Brand Consultant & Copywriter London
Discover your golden thread: joined–up thinking for brands
I work with brands to help them reveal their purpose, tone of voice and the stories they need to tell to engage their customers.
From multinationals to start–ups, as a brand consultant based in London, i can help you with brand strategy, tone of voice/verbal identity, strategic copywriting, brand naming and messaging.
My strategic approach is informed by big agency experience as a copywriter, creative director and head of verbal identity, as well as working closely with clients and their brands as a brand consultant.
What I do
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Robust, long-lived brand positioning starts from the inside out.
There’s a truth at the heart of every brand that often needs to be teased out – this golden thread joins up everything. Once it’s revealed, I use this to weave together a compelling and lasting brand strategy.
From your raison d’être or purpose to your vision, values, personality and tone of voice, it all starts with getting under the skin of your brand. I ask a lot of questions and, more importantly, listen.
Clients tell me I’m a good listener and quick to understand what is most important to their brand. The trick is to unpack and simplify your brand without dumbing it down.
Once your why, who and how is clear, I will bring it to life in logical, useful and usable guidelines that capture the magic. This makes rolling your brand out, both internally and to the wider world, much simpler and more effective.
As your brand guardian, I’m here to help you keep your brand and tone of voice consistent internally and externally through persuasive messaging.
Explore my approach to finding a brand’s golden thread and brand strategy projects >>
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How can a brand always express itself lucidly and consistently at every touchpoint?
With over 30 years’ experience as a copywriter and tone of voice consultant, including five years as Head of Verbal Identity in an award-winning London brand consultancy, I can help.
Taking the golden thread of your brand strategy and rooting it in your who, what and how, I will define or refine your brand’s tone of voice.
Through simple, clear and easy-to-use tone of voice guides, I can help everyone in your organisation communicate more effectively and consistently on brand, with each other and with your customers.
Discover more about my approach and how you can find brand voice here >>
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Words can be slippery. But I know how to wrangle them to work hard for you and your brand.
I’ve worked with hundreds of different brands across all sorts of sectors, as a freelance copywriter London and creative director in independent and international agencies, and with my own clients.
And I’ve written for everyone from three-men–and-a-dog start-ups (literally) to multinationals and everything in between. I bring strong storytelling skills to your brand. And I can help create big idea-driven campaigns across different media that deliver a real return on imagination, persuading people to engage more deeply with your brand.
Read more about my approach and the clients I’ve worked with here. >>
Who I’ve worked with
Case studies
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Brand writing projects
Writing and concepts for ad campaigns, model naming, coffee table books, website and brochures. Also wrote Bentley’s full HR website.
“Ed has a deep understanding of brands and, crucially, how they are evolving in the increasingly fragmented marketing landscape. His craft skills are a pleasure to peruse and he writes with confidence and credibility across all modern platforms. From a tweet to a tome, Ed is your man. A pleasure to work with and learn from.”
Dave Woods, Head of Copy, Keko London
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Brochure and website copywriting
Italian kitchen appliance manufacturer – writing for US and Europe for Bertazzoni and La Germania (sister brand).
Deep dive, detailed copywriting, creating clear water between series/models – similar to automotive and luxury yacht models.
Working with Pentagram.
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Copywriting for ad concepts, website, eDM, newsletters, brochures
Includes global launch campaign – TV & Print – for BMW 6 Series, model pages, BMW Finance and BMWi-Series.
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Copywriting CRM campaigns
Developed approach and content for CRM campaign to buyers of the new Veron who had paid a deposit but were waiting for the build to start. Given the extended time between order and build commencing, it was important to keep customers engaged and also to prompt them to pay the next instalment on their car.
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Brand ToV development IRL
Applying the new ToV and messaging to real content across key elements of the website, search descriptors and social media channels.
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Applying ToV to collateral
After defining a more approachable and dynamic tone of voice for the renowned strategic consultancy, I applied this to a series of case studies and boilerplates for the website.
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Tone of Voice application and website
Working with a team of four writers, I oversaw the copy development for the brand’s new website. This included brand philosophy, models and specifications. I also wrote various pages for models, with deep technical spec throughout.
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Writing for video, presentations and promotional material
Creating explainer videos and presentations for different divisions within the organisation.
I also scripted the launch film for the brand’s new Purpose, showcasing their approach and showing how it reflected their work around the world.
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Copywriting and concept for brand messaging and film
Working with the team at Morgan, I developed a messaging structure, expressed in a brand film script. This set the brand in context of its history and it’s forward–looking approach.
https://tinyurl.com/MorganTime
"Morgan is a traditional company with a long history, so we called on an expert from outside the company to help define our messaging in a clear and engaging way. Ed was that expert. His approach to immersing himself in Morgan was spot on. He totally understood us from the start and helped us define a structured message and a film script that had a profound effect. I look forward to working with him again."
