Map & Fire

Map & Fire is a Los Angeles based brand and marketing consultancy. We grow your business by marrying the data, creative, and strategy that spark your audience’s emotions and convert them into loyal customers.

View happy client testimonials at: https://mapandfire.com

Founder, Brand Strategist

HelloAdvisr LLC

Strategy Advisor

TVGla

• Led a team of 14 producers and was responsible for defining the department's vision and planning, managing overall budget, conducting individual reviews, setting goals and providing guidance on all project work.

• Provided strategic insights and oversaw production efforts for the agency's two largest Digital Agency of Record accounts, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, along with a wide array of campaigns for companies including Sony, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Hard Rock Cafe, Cinemax, A&E, History Channel, Dreamworks and Gruppo Campari.

• Unified and facilitated cross-training of a production department that had been historically split between a team of digital banner producers and web/app-focused producers. In addition, established dedicated production support for the company's quickly expanding social department.

• Worked to build strong relationships with all team members by providing personal support, empowering them to take on deeper responsibilities and challenging them to work on projects outside their immediate areas of expertise.

• Improved overall efficiency and expertise of the department through process refinement, mentorship and the introduction of improved project management and communication tools.

Executive Producer

• Played a key role in building the strategy and relationship that led to the agency's first major Digital Agency of Record account with Wheel of Fortune.

• Beyond production responsibilities, provided additional insight and value by helping to guide UX decisions, as well as input on creative and technical implementations.

• Led over 75 projects for clients such as Google, Sony, Universal Pictures, Mattel, and FOX. 

• Managed and oversaw between $1.5 - 2MM of project revenue annually, consistently delivering work under projected budgets.

Senior Producer

Better You

• Founding partner in startup, responsible for full UX, product management, and technical life cycle of project.

• Wrote business requirements, defined user experience, user flows, and created interactive wireframes for the entire site.

• Designed graphical UI elements for site and prototyped frontend experience.

• Managed developers to build out front and back end coding on a LAMP platform.

Co-Founder, Head of Product Development

Bird Branch

• Worked in a variety of roles including brand strategist, UX designer, creative lead, and developer on over 150 projects.

• Collaborated with a wide assortment of clients on projects ranging from the entertainment industry to consumer products to health care both in project lead and contractor roles.

• Extensive experience with both UI and graphic design.

• Developed front and backend code solutions utilizing existing frameworks as well as fully custom implementations. 

• Responsible for managing project budgets, tracking progress, and coordinating work both with clients and additional resources.

Founder, Strategy, UX, and Design Consultant

G4 Media

Senior Web Developer

Avacus Corporation

Web Developer

O'Neil Data

Unigraphics Solutions

Software Developer

Win with a brand built on research, not guesses | Founder Map & Fire 🔥, SmokeLadder | Contributor at Foundr Magazine

At my agency, Map & Fire, we help you grow your brand with our unique blend of brand strategy, customer research, and market data. My writing on brand strategy has been featured in Foundr Magazine and AdWeek. 

More about my background:

I've spent the last 15 years dreaming up and then bringing to life multiple startups as well as a wide range of digital projects. With every twist and turn of that journey there’s been a consistent thread of weaving together strategic problem solving, creative expression, and a curiosity to better understand people. 

In the businesses I created or co-founded, my primary focus has always been on strategy and user experience. For others, I've worn lots of hats from Executive Producer, to Designer, to Copywriter, to Developer. I've also enjoyed an unofficial Account Services role where I carefully honed the craft of client therapy.

Over the years, I've collaborated with countless passionate small businesses along with several 800lb (friendly) gorillas including Google, Sony, Universal Pictures, Mattel, FOX, Dreamworks, CBS, A&E, Home Depot, Roland Keyboards, G4 TV, and the LA Times. 

When not doing mental gymnastics, I like spending time with my amazing wife and son, hiking, surfing, and watching things that make me laugh.

A year ago around this time I remember folks were posting photos from Wynter's marketing conference Spryng and I made a mental note: "I have to go to that next year."

Well, I just got back from 3 days in Austin and wow, it was totally worth it. 

What stood out to me more than anything was just how open and generous everyone was. 

There was such a wide range of experiences, businesses, backgrounds – and every single person I talked with or listened to was there to share knowledge and learn. 

There was never a feeling of separation because of a person or company's level of success or experience. Everyone just wanted to share stories and laughs, and find ways to get better. 

