Assess
An honest read on where your brand sits today. The gaps, the strengths, and the impression you never meant to give.
Brand strategy consultancy · London
Transforming brands for good
I help founders and leadership teams close the gap between what a business means and how the market reads it, so the right clients find it easier to say yes.
01 The problem
Most brands don't fail loudly. They fail quietly.
There is a gap between what a business intends to say and what its customers actually hear. That gap costs money. It turns up as muddled pitch decks, messaging that wanders, and good-fit clients who drift toward someone clearer.
So I start with an honest look at where your brand sits today, not a rush to redesign it. There is really only one measure of success here: whether the right people find it easier to say yes.
02 What we make clear
A strong brand can answer four questions in a sentence each.
Most can't, at least not consistently. Getting these right is where the work begins, and where the clarity comes from.
- 01
Who you are
The character and conviction beneath the work. Not the tagline. The thing it stands on.
- 02
What you do
Your offer in plain words, so nobody has to translate it on your behalf.
- 03
Who you do it for
The people you serve best, and, just as usefully, the ones you don't.
- 04
Why it matters
The reason it is worth caring about. The part that earns attention and trust.
03 How I help
Two ways to work together.
A
Brand consultancy for leadership teams
I work directly with founders and CEOs to sharpen positioning, messaging and brand clarity. The kind that holds up everywhere, from your website to the room where you pitch.
B
Strategic support for agencies
An embedded brand strategist for your project. I bring the strategic layer that complements a creative team, without the cost of a full-time hire.
On the deliverable
You won't walk away with a logo. You'll have positioning, messaging clarity, and a brand that stays consistent wherever it shows up: the website, the pitch deck, LinkedIn, the referral. That consistency is what makes the right clients easier to win.
04 The process
Strategy comes before the creative. Always.
Four steps, no theatre. The point is a brand your team can carry on their own once the engagement ends.
Position
We agree who you are, what you do, who it is for and why it matters. Written down, in plain language.
Articulate
We turn the strategy into messaging that holds together wherever your brand turns up.
Embed
Your team keeps the language and the tools, so the work stays true long after we finish.
05 The proof
Trusted by leaders who care how their brand lands.
Thom's brand work became central to all of our company communications. He helped us reach the right position in our market without losing the heritage that got us here.
He lifted our whole brand refresh. Genuinely collaborative, full of ideas, and I always looked forward to the sessions.
Highly skilled, inventive, and a real listener. The sort of input that makes a measurable difference.
Patient, full of ideas, and a remarkable eye for detail. He made a daunting process feel manageable.
A few of the organisations I have worked with
- International Compliance Association
- Coffee Central Roasting Co.
- Praxis GRC
- Axco Insurance Information Services
- A F Good Life
06 About Thom
A strategist who began as a designer, and learned the hard way why strategy comes first.
I'm Thom Baker. I spent the early part of my career in graphic design before moving into brand strategy, and I have now spent more than 14 years helping businesses say what they actually mean.
During the pandemic I took a year out to be with my daughter. It brought back a love of the natural world and changed how I work. I moved from designing brands to building the strategy underneath them, and I chose to focus on businesses working toward a greener future: in construction, energy, transport and agriculture.
I'm a certified brand specialist through Level C, and certified by the Interaction Design Foundation. I'm an advisor more than a maker, so when it's time to build, I bring in agency partners I trust.
Memberships and accreditations
- Business Declares
- Federation of Small Businesses
- Good Business Charter
- Design Declares
- Interaction Design Foundation
Recent thinking
Notes on brand, written plainly.
Short pieces on the questions founders keep asking me. No jargon, no ten-step frameworks.
Common questions
Worth asking before we talk.
What does a brand consultant actually do?
I help you decide what your business stands for and say it clearly, so the brand works in every conversation rather than just on the homepage. Less about the logo, more about being understood.
Is brand strategy just colours and a logo?
Those come later, and usually from a designer.
Strategy is the thinking that tells everyone what to make and why. Get it right and the creative finally has something true to build on.
What happens in the free consultation?
It's a 30-minute call. No pitch, no obligation. We look at where your brand sits today and what is getting in the way of the right clients saying yes. You leave with a clearer view either way.
Do you only work with sustainable businesses?
It's where I focus, especially construction, energy, transport and agriculture. But the work suits any founder or team that wants the brand to say what they really mean.
Can you work alongside my agency?
Often, yes. I sit in as the brand strategist on a project and give your creative team the strategic layer they need, without stepping on the making.
Start here
A free 30-minute brand strategy consultation.
No pitch and no obligation. Just an honest conversation about where your brand sits today, and what is getting in the way of the right clients saying yes.
Usually a reply within one working day.