Brand Strategy.
Focus the brand.
Then grow it on purpose.
Narrowing your focus is the fastest path to expansion. ACV builds Brand DNA your team can actually use, a 1–3 year strategic growth plan, and an AI-assisted system that keeps every brief on-brand. Human-led. Built for US consumer and retail brands.
WHAT WE DO
Three ways to put the brand to work
FOUNDATION
Brand DNA Workshops
A living Brand DNA deck: pyramid, promise, personality, points of difference, and core / secondary consumer profiles your whole team can use every day.
- Strategic overview (2 pages)
- One-page Brand DNA Pyramid
- Consumer profiles + moodboards
- PDF and editable PPT living document
Best when teams tell different stories, or the brand has outgrown the old guidelines.
ROADMAP
Strategic Growth Plans
A 1–3 year marketing roadmap that turns Brand DNA into GTM, digital, retail, and team plans — so the budget becomes an investment instead of a reaction.
- 1–3 year strategic marketing plan
- Go-to-market planning
- Digital marketing strategy
- Retail design playbook option
- Marketing team & leadership planning
Best when leadership wants one plan the whole company can execute against.
SYSTEMS
CMO Dashboard
An Intelligence Engine that keeps strategy alive: dynamic personas, predictive scenarios, automated briefs, and a real-time decision layer grounded in your Brand DNA.
- Dynamic persona intelligence
- Predictive scenario modeling
- Automated strategic briefs
- Always-on decision engine
Best when the strategy is written and the team still improvises every campaign.
Osprey
ACV Consulting helped Osprey build a global brand identity framework through Brand DNA, consumer segmentation, and a comprehensive Brand Playbook.
30 Ink
Three Years of Planning Partnership Helped a Celebrity-Led Enterprise Move from Entrepreneurial Energy to Operational Discipline.
Mons Royale
What does it take for a brand from a country of just five million people to compete in the world's largest consumer market?
HOW TO CHOOSE
Which brand strategy offering is right for you?
Choose Brand DNA if identity is the gap. Choose a Strategic Growth Plan if the next 1–3 years are the gap. Choose CMO Dashboard if consistency in daily work is the gap.
| If this is true | Start here | You leave with |
|---|---|---|
| Every team describes the brand differently | Brand DNA Workshops | Pyramid + consumer profiles in a living deck |
| You know who you are, not what to do next | Strategic Growth Plans | 1–3 year roadmap across GTM, digital, retail, team |
| The plan exists and execution keeps drifting | CMO Dashboard | Living briefs, personas, and scenario tools |
BRAND DNA WORKSHOPS
What is a Brand DNA workshop?
It is a five-to-six week working process that turns existing brand material into a one-page Brand DNA Pyramid and consumer profiles. The pyramid becomes the filter for every later decision — campaigns, product, retail, hiring.
Led with a cross-section of your leadership team. Scalable to any size brand.
What we define
- Brand promise — the commitment you make to the customer
- Archetype and personality
- Points of difference and points of parity
- Values and purpose
- Core audience profile
- Secondary audience profile
Week 1: Preparation and identity assessment
Week 2: Brand DNA workshop (2–6 hours)
Week 3: Target consumer workshop (1–2 hours)
Week 4: Team refinement
Week 5: Final pyramid and profiles
Week 6: Embedding session with the wider team
STRATEGIC GROWTH PLANS
What is a strategic growth plan?
It is a 1–3 year marketing roadmap that replaces short-term spending with a calculated plan. We turn Brand DNA into GTM, digital strategy, optional retail playbooks, and leadership continuity so the company stops reacting to every market twitch.
What the plan can include
- Strategic marketing plan (1–3 years)
- Go-to-market strategy planning
- Brand DNA development, if not already done
- Retail design playbook
- Digital marketing strategy tied to brand goals
- Marketing team and leadership planning
Step 1: Expert consultation and goal-setting
Step 2: AI-powered data analysis
Step 3: Human-crafted strategy
Step 4: Guided rollout and optimization
Step 5: Actionable plan with metrics
CMO Dashboard
What is CMO Dashboard?
It is exclusive access to ACV’s Intelligence Engine — a living system that operationalizes Brand DNA in real time. Dynamic personas, scenario modeling, automated marketing briefs, and an always-on decision layer so strategy does not die in a PDF.
AI does the synthesis. Humans calibrate meaning, culture, and timing.
What you get
- Dynamic persona intelligence that evolves with behavior
- Predictive “what-if” scenario modeling before you spend
- Automated briefs that keep creative on-DNA
- Real-time decision engine against strategic goals
Weeks 1–2: Secure intake of history, guidelines, and plans
Weeks 3–4: Human-led calibration of AI baselines
Ongoing: Always-on briefs, monitoring, and course-correction
WHO THIS IS FOR
Consumer and retail brands that need a sharper center
- Founders whose brand has outgrown the original story
- Marketing teams that cannot agree on the one-page filter
- Leaders planning a 1–3 year horizon before a launch, sale, or expansion
- Operators who have a strategy deck and still watch execution drift
THE TEAM BEHIND THE WORK
Human-Led. AI-Enhanced.
Aaron Carpenter
Former VP Marketing at Levi Strauss and CMO at The North Face. Leads Brand DNA and strategic planning work.
Christopher Peak
Translates Brand DNA into retail experience and playbooks. Apple and Universal Studios retail lineage.
Sabrina Lafosse
Turns Brand Strategy into digital systems, briefs, and measurement so the strategy survives contact with channels.
FAQs
What is Brand Strategy?
Brand strategy is the system that decides who you are for, what you promise, and how the company grows without diluting that promise. At ACV it has three parts: Brand DNA, a Strategic Growth Plan, and optional AI-Assisted Brand Management.
What is Brand DNA?
Brand DNA is a one-page pyramid plus consumer profiles that define promise, personality, points of difference, values, and who the brand is for. It is the filter every later plan and brief should pass through.
Do I need Brand DNA before a strategic growth plan?
Usually yes. If the team cannot describe the brand the same way, a three-year plan will scatter. We can include DNA development inside a Strategic Growth Plan when needed.
How long does this take?
Brand DNA: about six weeks. Strategic Growth Plans: scoped to the horizon, typically starting with a consultation and a multi-week build. AI management: two to four weeks of intake and calibration, then ongoing.
Is this only for large brands?
No. The workshops scale to the team in the room. The work is built for growth-stage and mid-market US consumer and retail brands.
Ready to find out what’s actually possible for your brand?
30 minutes. No pitch. A real conversation about your situation and AI readiness.