Research-led strategy · fashion, beauty, lifestyle

The product works. It looks good. So does the one next to it.

I work out what makes a brand hard to substitute: why people choose one and keep coming back to it. I do it with research, commercial analysis and a close eye on how a brand shows up.

I'm building an independent practice and am open to supporting boutique agencies, studios and founders on the research behind positioning, product and consumer experience.

See the brand audit Get in touch
  1. ResearchQuestion assumptions, gather evidence.
  2. Pattern recognitionAcross consumers, product and brand.
  3. Strategic insightWhat the pattern means for the brand.
  4. Creative opportunityWhere it could credibly go next.
About

Neuroscience, then fashion ecommerce, now brand direction.

I'm a research-led strategist working across brand, product and consumer behaviour. A degree in cognitive neuroscience and psychology taught me to question assumptions and weigh evidence.

Several years in fashion ecommerce planning and analytics, including at Tommy Hilfiger / PVH, showed me how people actually buy and how analysis turns into product and commercial decisions.

I'm now applying both to brand and creative strategy, with a focus on fashion, beauty and lifestyle.

How I think

Why does someone choose one, and keep coming back?

In skincare, fashion and lifestyle, quality and good design have become the baseline. What separates the brands people stay with is harder to see, and that is what I try to work out.

I look at it from three positions, and at the dynamic between them: a brand sets a prediction, a consumer tests it, and the product confirms or breaks it. Tap a position.

hard to substitute? promises tries proves brand consumer product

When every brand makes the same promise, nobody registers the difference. The question in the middle is what sets the brand apart: what makes it hard to substitute?

From the brand: what it promises

Who is the brand speaking to, and what is their message? Does every touchpoint say the same thing?

From the consumer: how it is experienced

How do people discover, use and remember it, and where does the experience fall short of the promise?

From the product: what it proves

Does the product deliver on the promise, and what could it become, in materials, formats or adjacent territories, that only this brand could credibly make?

What I do

Research and analysis behind brand work.

  • Brand auditHow positioning shows up across product, communication, channels and experience, with gaps and opportunities.
  • Competitor and category mappingWho owns what in a crowded category, and where there is room to be distinct.
  • Consumer and commercial analysisSales, assortment and product data turned into what customers actually respond to.
  • Product and opportunity scopingAdjacent product, material or experience territories a brand could credibly enter.
  • Pitch and project supportA fast, evidence-based starting point for a new-business pitch or positioning deck.

Available white-label or credited, depending on the project. Scoped engagements with the deliverable and format agreed up front.

Selected work
Self-initiated · speculative · public information only

From minimal to mindful

A brand audit of a botanical skincare brand. It starts from one observation: clean minimalism has become the category default, and for many brands calm has started to feel clinical.

The audit proposes sensory minimalism as a way for the brand to feel more human without losing its restraint. It maps the opportunity in three phases, from changes that can start now to longer-term moves.

This is not a commissioned project. It shows how I work: look closely, find the pattern, and turn it into options a team could act on.

Phase I · Immediate
  • Ritualized tactility
  • Material storytelling
  • Sound-led calm
Phase II · Low lift
  • Material depth
  • Verbal tone
  • Atmospheric world
Phase III · Long term
  • Retail ritual
  • Slow digital touchpoints
  • Collaborative calm
Request the full audit
Background
  • CommercialFashion ecommerce planning and analytics. Forecasting, sales and consumer analysis, assortment planning and product performance.
  • EducationMA Fashion Design Management, University of the Arts London (London College of Fashion). BSc Cognitive Neuroscience and Molecular Cell Biology, minor in Psychology, University College Utrecht.

Working on a brand, a pitch or a project that needs more research?

The full CV and capabilities one-pager are available on request.