It inspired me on a professional level in so many ways – but also was a great reminder that while virtual connections are great there's nothing quite like sitting down face to face and getting to know someone. 

I was glad there were several folks I have known virtually at various levels over the years (Mallory Randall, Gwen Lafage 🐝, Gary Arnold, Victoria Sakal 🏴, Andy McCotter-Bicknell) who were all friendly faces to get to finally see in person.

It was also really fun to talk with Robert Kaminski 🎯 and Anthony Pierri 🎸 to  dig into some of the nuanced stuff we've debated about here around marketing and brand but never had a proper conversation about.

I already kind of knew it, but we agree on like 98% of stuff...and just have a few different thoughts on how we label things....but you never get to dig into those things properly with just comments on a thread. 

And there was the *incredible* group of people who I'd never met but had so much fun chatting with...excited to keep these conversations going.

Corey Haines, 🤘Dejan Gajsek, Pete Banicevic, Moby Hayat, JJ Reynolds, Ayla Kinnaird, Kaitlyn Morneweck, Megan Taylor, Renae McBride, Nivas Ravichandran, Talya Heller G. 💡, Liz Stefan, Katie Berg, Jonathan Gandolf, Ray Rhodes, Tyler Jordan, John Rougeux ⛰️, Alex M., Anthony Blatner, Sofia Sulikowski, Veronika Harbick 👩🏻‍💻, Clara Smyth

I know I'm missing some folks on this list so please anyone I didn't tag shoot me a DM or connection request...I don't want to lose track! 

Huge props to Peep Laja and Erik MacKinnon for hosting a genuinely fun conference. 

Coming out of it, I'm a little exhausted but super inspired. 🔥

Clay Ostrom

After running positioning analysis on 3000+ B2B websites something is clear.


Differentiation is a real problem for a majority of B2B brands. 

This is something we all kind of know on an intuitive level. 

I mean, we’ve all sifted through websites that either say very little or at best sound like everyone else. 

But it’s a tricky thing to actually quantify it.

And not just quantify it but do it in a way that you can use to make improvements with a brand.

I launched our positioning strategy platform SmokeLadder(.com) about 3 months ago and since then we’ve been building up a database of brands.

The platform analyzes a brand’s website and grades it across 24 points of business value each scored on a scale of 1-10. 

We then build a Total Positioning Score on two parts:
1️⃣ How well the brand delivers across each point of value
2️⃣ How well the brand differentiates from category averages across each point of value


Overall, our model expects a strong brand to have *clear* separation from averages on at least 2-3 value points and then some separation across a handful of others. 

The concept is that without that clear level of separation there’s no way for a brand to stand out and be remembered by their ICP. 

And as it turns out after dissecting 1 million+ words of B2B messaging (whew, that’s a lot of jargon) across 3000+ websites our intuition was right.

A strong majority – 66% – of B2B brands lack strong differentiation.

So, only 34% have created meaningful separation from their competitors. 

Digging in a bit deeper there are just 26% that maximized their differentiation according to our model.

Now you could say some differentiation is better than none, right? 

But with how incredibly saturated the competitive landscape is it’s likely more of a binary thing.

↳In other words, it’s probably strong differentiation or bust.

A collection of minor differences are unlikely to have enough impact to stick in your customer’s crowded brain.

So, how does your brand rate? 

Do you have 2-3 points that truly stand out *and* are clearly articulated in your messaging?

We all want to believe we’re in that top 26-34%...but there’s a good chance the points you think stand out may not be as obvious to your target audience.

It might be time to revisit your positioning just to make sure. 💡

#positioning #differentiation #competition

A small tweak to your positioning priorities could have a big impact. 


The essence of your positioning is to know which points of value:
✅ Your customers care about most in their buying process
✅ You can deliver at a high level
✅ Allow you to create separation from other competitive offerings


But even when you’ve done the hard work to narrow in on those points you still have to get the priority right. 

The order of emphasis that you put on each point – and knowing what to lead with has a huge impact on how customers perceive your brand. 

I’ve been going through some of this with Map & Fire.

Our positioning has always centered on brand strategy built on research and insights. 

Supporting that we:
⦿ Work with small teams of founders and marketers
⦿ Have a very structured process
⦿ Keep the work lean and efficient

But there’s always been a hurdle of coming into a relationship with the goal of defining a company’s entire brand strategy.

You need teams and leaders who are invested in that full process. 

