Know what you stand for
before you design anything.
A brand strategy consultant helps you decide who your company is for, what makes it different and how it should sound, before you spend on design and marketing. As your brand positioning and messaging consultant, I run a discovery workshop, review your audience and competitors, then write your positioning, key messages and brand voice for your team and designers.
- Timeline
- 2–3 weeks
- Revisions
- 2 per phase
- Check-ins
- Weekly
- Ownership
- 100% yours
What you get, in 2 to 3 weeks
- Brand discovery workshopA working session with the people who make the final call, to agree who you sell to first, who prospects compare you with and what you want to be known for.
- Audience and competitor reviewWho buys from you and why, and how direct and indirect competitors describe themselves, so your positioning doesn’t claim what they already claim.
- PositioningA one-line positioning statement: the customer you serve first, the problem you solve for them and why you, not the alternatives they compare you with.
- Brand personalityA few traits that guide how the brand looks and sounds, so later design decisions have a reason.
- Key messagesThe few lines your website, deck and sales calls should all say, kept short: in a 2008 analysis, Nielsen Norman Group estimated people read only about 20% of the words on an average web page.
- Brand voiceHow your brand sounds, with do and don’t examples your team and copywriters can follow.
Is it right for you?
Right for you if
- You can’t yet say in one sentence who your company is for and why it’s different.
- Your founders and sales team each explain what the company does differently, and prospects notice.
- You have a designer or an in-house team and need the strategy they design from.
- You want a brand strategist for hire on one fixed-scope project, with one written price and calls in your time zone.
Another service fits better if
- You need the strategy and the full visual identity together: Brand identity
- You need a name for your company or product: Brand naming
- Your company has changed and the whole brand needs to follow: Rebranding
The process, step by step
01Discovery
A brand discovery workshop in your time zone. Send your website and deck first, so we start from what your customers actually see.
- Workshop
- Goals
- Customers
02Research
A brand audit of your current website and deck, plus a review of your audience and competitors, to find the position your brand can own.
- Audience
- Competitors
- Brand audit
03Strategy
Positioning, personality, key messages and voice, written and refined with you over two revision rounds.
- Positioning statement
- Key messages
- Voice
04Handover
The final strategy written up for your team, designers and copywriters, ready for the identity work.
- Written strategy
- Voice guide
- Full ownership
How we work together, with no surprises
Timeline and revisions
- 2 to 3 weeks, by scope
- 2 revision rounds per phase
- Weekly check-ins in your time zone
What you receive
- Written brand strategy: positioning, personality, key messages and voice
- Voice guide with do and don’t examples
- Full ownership of all final files
Not included
- Company naming (a separate service)
- Logo and visual identity (separate services)
- Website build and ad campaign production
Brand strategy in recent identity projects
All work
Wayfare travel agency brand identity
Core.hr HR software rebrand and website
Lyvio AI real estate brand identity
Sovia mental wellbeing brand identity
What clients say
All reviewsGreat experience working with him. He understood the direction quickly, was easy to communicate with, and delivered quality work.
Questions founders ask
What does a brand strategy consultant do?
A brand strategy consultant turns research on your customers and competitors into decisions your team can act on: who the company is for, the one idea it should own, the few messages every page and pitch repeats, and how it should sound. It settles what your website, deck and campaigns say; ad campaign production isn’t part of it. The starting point is the one the U.S. Small Business Administration gives in its planning guide: a business won’t be for everybody, so it needs a clear sense of whom it will serve.
How much does brand strategy cost?
It depends on the scope: how many audiences, markets and products the strategy needs to cover. After a free 30-minute call you get a fixed written proposal, so the price never changes mid-project.
How long does a brand strategy take?
Usually 2 to 3 weeks, with weekly check-ins in your time zone and two revision rounds per phase.
Do I need a brand strategy before a logo?
It helps. A logo, a website and a deck are easier to judge when you know who they’re for and what they need to say. If you’re planning a full brand identity, strategy is already part of it (the Discovery and Strategy phases), so you don’t need both. A standalone strategy suits founders who work with their own designer or in-house team, or who want clarity before they commit to design.
Why does consistent messaging matter?
Because buyers notice when the story changes. In a Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers, run in August–September 2024 and published in June 2025, 69% reported inconsistencies between a company’s website and what its sales reps told them, and 61% said they prefer an overall rep-free buying experience. When buyers research on their own, your website and deck have to say what your team would say.
What’s the difference between brand voice and tone?
Voice is your brand’s personality in words, and it stays the same. Tone changes with the moment and the reader. Mailchimp’s public style guide draws the same line: the same voice all the time, a tone that changes. Nielsen Norman Group describes tone on four scales: formal or casual, serious or funny, respectful or irreverent, and matter-of-fact or enthusiastic. Your voice guide shows where your brand sits on each scale.
Can you also name my company?
Yes, as a separate service. As your naming consultant I write name ideas with the reasoning behind each, then a shortlist, domain and social checks and a preliminary trademark search (USPTO, the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism and SAIP). It takes 2 to 4 weeks, and a clear positioning gives the naming a sharper brief.
Related reading
Branding your startup before the seed round
What to brand before you raise, and what can safely wait until later.
What a brand identity actually includes
The parts of a brand identity, and which ones your startup needs first.
Logo, identity or guidelines: what to ask for first
Not sure what to brief a designer for? Start with this simple order.
Other services
All services- Logo designA distinctive logo, wordmark and symbol, with files for web and print.
- Brand identityStrategy, logo system, color, type, imagery, voice and guidelines as one system.
- RebrandingA new strategy and identity for a company that has outgrown its brand.
- Brand namingName ideas, a shortlist, domain and handle checks and a trademark search.
- Brand refreshA modern logo, color and type that keep what people recognize.
- Logo refinementCleaner curves, spacing and small sizes, without losing recognition.
- AI-ready brand systemDesign tokens, an AI image style guide, a brand voice for AI and a review checklist.
- Brand guidelinesClear rules for logo, color, type, imagery and voice, as a PDF and a Figma library.
- Bilingual logo designArabic and English versions of your logo designed as one mark, for signs, packaging and right-to-left screens.
- Packaging designLabels, boxes and cans designed with your brand, with print-ready files on your printer’s dieline.
- Personal brandingPositioning, voice, a personal logo and templates for founders, consultants and experts.
Not sure what your brand needs?
Book a free 30-minute call.
I’ll review where your brand is today and recommend the right scope.