- Publicis
- The Augustine Agency
- O&H Brand Design
- RBMM Design
- Zimmerman
- TBWA\ Chiat\Day
- Dieste
- D3
- Red 212
A client once called me a strategy Swiss Army knife. The label stuck, and it sums up how I approach every engagement.
I get up to speed fast, then take the fewest steps needed to deliver.
I bring a senior lens with range across brand, product, experience, and research, plus an anthropologist's perspective to inspire unconventional thinking.
I play well with others, whether engaged for a project, embedded as a fractional member of your team, or leading solo when bandwidth is tight.
02 · Two ways I help
Brand Strategy
Big-agency strategic rigor, at the speed of culture.
Brand Strategy & Architecture
What a brand stands for, who it's for, and how it can resonate, plus brand architecture for portfolios and internalization that puts the brand into action across the organization.
Campaign Strategy & Creative Briefs
Campaign strategy and creative briefs that give teams the insight and the permission to be brave. Plus messaging frameworks and content and social strategy.
Customer Journey & Experience Strategy
Mapping the journey from awareness to purchase, including funnels reshaped by AI search and chatbots. CX and UX strategy, generative engine optimization (GEO), and KPI frameworks to measure what works.
Innovation
I read culture as an anthropologist, spotting where it's headed before it goes mainstream and helping turn that insight into innovation, product ideas, and names.
Fractional Strategy Leadership
A senior strategy lead for a project or longer: guiding the thinking, mentoring strategists, and advising leadership up to the C-suite.
Nonprofit Strategy Consulting
Strategy and research advisory services for nonprofits and healthcare organizations: stakeholder research, brand strategy, annual planning, communications, or a grant-season refresh.
Consumer Research
Qualitative and quantitative research I design and lead.
Qualitative Research Design & Moderation
Turnkey study design and moderation, from discussion groups and in-depth interviews to intercepts, taste tests, shop-alongs, ethnographies, and diary studies.
Quantitative Survey Research
Survey design and oversight to size and test what the conversations uncover, with clear findings and what to do about them.
Trend Research
What's happening now: street research, trend safaris, and social listening synthesis, packaged for quick debriefs & implementation.
AI-Assisted Research Innovation
Putting AI to work in research: piloting generative AI platforms, running AI-assisted interviews at scale, and testing where synthetic consumers help and fall short, with real people at the center.
Research Partnerships
For research firms and fellow strategists: moderation only or design through reporting, named or white-label, without the big-agency overhead.
03 · The HumanSpeak Approach
Fewer words, bigger ideas
The best strategies and briefs are the ones a whole team can remember, and therefore use.
Built for action
A strategy is only the first step. I build the tools that put it to work across the organization.
Judgment over volume
AI makes it easy to produce more. I help teams choose what matters.
Human-first, AI-assisted
AI helps sharpen my thinking, but it always starts with people: real conversations, real insight, real human judgment.
04 · On the bookshelf
Recent reads that are shaping my thinking.
See more of my Field NotesProphecy (opens in a new tab)
Carissa Véliz
Food for thought
As AI gets better at predicting us, what do consumers gain, and what do they lose?
A Little More Social (opens in a new tab)
Nicholas Epley
Food for thought
If the human voice connects us more than the written word, what do surveys and social listening alone miss?
Cubed (opens in a new tab)
Ernő Rubik
Food for thought
If six simple faces hold 43 quintillion possibilities, what's the simple story inside your brand?
