I help founders and owners beat the odds, gain market share, and thrive by creating brands that cut through the noise
Go to market or relaunch quickly with a well-informed, differentiated brand
Create increasingly compelling value fast by testing, learning, and iterating ASAP
Stay focused on your True North — internally and externally — as you succeed and grow
Knowing who you truly are as a brand is never more important than when you’re trying to win over new investors, new hires, new partners, and new users. Every initial building block you put in place shapes the way people perceive you — every bit of beta sign-up copy, your visual identity, your app’s UI, how you articulate your mission, your first social posts.
That’s where I come in….
I’m Stacy Thal,
MVP Brand Strategist
I use a lean minimum viable product or “MVP” approach to brand development that helps founders and C-suite leaders get into action quickly with confidence, start driving results, and adapt with expert support as they test, learn, and iterate.
- Award-winning Brand/Creative Director
- Two decades of agency, consulting, and corporate in-house experience
- Former brand leader at Walmart, Yahoo, and Google
- Data-driven thought partner
- Consumer-first advocate
Here are a few of the brands I helped build and thrive
Your brand is your product
It’s the story you tell your customers, investors, partners, and employees everywhere you show up. In order to resonate, it has to be clear and consistent.
It needs a champion.
It’s your most valuable asset
From the vision you articulate to the colors you choose, and everything in between, your brand differentiates you. It’s what connects you to your users. It’s the reason they choose to trust you, invite you into their lives, and tell others how much they love you.
And it’s the rocket fuel that gets you where you want to go
Great brands start with great ideas. But many great brands never see the light of day, or quickly fizzle out. In the rush to market, many leap over one of the most critical steps: the creation of a solid brand strategy that defines your company ethos and differentiates your offering.
Brand development impacts every single working touchpoint. And every touchpoint is an opportunity to reinforce and push your brand forward. As you grow and get the word out, you need to make sure your brand storytelling, in words, images, and functionality, is consistent wherever people meet you — from inside recruiters to outdoor events.
Our work together is designed to do just that.
FOR SEED-STAGE STARTUPS
Need expert-level support to get your ideation validated?
Want a strong brand but are overwhelmed by the hefty, drawn-out agency approach?
FOR GROWTH-STAGE STARTUPS
Want to start selling and scaling but don’t know where to begin?
Need an on-call expert you can trust to help make critical strategic and creative decisions?
FOR AGENCIES, POST IPO & ENTERPRISE
Need team augmentation in order to meet aggressive goals?
Want a trusted lead to own and accomplish your OKRs with internal teams and outside vendors?
I can help you create a well-informed brand strategy and operationalize it, pulling it through all of your marketing, advertising, and employee touchpoints.
Here’s what I can do for your brand:
CREATE IT
Use research, data, and workshopping to articulate the critical elements of a solid, differentiating brand strategy foundation, look/feel, voice/tone
Garner approvals and excitement (not just buy-in) from cross-functional stakeholders
Socialize it throughout your company, investors, department, or team members
OPERATIONALIZE IT
Pull your brand strategy through every marketing, advertising, and employee touchpoint
Provide project leadership and creative direction to get the right consumer-facing work created in a timely fashion within budget
Partner or lead efforts with outside agencies to accomplish your goals
AMPLIFY IT 🚀
Direct and oversee all website / e-commerce, marketing, and advertising work
Continue to align your brand across all touchpoints as you learn and grow
Spearhead any/all adjustments as metrics come in
How do I know?
Because I did it for these brands, among many others, and it worked — really well.
Nipping at the heels of Peloton, connected fitness DTC startup, MYXfitness, needed to refresh their brand and extend a new, strong, differentiating point of view throughout all of their touchpoints.
We must’ve done something right together. The brand we created — along with the sales — captured the attention of the streaming fitness pioneers at Beachbody which acquired MYX in June of 2021 and took the merged companies public.
Working remote and toggling between San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, I drove and oversaw all creative initiatives including several TV commercials, lots of winning paid social campaigns, and CRM initiatives that created a super-engaged fanbase for the brand and its dedicated trainers.
Well-funded startup, Goode Health, is transforming personalized health through smart biomarker testing and technology-driven intelligence to bring the benefits of plant-based nutrition and expert wellness coaching within everyone’s reach.
To drive conversions via their e-commerce site, I worked closely with Goode’s CEO and Fractional CMO to craft their strategic go-to-market brand foundation.
Next, I drove the content strategy and creative direction for the revamp of their website, as well as provided all of the high-level messaging. To make sure we had a high-performing site, I ran point with their outside web design and development agency and helped get a beautiful, highly functioning site up and running within weeks — not months.
Endex is on a mission to create the most empowering social retail investment platform available by harnessing the synergy of peer-to-peer learning and sharing.
This fintech startup’s first-time founders engaged me to create a data-driven brand that would differentiate them from competitors adjacent in the social investing space. Early hiring efforts needed a hook, and their website needed a smart look. But, in order to set Endex apart, we first needed to tease out who they wanted to be — as a company and a brand.
I led working sessions that got us quickly to an articulated strategic brand foundation which included a tight set of messaging guidelines to share with the outside agencies handling their web design. paid social ads, PR, and recruiting.
Lastly, here are some nice things people have said about me
“Stacy was an incredible partner in bringing to life MYXfitness' unique offering and voice in the incredibly competitive at-home connected fitness space.”
Herbie Calves - CEO
“I've worked with many Brand Directors and Stacy is one of the best.”
Rabia Qari - CMO
“I really enjoyed my time with Stacy and in my 20+ years experience, Stacy is up there with the best.”
Matthew Iliffe - Founder
Want to talk?
Email me here, or give me call at 415-637-8229 (Pacific Time). You can also schedule an exploratory chat via Calendly with me here. Or, fill out this form and I’ll reach out.