Love is a mystery.
It defies logic. It’s tender and powerful. Fleeting and eternal. It's mythical, but it feels so real.
Is it the same for the brands that people love?
For over 25 years, we’ve built an international boutique branding agency and brand incubator devoted to exploring the mystery of love with every brand we shape and every founder we co-venture with.
We’ve developed a unique brand strategy system to help CEOs and CMOs define a clear vision for the next chapter of their brand - then bring it to life with award-winning creative direction and design. Not to manufacture desire. To build brands people fall in love with.
Mission
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Vision
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Purpose
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Culture
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Positioning
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Brand Architecture
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Naming
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Insights
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Creative Direction
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Rebranding
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Brand Audit
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Brand Evolution
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Mission • Vision • Purpose • Culture • Positioning • Brand Architecture • Naming • Insights • Creative Direction • Rebranding • Brand Audit • Brand Evolution •
BRAND STRATEGY & CREATIVE DIRECTION
Portfolio
Here’s a taste of work we create and the sectors we work in.
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Having grown up in the US and India, the COO followed an impressive career path at Diageo, the largest drinks business in the world. His passion however, is for helping people find balance, and through the rigorous scientific research of his team at Cannabistry Labs, a leading Reseach and Development group, he was able to formulate all-natural therapies with Ayurvedic recipes whose remarkable effectiveness is further amplified by hemp-derived CBD.
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Tough Mama sounds scary, but she just likes to do things properly. Fed up with the boring, bland and over-priced products, Tough Mama decided to put the fun back in to getting baked. She’s raised a family of pre-rolls and vape carts that are as strong as a silverback, and as tasty as Mama’s home cooking!
In today’s world of molly-coddling, Tough Mama tells it how it is. Not everyone has the courage to start, or the heart to finish. For those who dare – the fearless few – they are rewarded with the feeling of being wrapped in Tough Mamas hairy arms! But, if you’re looking for someone to hold your hand, wipe your butt, and listen to you whine about your problems, you’ve come to the wrong mama.
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Unlike many Californian beach destinations, Venice Beach isn’t just another surfing spot. Despite its surf presence, it is also known as part of ‘DogTown’, the legendary epicentre for skateboarding and the street/beach/art/fashion/music/film sub-culture that has grown up around it.
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One of California’s best loved fast-food franchises with over 100 units in the state, over the past 15 years, it had been in a steady decline.
Acquired by an experienced operator with a passion for the brand, Mystery was asked to help e-energize and revitalize the business and define the next generation of the brand.
Make contact to find out how we set about bringing this heritage brand back to life.
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It all began on the island of Maui. Discovering clean fresh flavors. Environmentally sustainable and ethical. A breezy fish house experience. That sense of being able to breathe. Transporting people around the Pacific rim through the flavors of our food. Ohana - we are all one family.
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Imagine you’re a keen watch collector and you discover at a family funeral that your great grandfather had founded a British watch company that long before it closed in 1970 had been selected by the military to produce watches for soldiers in WWII. Do you think you would endeavor to secure the trade mark, develop a new product in honor of an original model and relaunch the brand one hundred years after it first started? Well that’s exactly what we helped Don Cochrane do.
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Calling all foodies, golfers and rascals.
First established in 1971 and recently re-envisioned, Desert Island is not just another Palm Springs countryclub with a breathtaking mountain backdrop to the championship golf course meandering around a twenty-five acre inland sea. Here, they celebrate the unusual. The whimsical quirks of the less ordinary and the glamour and indulgence of the 20th-century Hollywood jet-set.
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The name ‘Monkey Shoulder’ is actually part of Scotch folklore. It comes from an injury that the malt men used to suffer in years gone by. For a brand like this, that walks the tightrope between irreverence and premium quality, it connects with the target consumer on an authentically emotive level, whilst clearly differentiating it from the competition.
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How can CRE triple-net leases be a win for tenants, a win for investors, and a win for the environment? We’ve helped Triver create a triple-net triple-win model to do exactly that.
Tenants wins with lower expenses. Investors wins by maximizing profit whilst mitigating risk. The planet wins with environmental-upgrades to the property
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At the heart of the brand is the belief in being proactive about health by eating the right nutritional foods. This playful, nonconformist brand is on a mission to nourish the world with their refreshingly no-nonsense, tattooed attitude.
