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Hire the Top 1% of Brand Marketing Consultants

Positioning, identity, and the long-game work that compounds into pricing power. Most of these operators come straight from CPG and DTC.

See the operators

About MentorPass

Est. 2020·10,000+ engagements·avg rating

The list

The 9 best brand marketing consultants

We rank operators by what they actually built. The list below leads with founders and CMOs who took brands from zero to exit or scaled them into household names, not agency strategists who have only ever advised.

  1. 01Melanie Masarin

    Melanie Masarin

    Vetted operator

    Founder & CEO at Ghia

    Melanie founded and runs Ghia, the non-alcoholic aperitif brand that built a category most people had not heard of three years ago. She knows the work of turning a new product into a brand people choose on identity, not price. Best for founders building a consumer brand from a standing start.

    Brand strategyDTC

Sound familiar?

From stuck to a plan you can run this week

The problems founders bring our brand marketing operators — and what they walk away with.

  1. We don't actually know how to make people trust us and give our brand a try.

    A trust strategy built on transparent sourcing and proof, the kind that turns first-time buyers into repeat customers.

  2. Differentiating in a crowded category, with a competitor who mimicked our colors, aesthetics, and key items.

The scope

What a brand marketing consultant actually does

The work our brand marketing operators take on, from first call to ongoing.

  • Brand positioning

    Define who your target customer is and the position you own against incumbents, so the brand has a clear reason to exist.

  • Brand strategy and roadmap

    Set the long-game plan for building something durable, including how to balance short-term performance against long-term brand value.

  • Differentiation strategy

    Find the meaningful difference in a crowded category that competitors can't simply mimic.

  • Brand narrative and storytelling

    Build the story and narrative continuity that runs across content, email, and social instead of disconnected messages.

  • Brand and performance balance

    Decide how to split budget between brand building and direct response, and how to measure the revenue impact of brand.

How MentorPass works

The easiest way to hire a brand marketing consultant

Find your expert, book a call, solve your problem — and keep them on when you’re ready.

  1. 1. Find your consultant

    Browse the ranked list of vetted operators. Every profile shows their track record, the brands they’ve scaled, and exactly what they go deep on.

  2. 2. Book a call

    Pick a time and share your context up front. They review it before you meet — no spending the first 20 minutes on background.

The guide

What to know before you hire a brand marketing consultant

What a brand marketing consultant does

A brand marketing consultant works on positioning, identity, and the long-game decisions that compound into pricing power. That means naming who your customer actually is, choosing the position you own against incumbents, and building a story that runs consistently across content, email, and social. It is the opposite of a quick performance tweak. The work shows up later, when customers choose you on identity instead of price and stay loyal after you turn the ads off.

The most common problems founders bring are concrete. They can't get people to trust the brand enough to try it. They are stuck differentiating in a crowded category, sometimes against a competitor copying their colors and aesthetics move for move. Their content feels generic instead of social-native. Or they have no real loyalty beyond paid, so growth stops the moment spend does. A good consultant turns each of those into a plan you can run.

What to look for when you hire one

Look for someone who built a brand, not someone who only advised on one. There is a real difference between a strategist who can write a positioning statement and an operator who took a brand from zero to a $100M+ exit and felt every tradeoff along the way. Ask what they actually built and what number it reached. Ask how they balanced brand against performance, since that tension is where most consumer brands either find pricing power or burn cash. And make sure their category fits yours: CPG, DTC, premium, and challenger brands each play by different rules.

Why founders use MentorPass for brand marketing

MentorPass is built around real operators, not career consultants. The roster on this page includes the co-founder of Chubbies, the CMO who scaled Bloom Nutrition from $0 to $100M, brand leaders from LEGO, OLIPOP, RIMOWA, and Red Bull, and founders running their own consumer brands right now. Most of them come from CPG and DTC, and they range from early founders to teams past $100M.

You book a single session with the operator whose track record fits your problem and meet over video. No retainer, no agency markup, no junior team doing the work behind a senior name. Bring a specific question, like your positioning or your brand-versus-performance split, and leave with a next step from someone who has done it before.

