For more than 20 years I've turned competitive, media and customer data into the decisions executives make, then built the teams and systems that keep the answers coming. I started out making websites and still think like a designer: if leaders can't read it in a minute, it isn't done.
“Be sure you're right, then go ahead.”My dad's rule, and how I've run every job
I started as a designer, spent seven years in-house in web, email/CRM and UX, then built analytics and intelligence practices at agencies. Each colored bar is a case study; select one to see what it covers.
Private case study: select to previewOngoing practiceIn-house years
Media intelligence for a global automaker's three brands. My team built the competitive-intelligence system behind its weekly leadership reviews, and I built the first prototype of The Brain, an AI analyst on Microsoft Copilot, then ran point as the team built it out.
Advanced analytics for advertisers in consumer goods, energy, financial services, travel, life sciences and higher education. Business lead for pricing and roadmap on a series of machine-learning modules in Synapse, Mindshare's analytics platform.
Led marketing sciences for a national telecom with a bi-coastal team of 10: a weighted partnership scorecard, biometric creative research and the change management behind a move to multi-touch attribution.
Ran media and analytics for the Los Angeles office. Built a personality-archetype framework for planning pages and offers, proved it with live A/B tests, and won agency investment in a biometric research lab.
Went from freelancer to strategy lead to partner as a ~40-person agency grew to ~140. Created Sq1's SMART™ optimization method, and co-founded Adaptive Audience, a privacy-first platform that matched digital media exposure to in-store sales. It was sold with Sq1 to Ansira in 2015.
Designer at Hancock Advertising, then seven years in-house at Tyler Junior College, Cox Communications and SuperPages.com (Verizon's directory business), then digital media at Vertis. At ZAAZ I ran a global smartphone maker's A/B testing program across seven markets.
Each case covers the business question, what I changed about it, what we built and what leaders did with it. Because they include client names and results, I share them privately with hiring teams.
Inside, an AI guide gives you the short version of any case and answers follow-up questions, with links to the source.
A competitive-intelligence system for three brands, built for a year of fast-changing market conditions.
The Brain: governed data, 50+ industry guides and executive briefs in minutes instead of days.
Competitive reads that turned share-of-voice tracking into recommendations leaders acted on.
Rank, weight, gap: one method I've used at five employers to put a brand against the rival that matters.
A linked brand-and-sales model that showed leaders what media contributed and where to move budget.
Machine-learning targeting and creative scoring, tested head to head.
Eye tracking for creative, holdout reads and new attribution models across three lines of business.
The privacy-first measurement business I co-founded, from first client to acquisition.
The Synapse product line I ran as business lead, from pricing to roadmap.
Pages written for how shoppers decide, screened by archetype and proven in live tests.
A global testing program built to answer a category-defining rival, market by market.
Business-model research, product pages and a statement built from each advertiser's account.
I started as a designer, so I build intelligence people can read and use: one-page scorecards, monthly reads for a CMO, briefings an AI analyst drafts in minutes.
"Who will decide with this?" is still my first question. Analytics counts when someone acts on it.
Business-model research and A/B testing in-house, then usability and testing at every agency since. Watch real people, then ask why.
I build forecasting models myself and lead the machine-learning work. Engineers own production code; I own the question, the method and the story.
If an executive can't read it in a minute, it isn't done. Design is part of the analysis, not a finish on top of it.
I get into the trench with my team, push each person to find their own angle on the work, and believe the community around the work shapes the work.
I saw a strategist in an account supervisor others had typed as client service. I moved her into Adaptive Audience, built her training around the platforms, testing and dashboards, and pushed her into new business and conference talks. She went on to lead all Adaptive Audience account services and pitch it in her own voice.
I built every report hands-on with my first three analysts, all early in their careers, then gave each one a brand. They became the competitive-insights leads for each brand's leadership, and I promoted one to senior analyst.
One analyst pushed back on our AI platform because he preferred another tool. Instead of overruling him, I had him build a balanced comparison of the tools, the governance limits and the pilot use cases. His comparison won broader support from analytics leadership.
One of my data scientists was brilliant and quiet. Instead of telling him to speak up more, I started a monthly lunch-and-learn and asked him to help run it. He took it over, and it grew into an agency-wide forum.
I hired a PhD engineer with deep data-science skill and little agency experience. He taught me machine learning, and I taught him client management and executive presentation. He now leads econometric modeling at WPP Media.
I ran Neo's analysts and Mindshare's data scientists as one team with one view of the client. After about a year, leadership approved expanding that pooled model across the office.
I hired a specialist for search. He saw the testing work, asked to learn it, and I taught him. He ran the testing practice after I left and later stepped into my next role.
Brandon was a great manager who exemplified lead by example… getting different teams to achieve a common larger goal for the organization.Data scientist who reported to me · Hearts & Science · 2019
Brandon's ability to get groups working together across multiple departments… while always remaining calm, thoughtful and practical is an extremely valued talent.Colleague · Sq1 · 2014
I was impressed by his guidance, mentorship, and innovative mind… I fully trusted and respected him as a leader.Team member who reported to me for three years · Sq1 · 2014
The leaders and authors behind how I work, in the order they shaped it.
I've always built a team life beyond the deliverables. Many of the people I hired and led are now some of my oldest friends, and the trust we built outside the office made the work inside it better.
MusicBandmates at workI've played bass in bands with colleagues at several jobs, most recently Innocean. Here: my POSSIBLE band at ThinkLA's AdJam.
PetsIzzy, research assistantHead of morale. Never missed a deadline.
ArtIzzy, painted by me
FamilyMet my wife on the jobAgency life gave me more than colleagues.
CyclingThe coastal rideA monthly team ride I started to welcome new hires in LA.Total Retail
Author
Partner case studies quoting me as President of Adaptive Audience
Co-presenter with a client and with LiveRamp
Work my teams sold and built
I'm looking for an in-house role in insights, intelligence or marketing effectiveness. To see the case studies, message me on LinkedIn with your name, company and work email.