For agencies

Your strategy partner

Design and brand agencies. Your work deserves a strong brand strategy foundation. Clients value the clarity. Creatives appreciate the focus.

See how it works

Senior strategic expertise as part of your client offer

I’m Garrett Reil – an independent brand strategist with thirty years’ experience working with brands from Aton to Zurich, and senior roles at FutureBrand, Landor and Brand Union. I work as a strategic partner to design agencies in Ireland and the UK.

Where this came from

I spent years working at the point where strategy meets creative – and I kept seeing the same thing happen. A sound strategy would be signed off, everyone would agree it was right, and nothing would move.

The creative teams couldn’t connect to it. Designers wouldn’t know where to start, or worse, they’d start again. The work that came back felt generic, or, disconnected from the strategy.

The strategy was not wrong, it just didn’t connect.

So I started moving back up the process. Not to redo a strategy, but to understand where the signal was getting lost. To hear the full story myself. To get the feel for it – because without that feel, no amount of rigour produces something people can use.

And when I got there, I recognised it. This was where I’d started. Early in my career, before anyone called it strategy, this was simply what you did – you listened, you understood, you sought and shaped meaning. You found clarity. Somewhere along the way, our industry model separated thinking from making, and something essential had been lost in the gap.

So now I guide that journey. From the first conversations to strategy on a page – and when required – beyond into messaging, voice, the words that make it real.

Because clarity of vision isn’t something you bolt on at the end. It has to be there from the beginning, or it isn’t there at all.

What I bring to agencies

Brand strategy

Positioning, purpose, principles and personality – the strategic foundation that gives your creative work a solid platform. Not a templated exercise. Built on proper discovery, with synthesis that turns insight into clarity.

Messaging and voice

The verbal side of the brand: messaging frameworks, tone of voice, key narratives. Built from the positioning – not invented after it. Words your creative teams can actually use.

Brand naming

Naming is harder than most creative challenges – tighter constraints, more linguistic and legal considerations, the right answer often hidden behind several wrong ones. My process is built for that difficulty. When an agency holds the client relationship, naming runs inside that frame.

Why this works

Deeper strategy, no overhead

You can offer the depth of strategic thinking that comes from decades of international experience – without hiring a senior strategist or building a strategy department.
Clients who are bought in

Strategy developed through proper stakeholder involvement creates ownership. Your clients aren’t receiving a document – they’ve been an active part of building it. That makes the creative phases easier and the work more likely to stick.
Strategy that leads to creative

I’ve spent my career on both sides of the brief. I understand what you need from a strategy document, what makes positioning actually useful, and how to write it in a way that leads naturally to creative. No translation required.
Your client is your client

I’m your partner – I’m not competing with you.

How the relationship works

I work as an extension of your agency. Your client knows I’m involved – I conduct stakeholder interviews, customer conversations and facilitate workshops. But the relationship is always yours. I’m your strategic partner, not a separate consultant they might call directly next time.

Some agencies want me closely integrated throughout. Others prefer I handle the strategic phases, then hand off to creative development. We agree the best model upfront based on what suits you, the project and the client relationship.

Commercials

Because you handle the relationship and project management, I can offer preferred rates that let you build margin while expanding your offer. You’re not passing through a cost – you’re adding value to your delivery, and to your bottom line.

Your client stays your client.

If that model fits how your agency works, get in touch.

Get in touch