WHAT WE DO
sym-me-try, noun: beauty of form arising from balanced or pleasing proportions
Brand Symmetry: Creating the right balance across a brand’s business strategy, communications and visual identity.
Brands matter. They set companies apart in a crowded market. Brands are a promise. Brands are personal. Brands enhance value. In a sea of competitive noise, brands are the signals that break through. The most successful brands know who they are and their unique point of difference. They are instantly recognizable. And they communicate consistently across paid, owned and earned channels. Synergy among these elements creates momentum that earns attention, spurs intent and delivers results. This is brand symmetry.
From startups to global organizations, our boutique consultancy helps premium brands tell their story and invest in what matters to get noticed, build reputation and drive growth. Depending on needs, we can be strategic advisors, interim team leaders/members, or ad hoc project managers.
Services include:
Brand Strategy
Content Creation
Media & PR
Every client’s needs are unique. Let us customize the right approach for you.
ABOUT
Our Founder
Deborah Marquardt is an award-winning integrated sales and marketing leader for global companies and high-growth startups. She is an expert at building and repositioning brands to drive awareness, preference and marketshare. Whether leading creative development, media investment and content strategy, or managing strategic partnerships and business development, she connects the dots to tell a bigger story that fuels sell-in and sell-thru.
Her B2C experience spans beauty, luxury and media: iconic L’Oreal and P&G beauty brands including Maybelline, Cover Girl and Garnier; the Diamond Producers Association where she led category marketing for the ultimate luxury product; popular Time Inc beauty/fashion titles InStyle and People StyleWatch; and top PR and media agencies at Publicis and Interpublic. On the B2B front, Deborah has worked across the digital technology, financial services, and entertainment/media sectors: comms lead for PwC’s global entertainment and media practice; and strategic advisor at Diamond Standard Company, a Series A fintech/blockchain startup. A content creator at heart, she got her start as a reporter and editor at Bloomberg BNA.
Deborah has a knack for building brands that are distinct and differentiated. Brands that know who they are, and who they’re for – that show up on the screens and in the environments that matter to their audiences and add value. Throughout her experience are projects that leverage digital innovation, high-profile partners and trending culture to engage with consumers via unique experiences, organic integrations and native content. (See examples below.) She has been quoted extensively about signature brand initiatives in The New York Times, LuxuryDaily, Adweek, Forbes, Digiday and MarieClaire, among others; and is a published writer on trends in beauty, luxury products and culture.
In 2017, LuxuryDaily named Deborah a Luxury Woman to Watch and she was recognized as The Delaney Report’s Corporate Media Executive of the Year (2013), and an AdAge Media Maven (2012). She speaks frequently on content strategy and marketing to women and consumers < 40 at conferences including the Cannes Festival of Media, Internet Week, JCK, CES and Cosmoprof. Active in industry organizations that support the next generation of female talent, including Cosmetic Executive Women, She Runs It, and StepUp Women’s Network (Board), Deborah also serves on the Advisory Board of SparkleCut Diamonds, a DTC fine jewelry company. A French speaker and a GIA-certified diamond expert, she loves to travel and is happiest with her family – in, on or near the water.
Brands
PROJECTS
360° Brand Marketing
Launched the ‘Real is Rare Real is a Diamond’ category marketing platform for Diamond Producers Association. Led strategy and execution of fully integrated program: creative development, media investment, consumer/trade PR, digital (social, influencers, websites) content, trade relations, sales training & education, agency and team management. Campaign delivered 1B+ impressions reaching 98% of A18-34; US diamond jewelry demand grew 4% YOY.
Cause-Marketing
To give back to US troops overseas and excite retailers about Maybelline NY’s core lipstick franchise, ColorSensational partnered with Cosmopolitan to launch Kisses for the Troops. Over 4 years, more than 100K lipstick kisses and personal notes were sent to troops, along with contributions to the USO and beauty care packages for female service members. More than 1B paid and earned media impressions were delivered, too, propelling the brand to #1 marketshare in lipcolor, and #1 CPG cosmetics brand overall.
B2B Communication
Created suite of video, online and printed brand content to support $10M Series A and launch of Diamond Standard, a fintech company introducing a blockchain-enabled digital asset for institutional investors. Led visual asset production, strategic partnerships, including SALT and Consensys, investor relations and communications. Managed PR strategy, messaging and agency. High-profile coverage to date includes Bloomberg, YahooFinance, Fox Business, TD Ameritrade Network, CoinDesk.
TESTIMONIALS
“Deborah is one of the most dynamic and creative marketing/media professionals I have ever had the opportunity to partner with across multiple brands and categories. I’ve had the good fortune of working with her for many years on brands in the beauty, fashion and diamond/fine jewelry industries. The work she led in these categories broke new ground, solved challenging brand positioning issues and ultimately drove brand awareness, favorability and growth through a mix of strategy, data and insights, creativity and an intuitive sense of what is next and what will resonate for her customer. Her gift for seamless storytelling that breaks through the clutter, connects emotionally and valorizes the brand is unique in my experience.”
“Deborah is an innovative marketing leader who knows how to connect her message with her audience – and is the rare advertiser that advocates first for the optimal user experience. She and her team were a pleasure to work with, and the resulting digital out-of-home campaign not only delivered quality content, it looked and felt premium, and exceeded all Captivate norms.”
“Deb is a dynamic, brilliant and thoughtful strategist. She is brimming with innovative ideas grounded in deep experience. She has a strong background in a larger corporate environment, but I worked alongside her while she was building a newer organization in a startup environment and it was thriving under her leadership. I was lucky enough to have her serve on my Board of Directors and I turned to her often as a trusted advisor and strategist on marketing and generally in running the organization. She is a lot of fun to work with too, which is a rare and welcome experience!”
“Deb is a rare find in today’s media and marketing world. She is not only a respected and a highly-connected brand representative in the industry, she is also one of the most articulate, beautiful brand storytellers I’ve seen in my career. She has a flare for hitting the nail on the head and making just the right insightful, strategic comment at the right time to make marketers stop and think! And in this rapidly changing industry, Deb is a trusted CMO with the foresight to predict the next trend in media (edit and publishing), marketing, digital, influencers and investment.”
“In our ever-changing industry, Deborah Marquardt truly stands out for her unique ability to balance the need for strategic thinking with creativity as she forges innovative marketplace partnerships. She has a mastery of the Beauty, Luxury and CPG categories as well as a strong understanding of how to break through the clutter and market to Millennials in an organic way (which is extremely difficult to achieve). Most importantly, Deb is a true leader with an impressive track record of growth in media and integrated marketing. You’ll learn something new and useful about our business every time you meet with her.”
“Deborah is a talented business development executive and sales partner. Her professionalism, positive energy and deep category knowledge converted prospects into customers, and customers into advocates. She asks insightful questions, listens, and follows through. Every time Deb joined me on field visits, I learned more about our products, our business and my clients than I knew before. She’s a major asset to any sales and marketing organization.”
CONTACT
Have a project you would like to discuss? Please send us a note and we will contact you.