Matt Jennings
Videographer/Media Designer, Morgan Motor Company
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Website, video and brand writing
Start-up anti-money laundering software developer. I helped them articulate their brand positioning, personality and ToV. Building on the central idea of ‘Intelligent Compliance”, I then applied the tone of voice to the website copy, explainer videos and built an approach to content strategy.
“We bought Ed in to help us redefine our brand position and align our messaging with the new brand. He's helped us cut through the noise and really pin down what is important to us.”
Julian Dixon, CEO
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Purpose Statement & Strapline Development for Nesta, the Innovation Foundation.
Developed a new articulation of the brand purpose and then created external-facing strapline that captured this in a compelling way: Bold Ideas Change Lives.
"Ed helped us turn a lot of research and insight about our organisation into a simple, meaningful narrative. Asking challenging questions and bringing an outsider's view to the table, he cut through the noise and unpicked our DNA. He uses language emotively, and was able to reflect both the big picture and the subtle details, bringing a new energy to our brand. A pleasure to work with and would highly recommend. Thanks Ed!"
Zosia Poulter, Senior Brand & Design Officer, Nesta
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Website copywriting for renowned Munich–based sound agency
Working with the founder, I developed copy built on the idea of capturing the sonic soul of your brand.
This covered all aspects of the business and included case studies demonstrating the importance of sound in communications.
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Seasonal campaign copywriting
After developing the tone of voice for the OS Leisure brand, I was asked to apply it to Christmas, spring, summer and autumn campaigns. Creating different iterations of seasonal messaging aimed at specific audiences.
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Brand and website copywriting
6 year on–going relationship with the client. Applying the tone of voice approach to the brand copy. This includes much of the website copy, including about, models, Explorer’s club, World Rally etc. Also contributed. articles and interviews to multiple issues of the Oyster Magazine.
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Brand writing across all comms channels, including website
5 year relationship with the brand, working on new model launches, DM/CRM, email and website. Rewrote the website twice over the period, as well as launches for Ghost, Phantom and EX10.
I then worked on a pitch with digital agency Zone on a successful pitch for the Rolls-Royce global retail account. My understanding of the brand and UHNWIs helped build a social-led strategy based around an invitation-only club called Hypen.
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Script writing for IFA Press Conference
Working with Proud Robinson, I wrote the script for the brand’s annual press conference at the IFA exhibition in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
I was involved in the narrative development for each press conference, writing first drafts and handling feedback from each team. In Berlin, I worked with the production team to rehearse presenters and tweak scripts on the go to ensure the press conference ran smoothly and to time.
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Annual report writing
Writing Ted Baker’s annual report with Falcon Windsor. In-depth process, from concept to complete report (working with specialist team) – I was responsible for the strategic report in 2021 and 2022.
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Website copywriting for German production company
Working with the founder to create copy and case studies, built on the idea of ‘Return on Imagination’.
What they say
“Ed grasped the rebrand perfectly with a process that was effortless. The result will take us forward with the clarity and exuberance our business deserves.”
Darren Fell, CEO and Founder, Crunch
"Morgan is a traditional company with a long history, so we called on an expert from outside the company to help define our messaging in a clear and engaging way. Ed was that expert. His approach to immersing himself in Morgan was spot on. He totally understood us from the start and helped us define a structured message and a film script that had a profound effect. I look forward to working with him again."
Matt Jennings Videographer, Morgan Motor Company
“We’ve been really happy with the level of thinking and support Ed has brought to the project. He has been fantastic to work with and brought great intelligence to the development of the brand.”
Nic Hamilton, Senior Content Lead, Ordnance Survey
Ed is a good listener, brought a sense of humour and a lightness of touch which was much appreciated and he delivered on time and within budget. Def recommend him.
Helen Black, Partner, Creative People
“We brought Ed in to help us redefine our brand position and align our messaging with the new brand. He's helped us cut through the noise and really pin down what is important to us.”
Julian Dixon, CEO & Founder, Napier AI
“Ed writes beautiful endlessly flowing words. If I had to sum up his unique offering, it would be his chameleon-like ability to find the brand voice and write in an absolutely authentic tone. Most importantly, he always writes copy I want to read to the last full stop.”
Piggy Lines, CCO BMW/The Game
"Ed has an incredible talent for capturing a brand's voice. He took the time to understand our brand and personality, then translated it perfectly into our website copy. It feels authentically 'us’ and we've already received some amazing feedback from our clients. I'd highly recommend Ed. "
Tanya Baker, Founder. Tanya Baker & Co
“Ed is a great listener. He quickly extracted value from simple conversations across the business and articulated them into our brand proposition and tone of voice.”
Dan Northover, Chief Marketing Officer, Victor