Alan Brew

Founding Partner

There are few individuals who can truly claim to have influenced, shaped and reshaped the world of branding and businesses. Alan is one of those people.

Alan Brew, a founding partner of BrandingBusiness, brings more than 30 years of international corporate branding experience with some of the world’s largest brands and design agencies.

Alan believes in the visceral power of words and images to help companies experiencing change–whether evolutionary or abrupt— to achieve strategic clarity and shape perceptions about who they are and what they stand for. He has helped many clients on this basis over his career, such as RBC Financial, IBM, Tech Data, Elsevier, Constellation Energy, British Airways, Intelsat and ZS Associates.

He describes himself as an accidental brand strategist. Before entering brand consultancy, Alan was a senior writer and editor with the Financial Times of London. A chance meeting with design legend Walter Landor convinced him, finally, that business journalism was a perfect training ground for what would become corporate branding.

“The problem with branding is the word itself – branding. It has become so diluted as to be almost meaningless. Our work is simple. It is rooted in business vision and, at its best, it can be magnificently powerful. The epitome of a great corporate brand lies in its ability to stay relevant, to pave the way for innovation, and tell inspiring, convincing stories of where it is going and why people should care.”

In 1985 Alan joined Landor Associates as Managing Director Europe to open the company’s first international office in London and lead its expansion across Europe, driving brand strategy engagements for Alcatel, Barclays Bank, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Delta Air Lines, and France Telecom. In 1992 he moved to Landor’s HQ in San Francisco where he later launched his own business, Addison. He has also held senior positions with WPP and Omnicom agencies.

A knowledgeable and eloquent speaker, Alan has been tapped by numerous conference groups and journalists to speak or comment on branding. He also co-hosts a podcast interview series with marketers and other B2B experts.

When he isn’t branding businesses, Alan is writing, blogging, and searching for books about Shakespeare he hasn’t read.