Nice things some clients have said
People like to know who gave a testimonial. They want to know the name and title of the person, and the name of their company. I get that. However, behind every client testimonial is a project story. And I can tell better stories if I anonymise the quotes. That’s the trade off. If you’re interested in working with me, any of the clients below will be happy to give you a fully attributed reference.
Advisory brands are all about style.
SECTOR: Consulting (IT, software, cyber security)
NATURE OF WORK: Brand strategy (positioning, verbal identity)
When I joined as CEO I discovered that there were lots of variations of who we are. If you asked ten people you got twenty different answers. That’s where Phil came in. He understood that we needed to write how we speak, and to be clear about our ethics and values. Working with our people and clients, he was able to get to the bottom of what is important to us, and how to articulate it. His way of gaining trust and honesty from people made the whole project a huge success. We are much clearer now about who and what we are, and we are on our way to launching a much improved tone of voice.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
You’re doing something right when eighty-five percent of new revenue comes from repeat business and referrals. At the same time you’re doing something wrong if you fail to attract a healthy number of new prospects. My client was in exactly that situation.
Homogeneity is the curse of advisory brands. Law firms, accountancy firms, ad agencies, consultancies; they all default to category-generic language. They use similar words to sell similar expertise. They’ll tell you that they’re different. Most often they are different. But they all look and sound the same. If every firm in a market sounds like Deloitte, the only firm to benefit is Deloitte.
I was hired to fix my client’s homogeneity problem; to move them from faking who they weren’t to projecting who they are. I spoke to several of their best customers, all of whom told me that they took my client’s technical expertise for granted. They could buy technical expertise anywhere. They could buy it from Deloitte. The reason they kept coming back to my client, and kept recommending them, was my client’s culture and style. My client’s style was the source of its customers’ trust. Style was therefore front and central to the new positioning and verbal identity. Style was the key to an effective, lead-generating shop window..
Elbows out. A change of disposition.
SECTOR: Education
NATURE OF WORK: Brand narrative (mission, USP, messaging framework)
The saying goes that everyone has a story within them. Phil helped us to unlock ours. A master of narrative, he took the time and care to get to know our school, our staff, and our community to find out not just what makes us special but what makes us unique. Now, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, we have a narrative that is true to who we are, that every member of staff can get behind, and that gives us significant competitive advantage and a bold point of view.
DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
A leading independent school hired me to sharpen their positioning and get their story straight.
Independent schools have had to change their disposition. When demand was greater than supply, they were effectively order taking organisations. The imposition of VAT on fees, at a time when middle class families were already feeling the pinch, changed all that. Now these schools have to be sales and marketing organisations. It’s a scary new world. They need to think about their positioning and messaging in a dog-eat-dog context. Independent schools used to enjoy a cosy coexistence. Now it’s commercial and competitive. Now it’s elbows out.
My client needed a story that every member of staff believed in and found easy to tell. They needed a story that made them the school of choice for parents who are still in the market.
For a school that does lots of things well, the main challenge was to identify a single-minded USP that would capture the imagination of undecided parents. This we did. I also created messaging frameworks for the junior and senior schools in support of the overall proposition.
You need a recipe for your secret sauce.
SECTOR: Travel
NATURE OF WORK: Brand strategy (mission, brand proposition, company values)
Phil articulated our client’s secret sauce so simply and authentically that it deeply moved the leadership team. In fact he literally moved them to tears by capturing the human truth behind the success of their business, articulating it clearly and with conviction. Phil translated research, stakeholder perspectives, and lived culture into a coherent brand story that was commercially sound, emotionally resonant, and immediately usable to drive growth.
AGENCY CO-FOUNDER
A design practice brought me in to develop brand strategy for a client in the travel industry. The client’s business is built on care and staffed by unusually passionate people. They deserve to be excited by their brand.
The main outputs sound quite prosaic: a mission statement, a brand proposition, and a set of company values.
The outcomes were anything but prosaic: a client that felt seen, a sales team that felt confident and inspired, a customer-facing brand that balances people and places, and a set of values that act as an operating system for the business. Oh, and a few tears of joy as well.
The importance of being got. (Your copy is camouflage.)
SECTOR: Consulting (data science)
NATURE OF WORK: Brand strategy & advertising (brand idea, messaging, creative brief)
It was a delight to work with Phil on our brand positioning project. He has a lovely way of asking the right questions at the right time. Importantly, he is a great listener too. Strategically sound, Phil collaborates in a way that will always deliver the best results.
MANAGING DIRECTOR
It’s hard for any business with a strong culture to work with outside advisers. They don’t trust you unless you get them. Most advisers don’t get, or don’t bother to get. Whereas I do. In fact, if I have any kind of superpower, it’s getting my clients.
In an early workshop I told the client that their copy was camouflage. I could tell they had a remarkable culture, based on deep care and absolute integrity. Yet their shop window looked the same as everyone else’s. Their messaging said the same things in the same, monotonous tone of voice.
Most data science firms sell the promise of a utopian data-driven future, based on their shiny proprietary tech stack. The reality at the coal face is very different. I spoke to a sample of my client’s customers. They all told horror stories of badly designed projects, delays, overspends, and consulting malpractice. They told me that they trusted my client because they always did the right thing, did things right, and got things done.
