About Us

Sequel helps clients activate their brands through strategy, design and technology, all in the service of achieving business-wide objectives.

Who we are

Storytellers.

Every great brand has a defining narrative — a story that embraces the brand promise, expresses differentiating value and resonates with customers, partners, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders alike.

Problem solvers.

We help brands move forward by addressing the issues that are holding them back — looking at themselves from the outside in, finding disconnects and hidden opportunities and arriving at solutions based on clear audience insights.

True collaborators.

Outcomes are better when we work together and work in partnership with our clients, taking the time to learn their businesses, leveraging their expertise and making their thoughts, perspectives and objectives an integral part of our process.

Honest advisors.

We believe candor is critical to long-lasting client relationships — being straightforward about what we think (even if it’s not what clients want to hear) and striving to do what’s right for the brand (rather than just what’s in the brief).

Creative technologists.

Every enterprise is challenged with digital transformation — whether it be innovating mobile technologies to enhance the customer experience or prototyping employee engagement tools to increase internal knowledge for sales enablement

Passionate designers.

We firmly believe that our efforts can change business and culture for the better, that what we do makes a serious difference to our clients and to the customers they serve.

What we do

Brand Development

Building brands that activate business strategy, win customers and build loyalty — that express a differentiating promise in ways that are clear and authentic.

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Mobile & Web

Helping companies thrive and grow in the digital space, determining the right role for digital media in the life cycle of their brand.

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Marketing & Sales Support

Empowering the people most responsible for driving top-line growth — in the pitch, at the point of sale and throughout the arc of the customer experience.

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Branded Environments

Designing the spaces where brands live and breathe in the physical world.

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Naming

Creating names (the essential “tab” of the brand) for companies, initiatives and products, focusing the function and emotion of the brand in a single, memorable verbal expression.

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Annual & CSR Reports

Finding fresh and compelling ways to bring stakeholders up to speed — whether on progress toward business imperatives and the brand promise or on strategies that are likely to define what comes next.

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Words from our clients

“Our mission was to create a brand and identity so dramatically unique among healthcare providers that it would be impossible to go unnoticed. Sequel delivered a product that was far beyond our wildest imagination.”
— Matthew Teter, Brightpoint Health
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“Sequel continuously delivers great creative solutions, but more importantly, they provide strategic insight that helps our teams better understand the importance of a name in the overall branding toolkit.”
— Global Branding Group, SAP
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“It has been a great experience working with everyone at Sequel. In today’s world, it’s hard to find a partner you can fully trust and I felt confident with the Sequel team every step of the process.”
— Mary Hackbarth, Millennium Trust Company
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Meet our leadership team

Wendy Blattner

Wendy Blattner / Principal

Role: Strategizes and directs integrated branding, communications and digital engagements. “I take a holistic view of the client’s business and brand. I can see what’s happening, what’s not and uncover the missed opportunities. Most companies don’t fully leverage their brands as business assets. So when you help a client see that, it can be a revelation.”

Background: Two decades of experience with major clients, including global financial services and consumer products companies. Former senior vice president and managing director at Red Sky Interactive, and principal at Belk Mignogna Associates.

Reputation: Never, ever loses the thread.

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John Nishimoto

John Nishimoto / Principal

Role: Directs strategic and creative branding efforts, including brand development, name generation and brand environments. Leader of Sequel’s branding practice since 2004. “I have a passion for the right idea. Not the one that just looks good or sounds catchy, but that motivates people to take action — whether it’s getting excited to go to work in the morning, embracing a new idea as their own or looking at what they do in a different way.”

Background: More than 20 years in strategic branding, both envisioning and building new brands and activating the value of mature brands. Former creative director, corporate branding, at Interbrand.

Reputation: Tweaks to be right, not just different.

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Alex Reid

Alex Reid / Head of Strategy and Research

Role: Leads Sequel’s brand strategy and insights team spanning research, positioning, naming, brand architecture, and content development. “I’m fascinated by what drives people to do what they do — finding what inspires them and makes them tick. I help clients realize their ambitions by identifying and shaping the strategic elements of their brands that connect with key audiences and drive growth.”

