LAUNCHING COMPANIES INTO THE STRATOSPHERE
Below are some of the brands we’ve built from scratch and strategically developed with our partners. Click to scroll through a sampling of each of the identities. Branding is merely the tip of the iceberg, our holistic process includes building out strategic platforms, design & creative communications, product development, E-Com, social, CRM, retail ops, & marketing—whatever it takes to elevate and transform the business.
tequio
We built a tequila-centric brand from scratch that restores truth to a category that’s been hijacked by western culture, celebrities, and inauthentic tropes. Instead of another distillery tale, we are telling tequila’s true, lost story through the lens and wisdom of Tequio.
Angel’s Envy bourbon
We helped reinvent a 200-year-old spirit in partnership with the legendary Master Distiller, Lincoln Henderson. By building a brand that blends tradition and innovation together, we were able to help breath life into a stale and rigid category.
pit liquor
We built a brand to completely reimagine the deodorant experience by unlocking confidence, individual expression & the emotional power of scent in our lives. Proving there’s a smarter, healthier way to deal with body odor—one that reframes what deodorant can be, how we use it and how it enhances our lives.
the people’s Farm
We created a brand that is pioneering nutritional access in urban areas and democratizing farming via modular & scalable grow pods. These sovereign food systems are reframing who the modern farmer can be through hyperlocal farms that generate wealth for local economies.
hello gorgeous
We built a disruptive RTD brand inspired by the French, that reframes the idea of beauty and what is gorgeous—proving beauty is a birthright, not a pursuit, that every woman is beautiful and that authentic self-expression is true beauty.
Treaty Oak
Treaty Oak is a unique distillery/brewery in Austin, Texas on a 27 acre ranch with a farm-to-table restaurant. We helped build their strategy and brand to have a disruptive voice and POV in the craft spirit space by defying traditions in sourcing, distilling, aging and blending to prove the best spirits have yet to be made.
Protein Puck
Protein Puck is a whole food/plant-based energy company. We built this brand around empowerment and a focus on filling protein needs for the mind, body & spirit. Pucks are part meal replacement solution, part cereal, donut, “insert said junk food item here” solution.
Papa’s pilar rum
We were entrusted to create a rum/lifestyle brand around the spirit and ethos of Ernest Hemingway and his love for adventure. We created a rum that Hemingway would be proud to drink and a brand who’s convictions and actions mirror the legendary icon.
mindsight
Mindsight is a research & strategy firm that engaged with us to reassess their brand architecture & product offering, while evolving their vision and brand identity. By better leveraging the company’s collective intelligence with new tools and capabilities, we added another dimension to their ability to create transformational change.
TomboyX
We created a brand built around inclusivity + equality, an agent for positive social change in the mundane underwear category. TomboyX champions women's unique qualities/beauty, while reminding them to feel comfortable in their own skin.
B Cycle
We created a zero-hassle, zero-emissions bike-sharing system that empowers both individuals and communities to help solve some of the environmental, health & traffic congestion issues we face today. The first bike sharing system in the U.S., now in 35 cities.
Green Garage
We reinvented the diseased Auto-Service category for the better by offering up a suite of eco-friendly parts and services vetted by university scientists while radically transforming the human experience of taking your car in for service.
Retail sales experience
Our leadership has helped power sales for many successful and game-changing brands.
Keurig/Green Mountain Coffee
Seeing growth in single-serve coffee technology, we supported Keurig by helping grow their innovative technology into grocery.
Vital Farms
Convincing conventional grocers to lean in on organic/natural dairy & eggs, overcoming the sticker shock of price on shelf.
Dole
Convincing retail produce executives to buy into Dole’s concept of vacuum sealed, pre-washed, pre-cut bagged salad.
Brands Under construction
Noll
We created the purest, most purpose-built surf brand in the world with the responsibility to preserve surfing’s past and future. Our story for the return of the NOLL brand began around a table in San Clemente, CA.
GOld Handle Coffee Co
For 243 years, coffee has been our unofficial national beverage fueling decades of progress. But what was once a democratic drink has become a contentious concoction—John Wayne is here to change that.
Cuentas
We built a modern banking cooperative to help Mexican-American communities participate in the economy through a feature set that is simple, direct, and transparent. Cuentas, means "accounts," like a bank account, but it also means "you count" or "you matter."
Executive Leadership
Our team possesses one main bond & commonality – everyone, regardless of background (finance, operations, sales or marketing) has worked extensively in a successful large business and forged a better way forward. We constantly look to attract and unite team members who possess vision, kinship, and entrepreneurial skills.
Neil Riddell
Founder / CEO
Neil oversees Strategy, Creative and Product Development for the brands we build, working closely with founders and their executive/management teams. Neil brings extensive brand development experience having helped many Fortune 500 companies and small challenger brands find success. As EVP during his 20+ years at Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Ad Age’s “Agency of the Decade”), Neil founded and led their Product/Brand Innovation engine and was named to Adweek’s inaugural Creative 100—America’s Most Inventive Talent in Marketing, Media + Tech. Prior to CP+B, he spent time working at Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam, and Foote, Cone & Belding. Neil studied Art Direction & Design at the Miami Ad School and also holds a degree in International Finance & Marketing from the University of Miami.
Paul Pennington
Managing Director, Growth
Paul oversees Partnerships and Growth, bringing consumer brand expertise with a heavy emphasis on mass retail sales and distribution. Paul has spent his entire professional career in the CPG industry, beginning as a litigation attorney for the Albertson’s company in 1993. He then founded The Impact Group, serving as EVP of Sales, and grew the company into the 4th largest food brokerage in the U.S. The Impact Group launched some of the most successful challenger brands into mass retail including Keurig, Halo Top, Vital Farms, Lucini Olive Oil, Organic Valley and many more. Today, Paul still serves on the Board of Directors for The Impact Group and is a Board Member at the Gonzaga University School of Law.
Jeff Russell
National Director, Retail Sales
Jeff serves as Director of Sales and is responsible for Exec Mgmt of both internal and external sales representatives at Noun. He brings 30 years experience in CPG operations and sales execution. He began his career at Colgate Palmolive, working his way up to overseeing all product sales for the Albertsons Corporate channel. After Colgate, Jeff co-founded The Impact Group, and served as President of Sales and EVP of Client development for two decades. During his time at Impact, Jeff established deep relationships in all corners of the food and beverage industry ranging from relationships with retail executives and Fortune 500 brands, to a powerful network of independent brokers that have driven sales success for hundreds of CPG brands.