Proof

Results from these brand marketing consultants

Average rating
5★

Average rating

Written reviews
12

Written reviews

Sessions booked
184

Sessions booked

Expert operators
9

Expert operators

Gail is the kind of mentor I was hoping for on MentorPass. All mentors have been valuable to me so far because they are even better at a certain skill than I am. Gail, however, brings the experience and cumulative knowledge that I absolutely lack to build a great brand! She understands consumers and knows what works and what doesn't. Furthermore, she is very generous with her time, and you can feel that she really wants to help you.
From a session with Gail Tifford

Why MentorPass

MentorPass vs. the alternatives

When you need brand marketing help, you have four options. Here's how they actually stack up.

MentorPassAgenciesFreelance marketplacesFull-time hire
Time to first callThis weekWeeks of pitchesDays, hit or miss2–3 months

Industries

Where our brand marketing operators have done it

Real reps in these verticals, not theory. The kind of pattern-matching that only comes from having shipped in your category.

  • E-commerce Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing operators who've built and scaled DTC and online retail brands.
  • CPG Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing operators who've scaled consumer packaged goods brands in retail and DTC.
  • Agency Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing help built for agencies and professional service firms.
  • Marketplace Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing for multi-vendor marketplaces and platforms.
  • B2B SaaS Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing guidance for B2B software and platform companies.
  • B2C SaaS Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing guidance for consumer apps and subscription products.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does a brand marketing consultant actually do?

They set positioning, identity, and the long-game brand work that builds pricing power, then help you make the hard calls: who your customer is, what you stand for, and how to differentiate in a crowded category. The good ones tie brand back to revenue instead of treating it as decoration.

How much does it cost?

You book by the session, so you pay for a focused hour with the operator you want, not a monthly agency retainer. Many founders run one or two sessions to get unstuck on positioning, then come back as decisions come up.

How are these consultants vetted?

Related capabilities

Performance MarketingSee all capabilities

Hire a brand marketing consultant who's done it before

Pick a consultant and book a call — or tell us what you're working on and we'll route you to the right operator in the network.

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Contact

4.97

Melanie Masarin

Founder & CEO at Ghia

Greg LaVecchia

CEO at Bloom Nutrition

James Gregson

Brand & Creative Marketing Leader at LEGO

Vetted operator

Hire Founders & Operators from Top Brands

Positioning
Founder
View profile
  • 02Greg LaVecchia

    Greg LaVecchia

    Vetted operator100+ sessions

    CEO at Bloom Nutrition

    Greg scaled Bloom Nutrition from $0 to $100M a year in the CPG and supplement world. He has run 100+ sessions on MentorPass and holds a perfect 5-star rating across them. Founders book him for the foundational brand and go-to-market decisions that decide whether a CPG brand scales or stalls.

    CPGBrandingGo to marketPaid marketing
    View profile
  • 03James Gregson

    James Gregson

    Vetted operator

    Brand & Creative Marketing Leader at LEGO

    James leads brand and creative marketing at LEGO, one of the most recognized brands on earth. He works at the intersection of breakthrough creative, data, and brand purpose. Best when your content feels generic and you need it to actually mean something.

    Brand strategyCreativeSocialGo to market
    View profile
  • 04Elizabeth Ahern

    Elizabeth Ahern

    Vetted operator

    CMO of Chamberlain Coffee (2022-2024), ex Red Bull, Carvana

    Elizabeth ran brand as CMO of Chamberlain Coffee and built marketing at Red Bull and Carvana before that. She has shipped brands that consumers actively love across drinks, auto, and creator-led CPG. Bring her the problem of making people care, not just click.

    BrandingGrowthSocialDTC
    View profile
  • 05Meghan Shookman

    Meghan Shookman

    Vetted operator

    VP of Brand Marketing at OLIPOP

    Meghan runs brand marketing at OLIPOP, a CPG brand that took shelf space from soda giants on the strength of its brand and story. Her work is brand modernization and storytelling that drives both purpose and profit. Best for wellness and CPG brands that need to feel current without losing their core.

    CPGBrand storytellingWellnessModernization
    View profile
  • 06Pei Lin

    Pei Lin

    Vetted operator

    VP of Marketing at RIMOWA (LVMH), ex sweetgreen, Bonobos, Amex

    Pei runs marketing at RIMOWA under LVMH and built brands at sweetgreen, Bonobos, and Amex before that. She balances short-term sales against the longevity premium brands hold. One founder said she reframed their heritage manufacturing story and made intros that got their rebrand across the line.