Background: More than 20 years in strategic branding, serving as a senior executive at Lippincott, Sullivan, and Sterling Brands and founding two independent branding agencies.

Reputation: Equal parts strategic and creative thinker.

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Brian Crooks

Brian Crooks / Managing Director, Digital Experience

Role: Directs and manages Sequel’s creative teams through the creation and development of digital projects with a focus on human-centered design, the clients’ business goals and the end users’ needs. "Experience design brings together the human, the visual and the technical aspects of design unlike any other discipline — and I love it."

Background: More than 15 years of experience building mobile apps, websites, platforms and identity systems for a broad range of companies, from tech leaders and Fortune 100 companies to small startups. Formerly the creative product lead for The Barbarian Group's Mobile and Experiential Group, and the Digital Creative Director at Siegel + Gale, New York.

Reputation: Finds the right questions to solve the right problems.

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Dale Kramer Cohen

Dale Kramer Cohen / Managing Director, Private Equity Solutions

Role: Leads the Private Equity Solutions group, directing strategy, marketing and business development. “I have ‘quant’ DNA but am really a human behavioral devotee — successful businesses are communities of people. Companies simply need to unearth the underlying why’s, align core competencies, tell the right story consistently, and deliver on their brand promise in a meaningful, engaging way.”

Background: An alumna of Citibank, American Express, Ogilvy One and Wharton with over two decades as a strategic, insights-driven marketing and branding leader for Fortune 200 and mid-size growth companies, principally in financial services, technology, healthcare and manufacturing. Founder and partner of consultancies Exitivity and DKC Resources, former CMO at The Leader’s Edge and co-founder of IvyLIfe.

Reputation: Energetic master connector thinks out of the box.

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Dana Gonsalves

Dana Gonsalves / Creative Director

Role: Leads creative teams on key engagements for major clients, including luxury retailers, consumer products companies, financial services companies and cultural organizations. “I love designing brands that resonate. The goal is to succeed at every point of interaction—all the different places where people live, breathe, encounter, sell and buy the brand.”

Background: More than 25 years as a designer on major client accounts. Former design director for Red Sky Interactive, Nuforia and Belk Mignogna Associates.

Reputation: Can’t stop until it’s right.

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David Phan

David Phan / Creative Director

Role: Heads major branding and communications engagements for clients in a wide range of verticals, including technology, consumer luxury and retail, media and entertainment, finance and education. “If I’m known for turning around ideas fast, it’s because I waste no time in getting to the heart of the problem. Great design isn’t about blue sky concepts; it’s about working intelligently, within parameters defined by the medium, the audience and the story.”

Background: Former designer and art director with communications firms on two continents, including Spencer Francy Peters and Cundari in Toronto; Pauffley & Company, Newell & Sorrell and Interbrand in the UK and Addison and the New York Times Company in New York.

Reputation: Relentless in his pursuit of the right solution.

Stephen Starbuck

Stephen Starbuck / Director, Content Strategy

Role: Finds the right idea and the right expression to vault a brand or business forward. “I articulate what people want to say about themselves and their business, in their words but also, and more to the point, in their best words.”

Background: A few decades of solving branding and communications challenges with style and verve for leaders in numerous industries.

Reputation: Helps brands resonate with purpose.
Adrian Levin

Adrian Levin / Creative Director, Branded Environments

Role: Directs branding design in physical spaces, including offices, public spaces and trade expositions. Expertise ranges from identity and signage to wayfinding and exhibition design. “Environmental branding lies somewhere between cuisine, theater and psychology. You mix media and materials in a way that expresses the brand personality and engages an audience.”

Background: Two decades of experience in environmental branding. Former associate partner, marchFIRST; former environmental designer with I. M. Pei & Partners, Chermayeff & Geismar and Donovan/Green.

Reputation: Knows what goes where ... and why.

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