Hello
W&B is an independent brand and marketing consultancy set-up by Di Wheatley in 2017. Our work supports businesses at, what are often, major flexion points in their life-cycles. Be that: scaling, transformational change, merger, acquisition or launch. We ensure brand and marketing are match-fit and support business in getting to goal effectively.
Engaged by businesses of all shapes and sizes, we're at home working in the UK and internationally. Our client base spans service, technology, B2B as well as consumer brands.
What We Do
W&B / Di specialises in the development of brand positioning, messaging, marketing and communications strategy.
We’re a firm believer that the strongest brands are built from the INSIDE-OUT. Meaning, we need to ensure that brands align with the business vision, values, purpose and culture – and of course, business strategy, to really thrive.
No point having something that looks great on the outside, but once the customer comes knocking, they encounter a poor customer experience and disconnect.
Projects We're Asked To Help With:
Positioning | Propositions | Messaging | Tone of Voice
Comms Planning | Stakeholder & Market Research
Audience Segmentation | Customer Journey Mapping
Leadership Workshops - Articulation of Vision/Mission/Values
Brand Architecture | Product Launches | Naming
Internal Engagement, Activation & Comms | Employer Brand Strategy
We also provide retained or longer-term project or fixed-term contract support as acting Head of Brand & Marketing and are often engaged on the delivery and embedding of rebrand projects where we act as a ‘co-pilot’ for Creative & Design Agencies on the delivery of new visual identities.
Our Approach
Like most consultancies, W&B works using our own take on a simple process model. Nothing too complicated and easy to follow, and flexible according to the nature of the brief and the needs of the business.
The main variables in applying the model revolve around the level of depth / rigour required by a business and the time and budget available for getting to the desired outcomes.
For example, a larger PLC or established multi-site business is likely to come with far greater complexity and more numerous stakeholders versus a business that is scaling or at an earlier stage of its journey.
Diagnostics
Getting under the skin of a business, its brands and the markets they operate in (including others in the space) – mapping and understanding both the internal and external landscape, understanding the business direction of travel.
Development
Takes the various inputs and works with clients – as closely or remotely as they prefer, to develop/co-develop (as needed) the brand’s architecture and core ‘Brand Platform’ – sometimes called DNA or ‘Blue Print’.
Activation
Once these elements are in place, we’re ready to consider how the brand ‘shows up’ in the world via marketing, communications and related activities.
Through experience we’ve seen time and time again that building brands requires the understanding, buy-in and alignment of your internal teams, as ultimately they’ll be the people delivering on it.
Bit About Di
Di started her career in the late 1990s in Hong Kong, where she initially worked for the Batey Group in Public Relations with brands that included TAG Heuer, Sheraton Hotels and Commercial Union insurance. Moving into Ad land, Di worked with the major network agency, Darcy (DMB&B) and led the LG Electronics business out of Seoul as it began a push to challenge Samsung internationally. Returning to London in the early noughties, she moved to McCann and gained valuable client and strategy experience on a combination of UK and International businesses: Boots Healthcare, Strepsils, Tourism Ireland, Marriott Hotel Group, US Airways, Gateway Computers and Mastercard.
After a brief spell with the excellent Maher Bird Associates as Managing Partner on EDF Energy, she got a call from an old boss at McCann, headed back to Hong Kong as Team Leader, APAC for the newly-won Intel business. A career break followed, and Di returned to the UK and went freelance, making the switch across into brand consulting and to Bristol-based specialist One Brand – this time with a B2B leaning and more international clients: Saint Gobain, Schlumberger, Wincanton logistics and Matthew Clark, etc.
A reorg in early 2017 saw a friendly parting of ways and an opportunity to work back in London with tech transformation consultants, 101 Ways (now rebranded Crosstide) – creating the foundations for W&B today.
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