Brian Hickling

I am a Brand Experience Strategist (BX) with expertise in brand strategy, creative solutions, marketing plans, innovation program development, and CX experience design.

Brand Experience (BX) incorporates elements of branding and communications with the customer experience and employee experience to accelerate customer and employee acquisition and loyalty.

I'm also proud to have worked with some of the world's most recognizable brands, at some of the world's top agencies, at the largest of the big four global consulting firms, and at Canada's largest tech accelerator.

Throughout my 15+ year career, I have had the good fortune to work in four industry sector areas that have helped shape me into a strong holistic brand strategist:

Creative Director: As a former integrated creative director for advertising, I am aware of the specific insights required to produce compelling briefs, as well as the strategic insights that creative teams may require as a catalyst.

Brand Director; In my role as a client-side brand director, I was able to guide an organization's brand strategy as well as its brand and user experiences. I also assisted in developing the brand positioning, identifying business and market white spaces, assessing the competitive market analysis, and developing and implementing marketing campaigns.

Strategic Facilitator/Consultant: As a strategic facilitator and business consultant, I've developed advanced strategic frameworks and workshop techniques to help clients identify market or business challenges and then create strategic roadmaps with solutions.

Corporate Innovation Strategy: In my role as head of programs for corporate innovation, I was able to better understand how corporate brands could build partnerships with emerging startups.