And you also have folks who are mainly interested in the visual aspects of the brand as opposed to the actual strategy.

I spent some time thinking about our best engagements as well as our biggest strengths.

Where I think we make a unique impact for companies is when we’re able to provide research, insights, and strategy to companies to help them get clarity on where they can stand out and win in their market. 

For a lot of these companies they’ve never had access to do this kind of work.

It really opens their eyes to a new view of their brand’s differentiation and how to grow their business.

What it helped me realize for Map & Fire is that we didn’t need a full pivot in what we do, we just needed to shift priorities of our positioning.

Rather than being:
↳ Brand strategy built on research and insights

We should be:
↳ Research and insights that drive your positioning and brand

By flipping that order it puts the focus on our biggest strengths.

It opens up more opportunities to work with brands without taking on *everything* right out of the gate.

And at a time when budgets and belts are a bit tighter we can lean into research offerings with very concrete value, extremely high ROI, and very low risk.

That’s a key way to build trust when starting out a new relationship.

So far, I’ve seen some solid shifts around the volume and quality of opportunities it’s opened up. 

It’s made it easier for companies to say yes.

It also just kinda clicks.

That’s the signal to me that this new prioritization is on point.

Take a look at your own positioning and see if you’re clear on the points of value that make your brand unique and can best differentiate you in the market. 

Sometimes a little shift can make a big impact.

#positioning #competition #brandstrategy

My new product may have created a category. 😅

When I launched our new positioning app SmokeLadder(.com) a couple months ago I did *not* have a goal to create a category.

In fact, in most cases – especially for new products / brands – I would advise against the strategy of category creation.

There's obviously a big upside to owning a unique space – in theory it aligns well with what I preach about standing out with strong differentiation.

But customers still need context.

They need to know how your product or service relates to their needs.

When you associate your brand with a known category it gives customers a quick mental shortcut to:

✅ Connect your brand to known benefits
✅ Consider how and where it fits in their life
✅ Self-select whether they should learn more

When you create a category you lose that head start.

I wrote a new article about the goals I had with creating SmokeLadder and landed on the title:

"Why we built the first data-driven product to help brands win with positioning"

Calling it the "first data-driven positioning product" wasn't intended to be click bait.

From what I've seen in the market there really isn't another product doing this.

*** Note: this does *not* mean we don't have competition. ***

There are lots of ways to work on your positioning... whether it's a DIY approach, working on it with an agency (like mine – Map & Fire), reading a book, or any other method.

But if you want fast, standardized, data-driven positioning insights to help your brand stand out and win, there isn't another product I've found that does this.

You could say the product is in the category of competitive intelligence or market research. Positioning incorporates those things but it's not fully defined by either of them.

It really is kind of its own thing.

So, as of now I'm using a new category of "Positioning Strategy Platform".

The good news is we rank #1 for that term in Google. 😀

The challenge is we'll need to do some explaining to help people understand the value it provides.

That starts with our own positioning and messaging.

I'm very open to a sanity check on these points:
❓Does this feel like a unique product?
❓Is the value proposition clear?
❓Is there an existing category you would put it in?

Link to the article I wrote in the comments if you want the full story. 👇

#positioning #competition #categorycreation

Had a fun time this week helping with the marketing launch of comedian Jim Gaffigan's new bourbon – Fathertime...and it's a great example of the power of differentiation.

Spirits are an insanely crowded market. 

Even as you niche down into celebrity spirits there's a lot out there – Jim's main ad for the launch makes fun of this...and of course himself in the process. (He also says he's not famous enough for this to be a celebrity spirit in the first place.)

But whether you're looking at spirits overall or the segment of celebrity spirits there's a consistent theme of them all taking themselves *super* seriously.

You see the same positioning over and over - generally focused on some variation around living an elite lifestyle in beautiful homes and exclusive clubs.

The brands are all hyper-polished and shot like a fashion accessory.  

There's no room for humor.

Yes, there are examples like Ryan Reynolds doing a funny spot for Aviation Gin. 

But the humor is just contained within the ad. Everything else about the brand looks and feels like every other alcohol brand out there. 

Fathertime really stands out because it has a clear point of view. 

It's a premium spirit, but it:

✅ Embraces Jim's dry humor throughout every aspect of the brand and messaging
✅ Feels ultra-classic rather than yet another shiny modern brand
✅ Has a real story ingrained in it around the value and challenges (and obviously humor) of being a father

All of this makes it strategically positioned as a great father's day present.

