A Second Opinion?
Endorsements from some of those we have worked with…
Luxury
__James Espey Author, Mentor and Philanthropist, THE LAST DROP DISTILLERS LIMITED
“The Last Drop is an exclusive luxury brand whose values and future strategy Keith helped to shape and define. After conducting his own independent research, he facilitated an offsite workshop then presented us with an insightful and actionable analysis. His intellect and understanding of brands goes without saying, but it was is skill and tact in directing an enthusiastic (and opinionated) team of passionate whisky experts and entrepreneurs that impressed me the most. I have since been happy to recommend Keith to senior executives in other firms and have no hesitation in doing so here. - James Espey, Chairman”
__Eric CollombinCommercial Director ROLEX SA.
“I have hired Keith as a Branding Consultant in several projects, including a major rebranding exercise for a global B2B company and a total rebranding process for an international software company. Keith has always been excellent at capturing the insights and turning them into actionable ideas. Keith's ability to listen to the stakeholders, embrace the brand and develop concepts is remarkable. Last but not least, Keith is a wonderful person to work with -- inspiring, witty and trustworthy”
__Daniel PortePresident at SAS Monnet
(ex Commercial Director, Rolex SA)
“I had the chance to work with Keith as he had been appointed by Rolex to provide business consulting on the Tudor brand. Keith has been very impressive in the way he used his vast experience of various industries whilst combining it with a quick understanding of the specifics of the watch business. Keith has a rare talent of having both a global view of issues as well as a sharp analytical capacity. No less important , he has great interpersonal skills that enable him to get the best from each of us and align senior management with his recommendations.”
__Marc Jourdan-GassinVice President Fine fragrance International at Firmenich
“I particularly appreciated the level of empathy Keith showed in supporting us to define our corporate identity. We all quickly felt he was one of ours while keeping a tight agenda on the final objective. Keith is also a consultant that listens….”
Innovation
__Francis CholleInternational Business Consultant. Speaker. Best-Selling Author.
“Keith offers a very solid branding expertise grounded in years of in depth work with international star brand names.He's designed his own proprietary approach to branding. Besides he has a keen sense for business strategy and is very astute and very knowledgeable in most aspects of business globally. During the assignment we worked on together he helped greatly our common client. I would recommend Keith to anyone who wishes to take their brand to the next level. Keith is the one!”
__Julian TreasureBusiness sound expert, TED speaker, author of 'Sound Business', Chairman at The Sound Agency
“Keith is a brand guru with outstanding ability to bring clarity, objectivity and focus to a notoriously subjective field. He has leading edge tools, unmatched experience and is a great communicator. If your brand needs a hand, talk to Keith!”
__Martin LindstromBrand Futurist. Best-selling Author.
“Keith is in my opinion one of the UK's foremost brand planners - talented enough to have his own branding consultancy but with huge experience leading blue chip branding projects in major branding consultancies for the likes of McKinsey and BP. Enough said!”
Marketing
Anthony TempleManaging Director of Rainbow Designs Limited and DRi Licensing Limited
“I have known and worked with Keith in a variety of roles and projects for nearly 20 years. Keith is a true professional. A good strategist, committed to getting to the core of any project he undertakes, but above all else he has a passion for brands.”
__Thayne ForbesJoint Managing Director, Intangible Business Limited
“I have known Keith for many years and we have worked together on a number of brand strategy and valuation projects. Keith is a great adviser, he is hard working and has deep knowledge and insight on brand strategy. I can heartily recommend him.”
__Hans Mastenbroekex Director Sales Strategy, Sony Europe
“Keith recognised commercial imperatives, opportunities as well as restrictions, and displayed a huge talent to exploit opportunities at all times. He managed the Lotus Formula1 sponsorship programme as well as our broad range of advertising and PR- getting optimal results from limited budgets. Keith is an excellent communicator, eloquently speaking out for his beliefs, but also a good listener. Getting results was always his top priority.”
Management Consultancy
__Eileen HarringtonVice President of Marketing, Analysis Group, Boston
(ex Director, Brand Management & Experienced Hire Communications, McKinsey & Company)
“Keith rapidly developed a deep understanding of my firm's branding needs through studying its culture and actively listening to a number of staff across the firm's global offices. He was able to synthesize his learnings in a way that was intellectually compelling but also pragmatic and able to be implemented both by the creative team and the firm. Keith is patient, empathetic, and a pleasure to work with.”
__Charles ClarkCEO at Open Bay
(ex Executive Director at Allen International)
“Keith has developed brand strategies for several of our most important global clients in Europe, Asia and Latin America. He has an excellent ability to understand exactly what the clients‘ needs are, and to develop clear, intelligent solutions that always add value. His creative briefs to the studio have been the inspiration behind some of our best corporate identities and retail designs. He is one of the brightest brand strategists that I have worked with and I would recommend him without reservation”
Technology
_Lord Harry RenwickInformation Technology and Services Consultant, EURIM
“For many years Keith and I worked together to support a mutual friend in his ground-breaking endeavours to improve the management skills of British businessmen, a software that plotted a route through the maze difficulties from where one was to where one wanted to go. Keith's skills were much in evidence during the development stage, and contributed greatly to the successful outcome.”
__Ian C HendersonFounder & Director at Boardroom 2.0 Ltd (business software)
“Keith is highly experienced, has a great understanding of corporate marketing and branding strategies in a very wide range of industries and is very stimulating and easy to work with. His dependability and focus on the end game ensures that the right results are delivered for the client to their satisfaction.”
Advertising
__Glen FraserPrincipal at Third Eye
(ex Board Director, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising)
“Keith is a rare bread of strategist - he's both smart and collaborative. From my experience you usually get one or the other! As a team we came up against some extraordinary challenges, but Keith not only made the process enjoyable but also inspiring and exciting. Use him, you won't regret it.”
