We believe that building strong brands is not rocket science. But it is hard work.

A brand can never be all things to all people.

But it can be the right thing for the right people.

Great brands make tough choices.

Great brands commit.

Not to proprietary models that rationalize, prioritize and sublimate complex intellectual concepts. Models can't create an emotional connection. Great brands commit to a singular idea - the one thing that only they can provide and that their customers crave - and they deliver on it at each and every interaction and opportunity.

Brand is not a logo or a tagline or an advertising campaign.

Logos, taglines, and ads make a promise, but it's up to your employees to keep that promise. Whether they are interacting with customers, overseeing assembly lines or commenting on blogs, it's your employees' actions that will make or break your brand, and it's your culture that dictates your employees' actions.

Great brands are built on strong cultures.

They go beyond employee manuals and Successories. From recruiting to training to job design to reward systems, great brands instill, encourage and reinforce values and behaviors that create powerful brand experiences for customers. Values and behaviors that are the foundations of strong cultures. Cultures that deliver business results.

Every good brand is built on a strong strategic foundation.

But it's effective implementation that brings great brands to life.

Let there be no confusion: great brands are living things.

Nurturing them requires understanding their strategic underpinnings, and imagining how they can evolve and adapt to the real world. It requires knowing when to push for consistency, and knowing when to push the envelope. It requires uncompromising, indefatigable, meticulous attention to the details that allow not just brands but organizations to thrive. These are distinct but complementary mindsets.

The teams behind great brands master all of them.

Jon drives BrandCulture forward with a singular combination of finance, operations, sales and marketing prowess - wed with his unshakable focus on getting the job done and delivering results. Jon's career has been catalyzed by a diverse group of successful business leaders and entrepreneurs, ranging from Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles to Imagination's Gary Withers in London. Through his experience working with world-class organizations galvanized by well-aligned business and brand strategies, Jon has learned how to build brands that inform not just communications, but create strong, resilient and enduring cultures. Prior to founding the BrandCulture Company, Jon was Sr. Vice President, Corporate and Brand Development for Wolfgang Puck Catering - a subsidiary of Compass Group PLC, the $20+ Billion global food service company. Jon was active in developing the strategic positioning and identity for the business across the company's dining, catering and consumer package operations. Working with Wolfgang Puck reinforced Jon's belief in the causal link between strong cultures and successful business organizations - and in the ability of highly engaged employees to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Earlier, Jon expanded his brand and interactive media experience while working for Siegel + Gale, a global brand and interactive consultancy. Jon was active in significant client engagements for BEA Systems, Jiffy Lube and Lexus, including the rollout of the new Lexus brand positioning to dealers across the United States. Jon started in brand development with the London-based, design and communication consultancy, Imagination, Ltd. where he helped shape the firm's "brand experience" offering for clients including Blockbuster, BMW, Holiday Inn Worldwide and The Coca-Cola Company. He later leveraged the expertise in corporate communications and events he developed at Imagination while working in the executive team of Caribiner International where he led engagements for Motorola, Philips Electronics and Saab, among other global brands. In the 1980s, Jon was involved in real estate acquisitions, development, asset management and syndication. He also worked in hospitality with the joint-venture development of Webb Restaurant's Atlanta and St. Louis operations. Jon proved his industriousness early on in family-owned insurance businesses where he partnered with Haas-Wilkerson Insurance to launch start-up Specialty Program Insurers at the age of 21. Across all of his endeavors, Jon capitalizes on his early entrepreneurial experience to sharpen his focus on managing day-to-day operations with an eye on long-term profitability, growth and value. Jon holds a BS in Finance from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse and a MS in Real Estate and Urban Affairs degree from Georgia State University.

