Allen Adamson
Brand Strategist & Expert Witness
Theory strengthens practice. Academic frameworks applied to real-world marketplace expertise across categories.
The Dual Advantage
Marketplace Expertise Meets Academic Rigor
Marketplace Expertise
Every Side of Brand Building
Chairman of Landor, one of the world’s leading brand strategy and design firms. Before that, built and managed brands at Unilever and led advertising and communications at Ogilvy and DMBB.
Cross-Industry Expertise
Consumer products, automotive, retail, ecommerce, technology, financial services, healthcare, and non-profit. Engagements span both product branding and corporate branding.
Academic Rigor
In the Classroom
Lectures on brand strategy at Yale, Cornell, Michigan Ross, and NYU Stern, where he serves as Brand Expert in Residence.
Published Authority
Author of five books on branding, used in business programs across the country.
Expert Witness
Retained by trial counsel in trademark, trade dress, false advertising, and related brand-identity matters in federal courts nationwide.
Engagements frequently center on likelihood of confusion and brand equity analysis.
Books
Five books on branding, charting how brands are built, differentiated, and kept relevant.
BrandSimple, BrandDigital, The Edge, Shift Ahead, and the latest, Seeing the How.
Academics
Three decades of marketplace experience, brought into the classroom.
Lectures on brand strategy at Yale, Cornell, Michigan Ross, and NYU Stern. As Brand Expert in Residence at the Berkley Center, works with entrepreneurs to shape their brand and go-to-market stories.
Advisory
One-on-one counsel for CEOs and business owners.
Direct engagement on the brand questions that reach the top of the house: repositioning, growth, using brand to unlock value. Brand consulting engagements are led through Metaforce, co-founded by Allen Adamson.
Media
A go-to source for national business media.
Regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, and the Associated Press. Forbes branding columnist for more than 15 years.
Metaforce
For engagements that call for a multidisciplinary team, Metaforce brings together senior specialists across strategy, research, design, and activation. Co-founded by Allen Adamson, the firm partners with companies to diagnose brand challenges and move from insight to market.
Articles
Thought leadership from a branding expert witness. Allen writes about branding, consumer perception, trademark conflicts, marketing strategy, and the real-world business issues that shape how consumers recognize, evaluate, and trust brands.