Consulting

Read about my 3-day immediate benefits consulting package offer.

These are the mainstays of what I do:

Working with nations or states on internal and external identity
This is sometimes called ‘nation branding’, and sometimes, but not always, involves ‘public diplomacy’. Here my clients tend to be government ministries (or departments) of tourism, trade and/or investment, or local advertising or branding agencies who are pitching for work with one of these bodies.

City branding and marketing, or local identity development
…as I’ve done in the UK in large-scale projects with the tourist departments of London, Northern Ireland and County Durham, and in a one-day workshop with the civic leaders of Plovdiv, Bulgaria (a nice town, by the way, with a fascinating Ottoman heritage at the frontier of Europe).

Creating sense of place in property developments
Shopping malls, main streets, office towers, planned communities: small places benefit hugely from a ‘sense of place’, which so few of them have in any significant or attractive way. When developers include me at the early planning stages, I help conceptualize a property so that once it’s built, its appeal is stronger and, usually, more deeply rooted in its environs.

Making the most of provenance and place of origin
for private sector companies
Almost every corporate client I have worked for, be it a Spanish bank or a Turkish mobile provider, where the company was from was an issue, usually one I have helped turn into a valuable marketing asset.

By way of example, recently I gave a speech in Santiago in which I proffered some ideas for how Chilean companies could use Chileanness creatively to sell Chilean products to foreigners, including putting Pablo Neruda quotes on their packaging.

If you have an issue about where your company or products are seen to be from, or any issue related to being MADE IN _____, I can help.

Although I concentrate on these four arenas, I’m a curious person and I fully subscribe to Tom Peters’ aphorism that “You’re only as cool as your last project”. Therefore, I’m open to new things. Try me.

I take on both long- and short-term engagements, on my own or with a team.

You can hire me for an hour or for a year. I can work with your people, or I can bring along a crew of my own; I have collaboration agreements with some extremely experienced — and just as importantly, profusely talented — creative directors and graphic designers. (Design is sometimes a vital ingredient in marketing or image development, and occasionally a waste of money; I can help you decide how to get the best out of design, and out of designers.)

My full bio is here. If you’re interested in learning more about how I might be able to help you, please write me now. Or: read about my 3-day immediate benefits consulting package offer.