Eric applies intellect tempered with humanity - and sometimes even humility - to all of BrandCulture's endeavors, delivering unparalleled precision and rigor in the service of our clients' businesses and brands. Eric leads the firm's strategy practice across all client engagements, and has steered branding and positioning successes across technology, financial services and healthcare companies including Adobe Systems, Applied Biosystems, Caterpillar, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Conexant, Con-Way, Digital Insight, The Doctors Company, Farmers Insurance, Frank Russell Company, Microsoft, Overture, Pacific Life, PIMCO, Secured Capital, Southern California Edison, Tenet Healthcare and Union Bank of California. At BrandCulture, he continues to lead teams that develop corporate and product branding and naming programs, establish engaging interactive user experiences and galvanize corporate culture around strong brand values. Formally trained as a lawyer, Eric specializes in demystifying complex legal and financial concepts to create stronger connections among organizations, partners and customers. Prior to BrandCulture, Eric held a variety of executive positions. He served as the Head of Corporate Affairs for LRN Corporation, the provider of online ethics and compliance education and corporate responsibility, governance and sustainability advisory and consulting services. Earlier in his tenure with LRN, Eric also served as the company's Head of Strategic Marketing and Company Communications, overseeing branding, corporate marketing and public relations functions. In this role, he led the team that repositioned LRN from its roots in legal research and online compliance training to a company providing comprehensive, technology-enabled ethics and corporate governance solutions. Before moving to the client side in 2003, Eric was Senior Vice President at the global branding and interactive media consultancy Siegel + Gale. As Sector Director of the firm's financial services and technology practice areas, Eric supervised major client engagements for mutual funds, consumer products companies, brokerage firms, banks, insurers, healthcare providers, high technology companies and utilities. In his prior role as head of S + G's west coast Simplified Communications practice, Eric pioneered an easy-to-read online credit report for the Experian credit bureau and restructured and streamlined the way T. Rowe Price presents its annual tax reports to investors. Before finding his calling building strong brands, Eric represented technology clients as an attorney with Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, and worked for the law firms of Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Earlier, Eric worked for CIBA-Geigy (now Novartis) and Becton Dickinson Immunodiagnostics. Eric is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Stanford where he graduated with distinction and departmental honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also studied at St. Catherine's College, Oxford and the University of Urbino in Italy.

As BrandCulture's master of all things online, Chris is one of the rare interactive experts equally excited about split testing and conversion rates as about jaw-dropping XHTML. In short, he lives to create unique digital experiences that produce tangible business results. Chris began his journey into interactive media almost 15 years ago, when he taught the first CD-ROM production class at UC Irvine Arts Extension. Migrating from distributed media to the Internet, Chris became equally adept working in the worlds of user experience strategy, information architecture, information, graphic and Flash design, microsites, seamless integration with content management systems and website performance analytics. Back in 1998, Chris founded Dotmedia, an interactive agency with integrated teams based in Toronto, Canada and California. The firm has specialized in new media development for advertising agencies, retailers, shopping centers, growth and technology companies. Dotmedia quickly developed an international clientele of more than 30 retail properties and retail property managers. Chris later added a consulting offer through its Dotria affiliate focusing on industry best practices, information architecture and overall online improvement strategies through continual testing and analysis. Throughout his career, Chris has focused his efforts on harnessing the power of Interactive media to inform, inspire and, equally importantly, improve ROI. Chris has considerable expertise in eMarketing, search optimization and measurement. His client experience spans industries including engagements with MTV Networks, Hilton, ESPN, Nestle America and Jones New York. He is a Clicktracks Certified Professional, a member of the Web Analytics Association and a member of the Email Marketing Association. When not biking in national and international competitions, Chris divides his time between Southern California and Toronto.

