
Aaron Carpenter
Aaron Carpenter is the rare brand strategist who has repeatedly proven that emotional connection at scale directly drives billions in profitable growth. From doubling The North Face to $2B as VP of Global Marketing to launching Levi’s $200M digital business, Aaron now serves as Founder and Fractional CMO at ACV Consulting—equipping heritage and growth-stage consumer brands with the cultural engineering, AI-ready frameworks, and private-equity-grade rigor needed to dominate their category for decades.
Founder | FCMO, Brand Strategy & Growth
Architect of Emotional Scale
Aaron Carpenter is a career-defining marketer known for transforming heritage brands into high-performance financial engines. As the former VP of Global Marketing at The North Face, Aaron executed the playbook that led to the company's growth from $1 billion to $2 billion in revenue over just five years. His approach provides the quantitative evidence required by private equity firms and growth-stage boards, proving that brand equity is a direct driver of top-line growth. At Levi Strauss, he led digital transformation, launching and building LeviStraussSignature.com, which achieved $200M in revenue within three years. Aaron specializes in helping established brands navigate the complex transition from "product companies" to "lifestyle icons" in the US market.
Engineering Cultural Ecosystems
Aaron's methodology transcends traditional advertising; he specializes in "cultural engineering". He architected the "See for Yourself" campaign, the largest in The North Face's history, which established a new standard for experiential marketing. By constructing a complex ecosystem of partnerships—ranging from the Department of the Interior and astronaut Buzz Aldrin to musical acts like My Morning Jacket—Aaron demonstrated how to embed a brand into the fabric of a consumer's lifestyle. This expertise is now central to his consulting practice, offering clients a roadmap to operationalize brand promise and secure deep emotional loyalty at a global scale.
Strategic Change Agent
In a market defined by disruption, Aaron acts as the decisive "change agent" for brands facing stagnation or transition. As noted by Matt Smith, CEO of Tracksmith, Aaron's value lies in his ability to "push strategy forward rather than merely maintaining operations". Through recent interim roles with dynamic brands such as Sea to Summit and Havaianas, he has solidified his reputation for breaking the status quo. Whether acting as a fractional CMO or a strategic advisor, Aaron provides the "turnaround" expertise necessary to rescue distressed strategies and build efficient paths to profitability.
