I draw insight from businesses, people, and culture, to help brands tell stories and solve problems creatively.
Dan is a VP, Brand, with 18 years experience in brand marketing rooted in insightful strategic and creative thinking that leads to proven business impact. His experience spans everything from global brands like Apple and Nike, all the way through to disruptive startups like Mack Weldon. He currently leads all Brand marketing for Mack Weldon, with oversight of the Brand and Creative teams. He was the first brand hire within the marketing team, tasked with establishing a new brand positioning and vision, setting a new foundation for sustainable brand-centric growth. He established a brand positioning rooted in Mack Weldon apparel being a source of comfort for guys, anywhere. He built the team, processes, creative vision and channel-specific strategy to propel the brand forward, leading to an improved brand awareness outperforming key competitors.
His approach to strategy is informed by the creative discipline and rigor of Apple, the consumer obsession of Nike, and the entrepreneurialism of building a DTC brand from scratch. Even though the ways audiences can interact with a brand continue to increase exponentially, the importance of deeply understanding why a company or product exists, and asking why people will engage with it and care about it, drives his interest in developing ideas that will have a positive impact.
Prior to his role at Mack Weldon, Dan was a Strategy Director at AKQA, a creative company at the intersection of imagination and technology, where he led projects with Nike and Volvo. For Nike, he partnered with the Digital Product team to launch Nike’s first ever connected jerseys for the NBA and Chelsea FC, crafting the digital experience rooted in understanding modern sports fans. He also led a multi-year brand transformation for Volvo, creating a new vision for how the brand experience should serve new consumers, rooted in primary research, ethnographies and cultural immersions.
At Media Arts Lab, Dan worked closely with Apple for several years, firstly in Europe where he led the strategy launching iPhone in multiple European markets, determining local cultural strategy and content, before successfully launching iPad across Europe. He moved to Media Arts Lab in Los Angeles to continue working with Apple in a global capacity, leading brand and campaign strategy projects including the Emmy award-winning Misunderstood brand campaign, the first integrated campaign that leveraged Apple’s complete ecosystem including an original song from Cat Power that was launched on iTunes as part of the campaign.
Dan’s broad interests in sports and culture are also reflected in the consulting roles he has held. As an avid tennis player and fan, he has partnered with Racquet magazine on a series of pitches and audience expansion projects. He has also consulted on brand positioning for (re)boot futbol, an upcycling system for sports clubs, connecting the world of sports, fashion, and circular design.
Dan is available for select advisory and consulting engagements.