Launching with a range of kids Coconut Mylk beverages. closely followed by drinks and snacks for adults, the brand has achieved worldwide distribution.
Mystery worked strategically to define the brand positioning and name for Rebel Kitchen, prior to designing the identity, packaging and website.
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Offering more than just an academic experience studying English, Stafford House offers a learning adventure. They encourage students to build confidence; immerse themselves in the culture; and graduate feeling empowered to embrace all the opportunities of the future.
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Dan has collaborated with numerous music legends: artists, bands, labels and management to help bands become brands.
The jewel in his music-biz crown is creative-directing the official autobiography of The Rolling Stones. with all-area access to the band’s personal archives. It has become a worldwide bestseller published in many languages, and the making of the book is a story in it’s own right.
Methodology
Developed and honed over twenty years, hundreds of clients and a handful of startup ventures
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We believe that positioning a clearly defined Brand Vision at the centre of a business, ensures coherent decision-making across the entire organization, delivering unique, coherent and compelling brand experiences for the customers
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How do we achieve our mission to help create brands that people fall in love with?
We believe in the power of emotion to connect people with brands
People connect with people
So a brand needs to have a personality like a person
A personification that consumers find engaging, someone they can relate to, or aspire to
Why is emotive engagement so important?
Because people make their purchase decisions emotively
Mystery believes in brand-centric businesses
We also believe in customer-centric brands
So understanding customers is key
We think about their emotive human needs and how brands can fulfill them
We don’t believe your brand is a logo it’s a personality and a soul that runs through the entire organization
Our job is the expression of that soul through multiple brand marketing touch-points
To make those valuable emotive connections with customers
Driving sales, loyalty, advocacy and longevity
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What we believe is fundamental to the commercial success of the business
We believe that successful brands satisfy their customers’ six emotive needs and form powerful bonds as a result.
We help our clients by identifying ways to execute this through customer touch-points.
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Absolute Brand Clarity™
Our unique strategic branding methodology developed over twenty years.
Made up of research and workshops which generate insights that we simplify, so that it’s easily communicated within the organization, ensuring everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Built around that basic structure is an understanding of the competitor landscape; the target customers’ emotive triggers; identifying the clear space that you 'own' in their minds; clarifying the personality archetype; and establishing the key brand messages and the volume and timing of each one along the customer journey.
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Brand Facets™
Our unique model is a vital tool for every brand. We summarize the entire positioning in an all-encompassing one-page format that acts as a quick reference guide for decision-making across the organization.
Who we work with
We collaborate with leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to help define and transform brand direction, culture and growth.
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Pernod RicardWe worked with the board to help align their brand communications with their corporate goals
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ImbibeWe worked with the C-suite leaders to clarify and communicate their vision internally to the team and externally to potential partners
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Za Za BazaarWe worked with the founder to help define the proposition for what became the largest restaurant in the UK
The advantage of Mystery
Mystery helps create intrigue, emotional connection, community and lasting loyalty
Four reasons to work with Mystery:
Experience
A brand owner and serial entrepreneur - beyond the agency mindset
Most consultants offer either an agency or client-side perspective—rarely both. Having helped build hundreds of brands running my international branding agency and having built my own brands as a founder, I understand the real-world challenges from both perspectives and bridge the gap between theory and execution.
Process
A simplified solution that everyone understands - alignment, not ambiguity
Brands lose impact when decision-making is not aligned across different business teams. My proprietary Brand Facets model distills your brand’s essence into a single slide - keeping leadership, marketing, and operations on the same page, bringing clarity, focus, and alignment across your entire organization.
Vision
Branding that connects on a human level
Logos and taglines aren’t enough - successful brands have a soul. My philosophy taps into the fundamental emotional needs of human beings, ensuring your brand resonates deeply with customers, ensuring your brand creates the kind of connection that leads to loyalty, advocacy, and longevity.
Value
Big thinking without the big overhead
Institutional brand consultancies come with hefty price tags and layers of hierarchy. Senior partners sell you the vision, but more junior teams execute it. With Mystery, you work directly with a seasoned brand strategist bringing 20+ years of real-world experience to every conversation, ensuring every decision is guided by deep expertise, not delegation. That means creative insights, wiser strategies, and no wasted budget.
Major brands that we have had the pleasure of working with and learning from:
Curious?
If you’re curious to know more, or would like to discuss your brand, feel free to book a no-obligation call.