    Premium brandPositioningTeam buildingGo to market
    View profile
  • 07Gail Tifford

    Gail Tifford

    Vetted operator

    C-suite brand advisor and board director for consumer brands

    Gail advises consumer product companies at the C-suite and board level on brand. She understands consumers and knows what works and what does not after decades inside the category. A founder called her the cumulative brand-building experience they absolutely lacked. Best for founders who need a senior brand voice in the room.

    Brand strategyConsumerAdvisoryPositioning
    View profile
  • 08Preston Rutherford

    Preston Rutherford

    Vetted operator

    Co-founder of Chubbies (9-figure exit) and Loop Returns

    Preston co-founded Chubbies and took it from zero to a $100M+ exit over a decade, then co-founded Loop Returns, a top returns platform on Shopify. He is the rare operator who can actually measure the revenue impact of brand against performance. Book him to find the brand-versus-performance balance that maximizes long-term profit.

    Brand vs performanceDTCExitsMeasurement
    View profile
  • 09Nick West

    Nick West

    Vetted operator

    Co-founder & CEO at Bandit Running

    Nick co-founded and runs Bandit Running, building a next-generation consumer brand in a category owned by giants. He works on the community and brand foundations that make a challenger brand defensible. Best for founders building a brand with a real audience behind it.

    CommunityConsumer brandChallengerFounder
    View profile

    • A position competitors can't copy, owned around what your customer actually values instead of how the product looks.

  • No true differentiation, no reason for customers to be loyal beyond my ads.

    Brand equity that holds when you turn paid off, so loyalty comes from the brand and not the discount.

  • A lot of our content feels like it was made by IBM's marketing department, not social-native.

    Brand and content that sounds like a real voice in the feed, built by people who run social-native brands.

  • Our emails are mostly informational. We're not consistently telling stories or building narrative continuity.

    A consistent brand narrative across channels, so every touchpoint compounds the same story instead of resetting it.

  • Brand may be losing perceived exclusivity. Customers don't feel real FOMO because the promotion is constant.

    Pricing power and perceived exclusivity restored, with promotion used as a lever instead of a permanent state.

  • Brand authority and awareness

    Plan the path from unknown to recognized, the way challenger brands become a household name in their category.

    • 3. Leave with a game plan

    Get specific, prioritized advice you can act on this week — and keep working with them ongoing if it clicks.

  • Keep them on

    Found your match? Keep your brand marketing operator on as an ongoing advisor as you scale.

    • Preston is one of a kind. Not only did he help uncover a major flaw in my growth plan, but he also gave me advice that will shave years off my journey. We, as founders, sometimes have the answer within, but it takes someone like Preston, who has been there and done that, to accelerate success.
    From a session with Preston Rutherford
    Greg not only provided us with all the contacts we needed, but he also went above and beyond our expectations by proactively offering insights, making introductions we hadn’t even considered, and ensuring we had everything in place to move forward with confidence.
    From a session with Greg LaVecchia
    Pei was really helpful in helping Looma reframe its heritage manufacturing story in an authentic and persuasive way. She also made excellent intros that helped us get the rebrand across the finish line! Highly recommended!
    From a session with Pei Lin
    Who you actually getTop 1% brand marketing operatorsJunior account managersUnvetted freelancersHard to find senior talent
    Proven at your stageBuilt & scaled real brandsA playbook, not your contextVaries wildlyIf you can afford them
    CommitmentPer call — no lock-inMonthly retainerPer projectSalary + equity
    CostPer session$$$$ / month$$ / project$$$$$ + overhead
    Ongoing supportKeep them on as an advisorLocked into scopeChurn and rehirePermanent headcount
  • Media Brand Marketing ConsultantsBrand Marketing for media, content, and publishing brands.

    • We rank by what they built. Every operator on this list ran brand at a company you have heard of or founded one themselves, from a $100M+ Chubbies exit to scaling Bloom from zero to $100M. Ratings and session counts come from real customers, not us.

    How do I book a session?

    Pick the operator whose track record fits your problem, choose a time, and meet over video. Bring a specific question, like your positioning or your brand-versus-performance split, and you will leave with a clear next step.

    Can they help me balance brand against performance marketing?

    Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons founders book. Operators like Preston Rutherford have measured the revenue impact of brand directly, so you get a real framework for splitting budget instead of guessing.

    Do I need a consultant if I already run paid marketing?

    Often that is exactly when you need one. A common problem here is no loyalty beyond the ads: the moment you stop spending, sales drop. A brand consultant builds the equity that holds when paid is off.