Brand Guardians heads for US

Branding consultancy Brand Guardians is expanding into the US market, with the launch of an office in Philadelphia this week.

The group has appointed Eric Goodstadt, former chief marketing officer of global recruitment company MRI Network, as president and chief executive of the US arm.

‘The US is typically good at broad-brush big brands. Even its regional brands are the size of UK national brands. In discussions with Goodstadt, we found there was a gap in the market for a more customer-focused approach,’ says consultancy partner Kate Fishenden.

Brand Guardians will focus on service-based clients in the US, largely recruitment groups, as well as real estate companies. Goodstadt is also looking at working with traditional US product brands that are interested in launching in the UK market.

Over the next few weeks, Goodstadt is expected to recruit additional team members for the Philadelphia office. In the UK and continental Europe, Brand Guardians has a team of six partners, working across strategy, research, intellectual property and operational alignment. It has offices in London, Birmingham, France and Spain and has worked with clients including More Than, BT, the BBC, Sony and Kellogg’s.