I turned this insight into a positioning rooted in culture as much as expertise. I delivered a brand idea and developed a messaging framework. My client had their story straight and a shop window that was set up to attract more of their ideal prospects. I also gave them a crisp, compelling elevator pitch for sales calls.
I distilled the brand strategy into a creative brief and worked with a copywriter to come up with an advertising campaign that cut through the bland clutter of the sector. Their copy was now anything but camouflage.
The Dolly Parton school of brand strategy.
SECTOR: Advertising (media planning & buying)
NATURE OF WORK: Positioning, messaging, copywriting
We needed to better communicate what we do and who we are, and we were making hard work of it ourselves. I’d seen a few things from Phil that made me think he could assist in an advisory capacity on our proposition and how we talked about ourselves. Fast-forward to a few weeks later and we had an updated website, a fresh set of credentials, and a spring in our step. If you are thinking about how to present your business in the best light, and you aren’t sure where to start or what to say, call the Phil hotline.
AGENCY FOUNDER
You’d think that communication agencies would be great at positioning themselves. Sadly not. They make the same mistakes as everyone else. They over-intellectualise. They try too hard. They mimic the category. They need outside help as much as everyone else. Which is great for people like me.
This media agency recognised they had a problem that they couldn’t solve for themselves. They hired me to make them more attractive to ideal prospects.
Dolly Parton once said that you should find out who you are and do it on purpose. It’s hard to beat as a piece of brand strategy advice. And it’s simple to apply. Talk to some of your best clients. Find out what they like about you. Bottle it up and sell it to more people like them. Bingo!
That’s what I did. I spoke to a sample of my client’s clients. They talked to me about culture and style. The agency (my client) was honest to a fault, direct to the point of being blunt, sharp thinking, nimble, and pragmatic. All the things that big agencies aren’t.
We repositioned the agency accordingly. I reworked their messaging so that they were being themselves on purpose (thanks Dolly.) And they asked me to rewrite their website copy, which I did in a Ronseal-esque, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin tone of voice.
The accidental (expensive) copywriter.
SECTOR: Legal recruitment (start-up)
NATURE OF WORK: Messaging, verbal identity, copywriting
I have worked with a number of content writers over the years. I really enjoyed working with Phil because he brings a wealth of experience and patience that really helps get the content into the best possible shape. He is intelligent and confident in his ability, and takes the time to really understand the proposition.
FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR
My client hired me to work on messaging for their start-up: a high-end legal headhunting firm. But I ended up writing copy for the entire website. I told him that I’d be an expensive copywriter but he insisted that it was worth it. I’d got under the skin of what this new firm was about; its quirks and its principles. I’d got to grips with the technical language and some subtle nuances of positioning. The work was tricky because the firm was selling to two distinct audiences with complementary but different needs. And, while working on the messaging, I accidentally established a tone of voice that my client fell in love with.
Your work is required reading.
SECTOR: Technology (travel) (family business)
NATURE OF WORK: Brand strategy, positioning, messaging
When you’re right in amongst it, day in day out, for many years, you accumulate a lot of history and clutter. It becomes difficult to see through that smog and understand the true impact of the changes you’ve made. With Phil we got someone who quickly understood us as people and how we operate as a business. He didn’t simply pull out the checklist of what a B2B brand could have. Instead he tailored his approach and methodically cut through the smog, delivering a concise and insightful analysis of what our brand strategy could be. He is a real joy to work with. His presentations are crisp, clear and very honest. We’ve come away from the experience feeling enthused, focused and with a clear practical plan that everyone can get behind.
FOUNDER
This client is a technology vendor to small travel businesses. It has a special culture. In fact I’ve never worked with another business that takes as much care of its people.
When they hired me, they were adapting to the needs of an increasingly sophisticated and more demanding customer base. How to stay true to themselves whilst also staying relevant in a changing market?
My client is a small business serving other small businesses in a market dominated by big players. So we built the brand strategy around a set of values that spoke with equal power to both staff and customers. The values transcend the changing functional requirements of technology, and tap into emotional needs like being in control and a sense of solidarity. Based on these values I developed a simple messaging framework designed to inform, enthuse, and reassure potential customers.
A couple of years later the client emailed me to say, “Your work is required reading for new starts in certain parts of the business.”
Losing your voice and finding it again.
SECTOR: Consulting (connectivity)
NATURE OF WORK: Brand strategy, brand narrative, brand identity
I immediately took to Phil’s clear and concise approach. It cut to the core of what mattered and he appeared to ‘get us’ right from the start. He spoke our language and I got unanimous positive feedback from across the team as he interviewed people to understand our business and culture. The resultant outputs which Phil developed were the first time we felt we had our brand nailed. Our whole team bought into it and at times it was quite emotional to finally see how strong a brand we really had!
CO-FOUNDER & CEO
This client’s management team had been bruised by previous brand advisers. Their brand had been done to them, not for them or with them. Sadly this happens more often than it should.