__Mark LinderPartner, N2 Comms
(ex Global Director of Business Strategy at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising)
“Keith is strategic, and never fails to pull his colleagues up to the level they should be in approaching the work. He has spent his life studying and working with brands and communication, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of success and failure. He has excellent consulting skills, knows when to expand the frame of reference, and when to close it down for decision-making. I always enjoy working with Keith”
__Violaine Sanson-TricardFounding Partner, VST Open
(ex PDG, Ted Bates France; CEO, Opera Paris)
“Keith est un interlocuteur précis et motivant. Il a une réelle capacité d'écoute et l'esprit critique dont il fait preuve est résolument positif. Il a un réelle vision de la mission dont il est chargé, il conçoit avec pertinence la stratégie de son entreprise et ses briefings sont clairs et ouverts.
Ce fut pour moi une chance de travailler pour Keith, il avait un niveau d'exigence très élevé mais il donnait à ses prestataires les outils nécessaires à la réussite de leur mission.
Nous avons développé ensemble des campagnes de communication qui ont produit des résultats performants, qu'il s'agisse de la croissance du business de Hitachi ou de la progression de l'image de la marque.
Violaine Sanson-Tricard. PDG de Bates France lors de la collaboration avec Keith.”
__Jonathon HallPartner at Adlabs Global
“I found Keith's approach to business to be both thorough and insightful, without being overcomplicated. Keith has the knack of delivering a structured, intelligent and approachable argument, something I found invaluable in my capacity as Business Development Director.”
Creative Services
__Ian HaughtonFounder and Creative Director Handsome Brands (design agency)
“I’ve worked with Keith a number of times over the years and thoroughly enjoyed it every time. He has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, generally and on any project he's working on. He never gets unruffled. He's calm, responsive, funny, anecdotal (there are so many!), intelligent. A real people person he's a pleasure to work with or just to have a chat with. About absolutely anything. Oh, and he's also a very good brand consultant. Check out his CV.”
__John PhillipsManaging Director at NOHA
“Keith is an outstanding brand and strategic planner with a wealth of experience working at the highest level. His powerful intellect and ability to support his concepts visually set him apart from other planners. He is also tireless in his pursuit of the best presentation for his robust thinking (I remember long, long late nights in Paris hotels sitting up while Keith was perfecting the minor details to take his work from A* to A**!). Cheerful and knowledgeable, Keith brings real gravitas to any and every strategic communications planning project. Work with him if you have the opportunity”
__Louisa Phillips-DunnDirector of Client Services at Hingston Studio
“I have worked with Keith on a number of high-level, strategic projects and I can’t recommend him enough. Keith is incredibly thorough and informed in all of his work. He is extremely knowledgeable and always a pleasure to work with.”
__Stef BrownManaging Director, On Pointe Marketing
“Keith really understands what makes a brand tick and then has that rare ability to translate that into something that is simple and compelling. This, combined with his entrepreuneurial spirit, makes him a great partner for anyone looking to buil their brand.”
Financial
__Chris WorsleyHead of Digital and Technology Marketing at Towers Watson
“Keith is the ideal brand consultant. He has a tremendous depth of understanding about brands in all dimensions whilst also recognising the practicalities of marketing in the real world. His rigorous strategic thinking encourages companies to be courageous about their branding to get it right. He is also excellent on the subtleties of branding that make for real differentiation. He is charming to work with – stimulating, supportive and always willing to help. His work at EMB has been excellent both in gaining buy-in through the process and also in delivering a very exciting end-result.”
__Edward Muscat AzzopardiDirector at Switch Design and Brand Strategy
(ex Head of Marketing & PR, Bank of Valletta, Malta)
“Keith was a pleasure to work with on every level. He delivered remarkable insight into aspects of our own business, presented all his work with clarity and enthusiasm, and provided all the support we required. Add a wonderfully amiable character and a sharp wit to complete the picture! I am pleased to personally recommended working with Keith and look forward to doing so again myself in the future.”
Media
__Michael BallardPartner, Market Strategy Consultancy. Co-author: "Rigorous Inspiration" - Unleashing An Organisation's Creative Potential
(Ex Group Product & Service Director Aegis Group)
“Keith delivered a valuable assessment of the opportunities for new positioning in global marketing services. Good synthesis, well reasoned, presented with a relevant and purposeful point of view.”
Vaughan GordonDirector at Vaughan Gordon & Associates Ltd
(ex Head of Marketing, RBI, Reed Elsevier)
“Highly professional and personable, Keith's insight and ability to cut straight through to the heart of our issues, allowed us to find sensible, workable solutions. We are still using his guidelines today across a host of brands at RBI.”
Energy & Manufacturing
__Karen Saddler Group Chief Communication Officer, AOG
“Keith is outstanding brand strategist and person. He has a rare talent for capturing a brand’s essence, taking into account a company’s history/culture and the specifics of its industry. And he has an equally impressive ability to transform it into a creative brief for a design agency. Thorough, rigorous and creative, Keith has a brilliant mind and is an exceptional wordsmith. He quickly understands his client’s needs, and has delivered every time. He also interacts with all levels of the corporate structure, from chairperson to door person, with a natural ease and empathy. In short, a top professional who is a real pleasure to work with.”
__Francis FrancisHead of Marketing, Sanofi Consumer Health Care, Switzerland
(ex Marketing & Category Manager, Firmenich SA, Geneva)
“In addition to the vast amount of branding knowledge Keith brings to a project, he also adds lateral thinking and cultural insight to topics at hand. I had the pleasure to work with Keith on a rather complex (re)branding project in which Keith proved to possess a lot of patience, perseverance and most of all charm and humour, which was necessary to implement the project successfully. Keith even speaks french!”