The takeaway here though is how well it embraces the core ideas of differentiation in positioning.

It's about finding those 2-3 points of value where you can provide a high level of value with clear separation from the competition.

When you do that you can stand out even in a wildly crowded space.

Oh and if you have a celebrity with millions of followers to push the brand that's always a bonus. 😀

ps- check out Jim's Twitter/X for some of the spots for the launch

#positioning #competition #differentiation

When brands struggle with differentiation it’s not usually from a lack of caring…it’s because they care *too* much. 


When you work on a business day after day…after day you start to build walls that obscure your ability to see its value clearly. 

It comes in the form of 3 B’s:

🧱Baggage:
The accumulation of one-off, anecdotal experiences that get collected over time and inadvertently skew our perspective about our customers and our products and services

🧱Bias:
There are areas of our businesses where we invest a ton of energy or have deep expertise that warp our perception of their actual value to customers

🧱Blindness:
And then there’s the basic artifact of working on something for so long that you lose sight of its meaning - this impacts positioning, messaging, visual identity…every aspect of the brand


Any one of these can lead to weak, undifferentiated positioning.

When you combine all three?  😅

In order to break through you need to regain the objectivity and perspective that’s been lost.

Luckily there are lots of solutions to help with this:

✅Customer and market research:
Get fresh data and insights straight from the exact people you’re trying to reach

✅Outside perspectives:
Agencies or consultants who can come in and question things with fresh eyes

✅Structured strategy and frameworks:
Leveraging tools that force you to see your brand through a new lens

✅Products that provide market data and competitive intelligence:
Access to data that shows how you compare and contrast with other brands in your space


When you combine these different solutions you can start to see the value you provide in a new light – and you can prioritize what aspects of your brand truly stand out to create meaningful, memorable differentiation for your target audience.

Every brand has some version of this wall – the key is to recognize and get help seeing through it. 

Oh, and as it turns out my agency Map & Fire and our product SmokeLadder(.com) align extremely well with all the things you need to tear down those kinds of walls. 🔥

#positioning #differentiation #competition

I learned a few interesting things this week about building a new type of product + building in public. 


I posted this week on some of the results I’ve seen with our positioning product SmokeLadder(.com) after analyzing 3000+ B2B websites. 

The headline was that 66% of the sites suffer from weak differentiation. 

It was an interesting takeaway to me – and it resonated with a lot of folks as a big problem. 

What’s funny though is that initially I wondered if anyone would push back on the number being that high. i.e. surely more brands must be differentiated in order to survive.

But it was the opposite. 

The main debate, was that the number is actually too low.

In other words, *way* more brands actually suffer from weak differentiation…with estimates ranging from 80%-98%. 

Given that I’m building a product to help improve this issue I’m certainly not upset that folks think it’s an even bigger issue. 👍

But it did highlight a few important points for me about our product and this process:

1️⃣ Even though this is a new type of product it’s connected to a lot of existing behaviors and experience.

Anyone who’s worked in marketing or founded a company has worked on positioning – even if they didn’t call it that. 

And anyone who’s researched a competitive landscape has lived and breathed the challenge of trying to differentiate between competing brands.

That’s bound to create a perspective on this issue.

The lesson for me was how important it is to remember the perception and experiences people have around a topic and how that impacts their perception of something new.

2️⃣ When presenting something new you have to be extra clear about the definition of it.

It’s one thing to say we’re building a new project management tool. 

Everyone has plenty of experience with that and can agree on roughly what it is.

When you try to tackle something new (like collecting data around positioning) there’s a wide range of ideas around what that could be. 

How I see it and how someone new sees it might be extremely different.

The lesson is that clarity on how the product works and what it does is even more critical.

3️⃣ Sharing this process in public is an incredible way to improve how you present and talk about things. 

Putting things out and getting feedback, challenges, questions is the absolute best way to make a product and the communication around it sharper.

I’ve been describing SmokeLadder as like the Semrush (or Ahrefs) for positioning data. 

I’m sure in the early days of those products their models were a bit rough around the edges but they still provided new kinds of value for SEO. 

Even now, everyone knows their data isn’t perfect but it absolutely helps you improve your content and navigate the competition. 

That’s my goal too. 

Keep getting feedback, keep refining, and keep providing as much value as we can.

Thanks to everyone for the support *and* the hard questions. 🔥

#positioning #differentiation #feedback

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