The client hired me to help the business find its voice again. Something important had been lost as the firm grew. And, having spoken to their team and their clients, it was a pleasure to remind them what they were about, giving them the language to rededicate themselves to their founding principles. I call this work “lost and found” and I do it quite often.
The next step was to bring the brand identity into line with the strategy. I wrote an identity brief and brought in a top-notch designer to bring the brand strategy to life.
From hard to remember to impossible to forget.
SECTOR: Legal
NATURE OF WORK: Brand strategy, visual identity, verbal identity
Phil demonstrated to us that he truly did understand who we were and what we wanted to achieve as a business. One of our partners commented after his first presentation, ‘You just get us,’ which pretty much summed up our response. We were hugely impressed with the professionalism he applied to the task and we’re delighted with the outcome.
MANAGING PARTNER
I worked on brand definition, a brand identity brief, and verbal identity guidelines for this private client law firm.
This was a much-needed brand reboot. It was also a flagship project for a new generation of senior management.
Having spoken to a sample of my client’s clients, I worked with the partners to replace six brand values which no one could remember with two values that are impossible to forget. The brand is now a source of pride for the firm. It’s also the operating system for the business, guiding the firm’s approach to client service, business development, and recruitment.
Nice words from collaborators
Did I do a strategy?
SECTOR: Public sector (government)
NATURE OF WORK: Strategy training
I’ve been developing strategies for more than 15 years – and working in marketing for 25 years – and it’s rare that you encounter a training session that genuinely makes you think, reflect on the way you’ve been working and feel inspired to be better at your job. But this session was all of that and more. I’ve asked for the recording and plan to watch it again.
HEAD OF INSIGHT
I delivered a training session on how it feels to develop a strategy. The title was Did I Do a Strategy? The audience was a large, public sector, in-house communications team. The clients often felt ill-equipped and out on a limb whenever tasked with developing strategy. The presentation included five simple but profound acid tests to determine whether your strategy is actually strategic. And the content was designed to be both reassuring and easy to apply, building confidence and practical skills.
Strategy with discipline.
SECTOR: FinTech
NATURE OF WORK: Brand definition, stakeholder engagement
I always feel safe working with Phil. Nothing will go wrong.
PROJECT DIRECTOR
I’ve worked with this Project Director on several occasions. She said this lovely thing at the end of a particularly tricky brand strategy project for a b2b FinTech company. The company was led by a live-wire CEO with a tendency for micro-management. And the business was growing so fast it sometimes felt (from the outside) like a runaway train. The company had a seat-of-the-pants culture in which big decisions were made, unmade, and made again with disorientating frequency.
I had to build relationships with the CEO and the heads of business functions in several countries, and help manage them through the process, both individually and as a group. The output was a lightweight and high-fidelity brand framework. But the work was as much about grey hair and gravitas as it was about strategy.
Making the academic accessible.
SECTOR: Charitable Trusts/Foundations (religion & philosophy)
NATURE OF WORK: Project storytelling
Sometimes you are faced with projects that feel daunting, complex and impenetrable. But Phil has the rare ability to demystify and distill complex challenges into simple, highly compelling stories.
BOARD DIRECTOR
This agency director brought me in to develop storytelling toolkits for a grant foundation that funds academic research into spiritual and philosophical themes.
I worked closely with the foundation’s grantees (university professors mostly) to tell the stories of their research projects. This meant getting to grips with complicated academic ideas. And it meant being seen to get to grips with the material. The grantees had to trust that I’d properly understood their work. Thereafter it was about interpreting each project into accessible concepts and language for the “intellectually curious” audience of the grant foundation.
Another client where grey hair and having been around the block a few times came in handy.
Ridiculously meticulous.
SECTOR: Me (this website)
NATURE OF WORK: Technical SEO
Almost none of my friends, and definitely none of my clients, pay as fast as Phil does. He’s ridiculously meticulous at making you feel valued.
SEO CONSULTANT
I commissioned some technical SEO advice for my consulting website (the one you’re reading right now.) I’m lucky that I know some seriously talented people with a complementary set of skills to my own. This SEO specialist is one of the best in the world. I make a point of paying fellow freelancers immediately.
The creative’s strategist (1).
SECTOR: Various
NATURE OF WORK: Visual identity/brand design
Phil gives you smart, straightforward insights that are perfect for any creative or client.
CREATIVE/DESIGN DIRECTOR
I’ve worked with this Design Director on many occasions. They’re particularly good at design work that’s rooted in conceptual thinking. I bring them in if my client wants me to oversee the translation of brand strategy into brand identity. An advantage of having worked in agencies for 30 years is that I understand and respect creative people. I know how to develop brand and creative strategy that’s a joy for them to execute.
The creative’s strategist (2)
SECTOR: Various
NATURE OF WORK: Visual identity/brand design
Working with Phil is a rare treat. His strategic insights into projects and clients make the creative process a dream, allowing the designs to flourish.
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Another super-talented Design Director that I’ve worked with several times. They combine creative flair with commercial discipline. I love working with them, and they like working with me because I give them what they need to to great work.
Some thoughts on providing a service.
The company through which I provide my services.