Melinda Welch's Linkedin Analytics

Brands fascinate me: how they show up in the world, how they figure in our lives, and how they’re simultaneously a mirror of our culture and an accelerant that shapes it. Initially spellbound by the creative itself, only to discover that the underlying “whys” were somehow even more captivating, my career arc follows the process of branding–except in reverse. Working in-house at a brand-led CPG startup revealed the broad ecosystem of functions, capabilities, insights, and relationships necessary to launch a brand, grow it, and inspire people to care about it. My time at advertising agencies illuminated the remarkable power of ideas and creativity to influence everything. And I do mean *everything*. My experience building a branding studio within a PR agency opened my eyes to the reach and impact of media in amplifying a brand’s message, position, and value. Now, I channel all of my past lives (and not to mention my graduate degree in branding) to build, strengthen, and express brands. As the SVP of Strategy & Brand at Brand Bureau, I relish the opportunity to work at the outset–of a question, a framework, an activation, an idea–and to bring that to fruition guided by strategic rigor and implemented through rich collaboration. I strive to inspire my team of utterly brilliant Strategists and Designers to think about brands in 360 degrees, using every conceivable tool in the brand’s toolbox. I have had the pleasure of partnering with organizations including Ford, Amazon, UCSF, Sazerac, Related, Virgin, and Marriott among many others to usher their brands into new frontiers, ventures, and seasons. I also teach branding at the School of Visual Arts Masters in Branding program. In the Fall, Dr. Tom Guarriello and I help the practitioners of tomorrow understand the psychological mechanisms of branding and our attachment to objects. In the Spring, we add Mark Kingsley into the mix and lead students through a pro-bono branding exercise for a non-profit client. In the Summer we advise students on their thesis projects and evaluate their defenses thereof. Tom, Mark and I also host a podcast called BrandBox where we unpack brand phenomena and the cultural shifts which affect them. Sometimes the conversation veers academic, other times it's personal and subjective, but it’s always three good friends riffing and trying to better understand the wild world of branding.