Paul excels at the art and science of defining and giving life to clear, compelling, differentiated brands. He has extensive experience overseeing every phase of brand strategy and implementation, having led scores of brand positioning, brand architecture, corporate and product naming, identity design, interactive media and print production engagements. At BrandCulture Paul has most recently spearheaded strategic engagements for Explorer Insurance, ReServe Interactive and the City of Santa Monica, and he manages ongoing brand and culture development relationships with Tiburon, FoodLink Online and Westside Children's Center. Prior to joining BrandCulture, Paul worked for nearly a decade at brand consultancy Siegel + Gale where his work included positioning and naming strategy engagements with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and the Town of Mammoth Lakes, Activision, Sony PlayStation and Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation. Paul also has extensive experience with high-growth technology companies, developing standout brands in highly competitive environments for such clients as SanDisk, Conexant Systems, National Semiconductor, Peregrine Systems, Skyworks Solutions and Mindspeed Technologies. Paul has also worked across healthcare, insurance, real estate and early stage companies, including HealthNet, The Doctor's Company, CBRichard Ellis and CarsDirect. Paul brings extensive international experience to the BrandCulture team. He has worked in France, Mexico, Colombia and Spain, where he launched and oversaw all operations of LG Electronics' newly outsourced technical and warranty support contact center for the UK market and drove its results for the Spanish, Dutch and Korean management teams. Earlier, Paul worked as a researcher for The Carter Center's Latin American and Caribbean program. Paul studied at Emory University as a Woodruff Scholar, where he earned a BA in International Studies and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Roxana's deep understanding of corporate communications, flair for weaving compelling stories and ability to forge solid relationships make her indispensable to BrandCulture clients executing brand and media outreach programs. She is an experienced and accomplished public relations and client services professional, with over a decade of experience planning and executing high-profile programs that increase brand recognition, generate top-of-mind awareness and drive sales. Roxana also acts as a local and regional spokesperson during new product launches, issue advocacy campaigns and crisis communications situations, and she has extensive experience in conceptualizing and executing brand-building events. Roxana chaired the cross-disciplinary team that developed the City of Santa Monica's public education campaign to raise awareness of the City's no-smoking laws through media relations, community events and stakeholders engagement. She also leads BrandCulture's client and media relationships for Explorer Insurance and Skid Row Housing Trust, and leads the trade, marketing and investor relations for Blue Pacific Flavors, a global food technology and ingredients company. Roxana joined BrandCulture from Southard Communications, where she oversaw the Santa Monica office servicing 19 client accounts. While at Southard, she managed the PR programs for a range of clients including Shopatron, iFire, Varsity Brands, Chester's Fried Chicken, Giles Foodservice Equipment, Go Roma Italian Kitchens, the Dodge Licensed Products division and Brand Sense Partners. Roxana began her career with Orlando-based CBR Public Relations, where she rose through the ranks to account supervisor and worked with a host of major companies, including McDonald's Corporation, Waste Management, Inc. of Florida and the Melbourne International Airport. Roxana graduated from the University of Central Florida and studied at the University of Barcelona where she earned a certificate in Spanish language.

Sharon specializes in helping organizations help themselves by encouraging strategy-led transformation from within. Working in conjunction with the BrandCulture's brand strategy and implementation teams, Sharon develops and oversees organizational development programs that touch all levels and aspects of our clients' business processes. Prior to the BrandCulture, Sharon was a Senior Vice President with Echelon Consulting Group. She developed the Organizational Transformation Practice within the firm, creating innovative models, methodologies, tools and metrics to drive and measure enhanced organizational performance. Earlier Sharon spent years with The Walt Disney Company, where she helped develop, lead and manage the Disney University. The University was responsible for training and development, employee communication, childcare center, environmental assistance, educational reimbursement and crisis management activities. While at Disney, Sharon also implemented cultural change and transition strategies that were critical to the turnaround undertaken by executives Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. She applied her expertise to key management transitions, new business start-ups and acquisitions - most notably the launch of The Disney Channel, the creation of The Disney Stores and the acquisition of KCAL television station. Sharon has served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California in the School of Management and Organization. She has also lectured extensively on organizational development and human resources at a variety of universities including UCLA, the Harvard School of Public Health and Cornell University. Sharon holds two Bachelor of Science degrees and a secondary education teaching credential from the University of California at Davis, a Masters in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from Harvard University.

Allan has a passion for transforming complex business issues into actionable research findings, honed by his experience and insights gleaned from over twenty years in the marketing and consumer research industries. Equally fluent in both quantitative and qualitative techniques, Allan draws on experience designing and running hundreds of studies to answer tough questions, uncover hidden insights and separate truth from fiction in order to give clients confidence in their decisions. Before teaming with BrandCulture Company, Allan was Research Director in the Beverage Division of Nestlé USA. There, he led strategic consumer-based research initiatives including the identification and development of eight children's beverage segments, the re-positioning of Taster's Choice Instant Coffee, determining key consumer loyalty drivers for the Nestlé Consumer Relationship Marketing process and determining the appeal of innovative new coffee products targeting younger consumers. Prior to Nestlé, Allan was Research Director at Danone Waters of America. There he directed the acquisition, interpretation and communication of consumer and customer-related information for all functions in the company. His strategic customer retention research resulted in a customer retention improvement worth approximately $8 million in annual profit. Allan also held senior research positions at First Interstate Bancorp, M/A/R/C Research, Black & Decker Household Products and Ocean Spray Cranberries. Allan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Sciences and a Master's Degree Marketing Communications, both from the University of Connecticut. Allan's area of academic focus culminated in his thesis is entitled "The Effect of Fantasy and Reality in Children's Television Advertising."

