All sizzle. No steak. No substance.
No, I'm not describing myself. I'm talking about what I call Hollywood Brands. The ones with a cool logo, a fancy site, and expensive words that speak to no one. Great on the outside. No meaning on the inside. Built to sell, not to connect.It happens because the strategy work never gets done up front. Not the surface-level work, but the deeper work. Why you exist, who you exist for, and what specific problem of theirs you're solving.Most brands never go deeper than the business problem. That's the problem.The human problem is always hiding underneath it. The thing your customer goes to bed thinking about. Find that and everything changes.The design stops trying to impress and starts trying to connect. The copy stops describing and starts promising. The content solves a problem instead of filling a calendar.When that happens, people don't just buy. They feel seen. They start caring. They tell their friends about you. Now you're not just building a customer base, you're building a loyal community.You can copy a visual identity. You can copy a tagline. You cannot copy a relationship built on actually knowing someone.
What I'm building
Co-Founder of Braindance
A strategic creative consultancy for tech companies that have something real to say and haven't found the right way to say it. Currently focused on cybersecurity. A space full of genuine problem-solvers drowning in identical language.
Founding Strategist of Dwello
My wife's interior design studio. Built around one belief: your home should be the best room you've ever walked into. Dwello turns rooms into sanctuaries through a design approach called Bold Harmony.
Where I've been
About
The many lives of Andy
I've lived a few different professional lives. More than most people expect when they meet a creative director.I studied microbiology. Which taught me to approach problems scientifically. Form a hypothesis, test it, learn from what breaks. I'd rediscover that instinct years later in every startup I worked with.My first job out of college was in banking. It taught me that before anyone buys anything, they have to trust someone. That never left me.Then Big Tobacco. Which taught me that all of marketing is really about perception and perceived value. Uncomfortable lesson. True one.I went back to school for advertising. Got my MFA. Learned lateral thinking. Like how to find the idea nobody saw coming and make it feel inevitable in hindsight.I taught for a semester right after. The students mostly didn't care. It taught me something about how hard it is to make people receive an idea they didn't ask for. Useful lesson for someone who'd spend the next fifteen years trying to do exactly that.Then the agency world. Years of it, across the US and Europe. Started as a copywriter, became a creative director. That's where I learned the difference between work that's fun to make and work that actually solves something. How to be strategic. How to connect with people rather than just impress them.Startups came next. Lean, fast, every word counts when there's no budget for the wrong ones.Then Enterprise Tech. IBM. Systems, scale, how to build something repeatable without losing precision.Then startups again. This time building my own.Each chapter gave me a different lens. Together they're why I see creative problems the way I do, and why I'm rarely satisfied with the first brief I'm handed.
Approach
Four things. In this order. Every time.
Understand your audience deeply
The human problem is always underneath the business problem.
Differentiate from the competition
The space only you can occupy is the only one worth being in.
Build a distinct brand voice
Every piece of communication should sound like the same company.
Speak to benefits not features
People don't buy what you do. They buy what it does for them.
Testimonials
One of the most talented creatives I've worked with.
Alex - Publicis
A great leader that kept teams aligned and on track.
Nico - IBM
His quick wit and laid back attitude are a perfect fit.
Ian - Ogilvy
A wonderful and very talented writer.
