The strategic thinking that happens before design.
MAP is my brand strategy process: three focused workshops that define what your brand stands for, who it's for, and how it's different. It's the foundation everything else is built on. Get this right, and every decision that follows has a clear answer.
2 hours each
Typical timeline
As a standalone project
Most brands are built on preference. Not strategy.
The difference: one leads to a brand that looks nice. The other leads to a brand that works.
Mission. Audience. Personality.
The MAP process moves fluidly across three workshops, each one building on the last. Here's what we cover and the specific exercises I use to get there.
Mission & Purpose
Exercise
Brand positioning statement
A clear articulation of what you do, who you do it for, and why you're the right choice and in language your audience actually responds to.
Exercise
Business DNA mapping
We define the core of what the business does, the value it creates, and the change it makes in people's lives or work. This becomes the foundation of your brand's mission, clear, specific, and defensible.
Exercise
Vision & values definition
Where is this business going in three years? Five? What are the non-negotiable principles that guide how you get there? We define values that are specific enough to make hard decisions, not wallpaper for the About page.
Audience & Positioning
Exercise
Buyer persona & journey mapping
We build a real picture of your ideal customer, not demographics, but psychographics. Their motivations, pain points, decision-making process, and the journey from "never heard of you" to "take my money."
Exercise
Negative audience definition
We define who you're not for. This is harder and more valuable than defining who you are for. It gives you permission to repel the wrong clients, which sharpens your positioning and makes your messaging more powerful.
Exercise
Competitor mapping & SWOT
We map your competitive landscape, not just who they are, but how they position, message, and present themselves. Then we identify your strengths, weaknesses, and the white space they're not occupying. That's where your brand lives.
Exercise
Differentiator identification
We pinpoint what makes you genuinely different, not "great customer service" or "we really care", the real, specific things you do that competitors can't or don't. This becomes the backbone of your positioning.
Personality & Values
Exercise
Overlap venn diagram
We map the intersection between what your audience wants to hear, what your competitors are saying, and what you genuinely stand for. The sweet spot, where all three overlap, is where your brand messaging should live.
Exercise
Brand personality adjectives
Through a structured process, we define the specific personality traits of your brand, not vague words like "innovative" but precise, actionable characteristics that shape tone of voice and communication style.
Exercise
Brand matrix sliders
We position your brand on a series of spectrums, formal vs casual, traditional vs modern, playful vs serious. This makes abstract personality tangible and gives your team an instant reference for how the brand should feel.
Exercise
Customer wording analysis
We analyse the actual language your existing customers use to describe you, from testimonials, reviews, and feedback. Their words often contain your most authentic messaging, because they describe the value you deliver in language that resonates with other buyers.
What the process actually feels like.
I send a few questions ahead of the first session, some business-focused, some deliberately lighthearted. They're designed to get you thinking without overthinking, and to set the tone: this is a conversation, not an interrogation. If you haven't had time to complete them, we work through them together. No stress.
Each workshop is two hours. The three pillars: Mission, Audience, Personality, give the sessions structure, but the conversation moves naturally. Some topics spark deeper discussion and we follow that thread. Others resolve quickly. I'm facilitating, not ticking boxes. The goal is genuine strategic clarity, not a completed worksheet.
There's deliberate space between workshops. Strategy shouldn't be rushed. Founders often have their best insights in the days after a session, in the shower, on a walk, at 2am. That thinking feeds into the next workshop and makes the whole process richer.
Everything we've discussed, mapped, and defined gets distilled into a comprehensive brand strategy document. This isn't a summary of the workshops, it's a refined, actionable reference that gives anyone who touches your brand absolute clarity on what it stands for and how it should behave.
What you walk away with.
A documented brand strategy that gives you, and anyone who works on your brand after: total clarity.
Brand positioning
A clear statement of what you do, who it's for, and why you're the right choice, in language your audience responds to.
Messaging framework
Key messages, value propositions, and talking points structured for different audiences and contexts.
Audience definition
A detailed picture of your ideal customer: motivations, pain points, and decision-making process.
Competitive analysis
How your competitors position themselves, where the gaps are, and where your brand owns space.
Brand personality
Defined traits, tone of voice principles, and the brand matrix, a tangible reference for how your brand should feel.
Visual direction
Strategic recommendations for the visual identity, informed guidance on where the brand should go visually and why.
Use it standalone
Brief anyone with confidence.
The strategy document is designed to work on its own. Hand it to an in-house designer, a freelancer, or an agency, they'll have the clearest brief they've ever received.
Continue to Brand Identity
Let me build the whole thing.
Most clients who go through MAP want me to design the identity too, because the strategy makes the value of the next step obvious. Your investment is credited toward the Brand Identity project.
Strategy is the difference between a brand that looks good and one that works.
Questions I get asked.
Both. The MAP process runs across three two-hour workshops, intensive, structured, and collaborative. But the real deliverable is the brand strategy document I produce afterwards: a comprehensive, actionable reference that covers your positioning, messaging, audience, personality, competitive landscape, and visual direction. It's something you and your team will use for years.
Absolutely. The strategy document is designed to stand on its own. If you choose to work with an in-house designer, a freelancer, or even an agency for the visual identity, the strategy gives them a clear, considered brief. Of course, if you'd like me to handle the identity too, the strategy investment can be credited toward the full Brand Identity.
At most agencies, strategy is bundled into a larger engagement and delivered by a junior strategist. Here, you're working directly with a senior creative director with 20+ years of experience. The strategic thinking and the creative instinct come from the same person, which means the strategy isn't academic; it's designed to be built on.
Your strategy investment is credited in full toward the Brand Identity project. There's no penalty for starting with strategy, it's designed to work standalone or as the first phase of a larger project. Most clients who start here end up moving into the full identity because the strategy makes the value of the next step obvious.
Both work. Most sessions happen over video call, which works brilliantly for founders across the UK and beyond. If you're in Scotland or happy to travel, in-person sessions have a different energy that some founders prefer. We'll figure out what works best when we talk.
What changes after a strategy session.
You describe your business differently every time someone asks
Brand decisions are made by gut feel or committee vote
Your team improvises the tone, look, and message
You're not sure who your ideal customer actually is
Competitors' brands look sharper and you can't figure out why
Every rebrand conversation stalls because there's no starting point
You have a clear, consistent way to talk about what you do
Every brand decision is backed by strategic reasoning
Anyone touching the brand knows exactly how it should feel
Your positioning targets the right people and repels the wrong ones
You understand your competitive difference and can articulate it
You have a documented foundation to brief any designer or agency
Confusion costs.
The strategy is a focused, intensive piece of work. It's not a discovery call stretched into a meeting. It's the strategic thinking that most agencies bury inside a £20K+ proposal, delivered independently.