Emily does not simply design beautifully; she uses the power of great design to create elegant visual solutions to our clients' thorniest business communications challenges. Armed with a unique skill set that covers the spectrum from brand strategy through physical production, Emily understands the power and resonance of strong brands, as well as the discipline and attention to detail needed to assure their effective implementation across all media. Driven by her relentless desire to solve problems, Emily demonstrates the business value of great design, as well as its ability to drive behavior, in each client engagement. Emily has driven visual vocabulary and implementation programs for BrandCulture clients Iconosports, Santa Monica, Tiburon and Westside Children's Center. Before the BrandCulture, Emily worked as a graphic designer for RLR Advertising Agency and later as a brand analyst for Siegel + Gale, where she learned the rigor and acumen required of both disciplines. Emily has worked with a diverse array of clients on a range of branding and communication initiatives including the Los Angeles Galaxy, Los Angeles Dodgers, University of Southern California, Surfer Magazine, the Los Angeles Zoo, Sun Microsystems, Jiffy Lube and the Los Angeles Community Design Center. During her work on the repositioning of the Lexus brand, Emily worked on-site at Lexus headquarters for almost a year to manage all aspects of the strategic brand development and implementation. Emily worked extensively over the last three years with the Wolfgang Puck Catering organization, overseeing the creation of communication materials ranging from the organization's website to its brochures and advertising. She also led the development of the celebrated and now industry benchmark Wolfgang Puck Grab N Go identity. Emily studied Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and holds a BA in Art History from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Adam's mastery of the craft and creation of letterforms, logotypes and wordmarks yield singular and timeless creative brand platforms for clients across business-to-business and consumer-facing industries. At BrandCulture Company, Adam fuses his deep experience with brand strategy and his loves for typography, pop culture and technology to develop solutions that captivate stakeholders on emotional and intellectual levels. He has developed identities and visual systems for clients such as Explorer, Lockwood and Wolfgang Puck. Adam's most recent work has focused on print and interactive design for Hilton Hotels, Wolfgang Puck, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Restaurant Associates, the Patina Group, Sun Microsystems, HiFi, Kaiser Permanente, classmates.com, Bridge Imaging, Face the Music and Yoshinoya. Adam was instrumental in helping shape the brand identity and brand communication system for the Wolfgang Puck Catering brand, the development of several restaurant identities for the group's museum restaurant portfolio and the design and development of the Wolfgang Puck Grab N Go system. Adam studied graphic design at the School of Visual Arts, New York and at the California Institute of the Arts, where he earned a BFA. He teaches hand-set type and letterpress at both California Institute of the Arts and Otis College of Art & Design.

Keith's consummate skill as a designer as well as his versatility and artful diplomacy have made him one of the few professionals able to work successfully with both UCLA and USC - sometimes even simultaneously. His refined style and experience not only in concepting but in production are evident in the sophisticated identity, web and print design solutions he has developed and implemented for manifold clients, including American Express, Amgen, Gensler, Hilton Hotels, Lexus, Motorola, Segway, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Technicolor. With BrandCulture, Keith has driven corporate identity programs for Explorer and Tiburon. Keith began his design career at Selbert Perkins design, and subsequently decamped to Siegel+ Gale, and later to KBDA Los Angeles before joining with BrandCulture Company. Keith's work is frequently recognized by design industry organizations and publications including the AIGA, ADC, NIRA, AR1 00, Communication Arts and How, where he was singled out as one of "5 Designers to Watch." To keep abreast of new talent and developments in design, Keith works as an Instructor at Art Center College of Design and serves on the adjunct faculty of the University of Southern California in Typography. Keith has also taught at the Otis College of Art & Design. His active involvement in the design community extends to his service as Vice President of Programming at the Los Angeles chapter of AIGA. Keith holds a BFA degree in Graphic Design from the University of Cincinnati and also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Amanda draws on a diverse set of personal and professional influences and a spirit of indomitable alacrity as she harnesses the power of design to inspire as well as inform. Her expertise spans identity design, print collateral and letterpress and she has served as the driving force behind BrandCulture's design work for Bradder Golf, The City of Redondo Beach, FoodLink Online, Huntsinger Ranch, The Michael Hoefflin Foundation, Skid Row Housing Trust and Tiburon. Before joining BrandCulture, Amanda worked as a Designer at Les Chenaeuex Design where she worked across a variety of client engagements and design media including. Earlier Amanda worked as a portrait and artwork photographer, in photo restoration and as a designer for identity, apparel and merchandise graphics. Amanda holds a BFA in Graphic Design from Bowling Green State University with a minor in Marketing. In 2008 she was awarded an American Design Award for excellence in graphic design and illustration for the "Sweet as Sugar" communications system.