Professional History
Previous Positions:
Principal and SVP, Brand Strategy, Salt Branding, San Francisco, CA
Senior Director, Brand Strategy, Anthem Worldwide, San Francisco, CA
Director, Brand Strategy, Microsoft, Redmond, WA
Senior Director, Brand Strategy, Wongdoody, Seattle, WA & Los Angeles, CA
Senior Director, Global Brand Strategy, Intermec Technologies, Corp., Everett, WA
Executive Director, Brand Development, Western Wireless Corp., Bellevue, WA
Client Managing Director, Landor Associates, Seattle, WA
Vice President, Brand Strategy, Fitch, Seattle, WA
B2B Brand Engagements
entrust datacard
Hortonworks
Cornerstone
airbiquity
sonosite
Sierra Wireless
Schawk
IDX (now GE Healthcare IT)
intermec (now part of Honeywell)
Baxter
PMC Sierra
tubemogul
eastman
bill and melinda gates foundation
Havas
B2B and B2C Brand Engagements
Microsoft
centurylink
Pearson
Lumens
VSP vision
Consumer
AAA Northern California, Utah, Nevada
Expedia
CVS Pharmacy
XBOX
Zak Designs
Why a specialized practice?
Just as a primary care physician lacks the training to treat all conditions, not all brand strategists have the specialized skill set and experience to wrestle with brand strategy for business to business brands. Unlike B2C, B2B branding tends to rely heavily on established sales processes, with supporting organizational structures. Other fundamental differences are average client value, longevity of relationships, and above-the-line marketing activities and budgets.
With over two decades of branding experience, including senior strategy roles at Microsoft, Salt Branding, Landor, and Wongdoody, ROB has led B2B branding assignments for Microsoft, Pearson, IDX Systems (now GE Healthcare IT), Entrust Datacard, ADP, and CenturyLink, among many others.
ROB is the creator of the Type-Role-Purpose approach to brand architecture strategy, first presented in the peer-reviewed Journal of Brand Management. A student of brand structures and their related identities--both naming conventions and visual identities--ROB continues to progress the discipline, while helping clients maximize the value, and simplify the management, of their brand portfolios.
Education
FOSTER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
MBA
UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND
B.A., Philosophy
