Sasha Strauss

Current

Managing Director, Brand Strategy at Innovation Protocol
Professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication

Past

Director, Brand Development at Brand Sense Partners | Clients: Clorox brands, Electronic Arts, American Museum of Natural History
Senior Brand Strategist at Siegel & Gale | Clients: Yahoo!, Adobe Systems, Microsoft, TiVo
Brand Planner at RiechesBaird | Clients: Toyota, Pacific Life, Edwards Lifescience, Bosch

Director, Promotional Brand Programs at Ellinai Industries | Clients: SoBe Beverages, Carter Wallace, Saran, AT&T, Toshiba, Philip Morris
Brand Strategist at CRISP | brand agency | Clients: XFX, Pine Technologies and UC Irvine Athletics
Client Services at Rogers & Cowan | Clients: United Artists and American Red Cross
Client Services at TBWA Chiat Day | Client: Nissan

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Education

University of Southern California
University of California, Los Angeles - The Anderson School of Management
University of California, Irvine

Recommended

100 people have recommended Sasha

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Marketing and Advertising

Websites

Sasha Strauss’s Summary

Managing Director of Brand Strategy at Innovation Protocol, a strategic brand development firm serving innovators. Also teach graduate brand strategy as an Adjunct Professor at USC.

Sample guest lecturer posts:
- Cornell - Johnson School of Business
- MIT - Sloan School of Business
- Columbia Business School (x2)
- Fordham Business School
- Indiana University - Kelley School of Business
- USC - Annenberg School for Communication (x18)
- USC - Marshall School of Business (x11)
- UCLA - Anderson School of Business (x7)
- UCLA Extension (x2)
- UC Irvine - Paul Merage School of Business (x8)
- UC Office of the President (x3)
- Irvine Chamber of Commerce (x2)
- The Art Institute (x3)
- AIGA | American Institute of Graphic Arts
- AMA | American Marketing Association (x5)
- MENG | Marketing Executives Networking Group (x2)

Sample media interviews:
- ABC Radio
- CBS Radio
- NPR
- Wall Street Journal
- Los Angeles Business Journal

Past Work:
Served as Director, Brand Development at Brand Sense Partners, a strategic brand extension and business development firm. Lead brand strategy and development programs for all firm clientele, ranging from Clorox brands to Electronic Arts.

Previously, was a Senior Brand Strategy Consultant at Siegel+Gale, developing and managing international strategic branding programs. Client partner on all global Yahoo! brand initiatives while also leading projects for category leaders like TiVo, Microsoft and Adobe.

Before joining Siegel+Gale, worked at RiechesBaird as a Brand Planner; authoring strategic marketing and communications business plans for a varied clientele like Edwards Life Sciences. Bosch and Toyota.

Earlier in career, managed a promotional marketing campaigns. Over five years and with 80+ team members, organized and staffed brand building events for clients such as SoBe / Pepsi Co, Saran and Philip Morris.

Also worked for Rogers & Cowan and TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Sasha Strauss’s Specialties:

Brand Platform (positioning, personality, mission/vision, brand pillars), Brand Architecture, Brand Naming, Brand Extension Strategy, Brand Alignment, Brand Messaging Strategy, Brand Research direction, Brand Identity and Visual Vocabulary.

Lead strategy work for clients world wide; managing brand initiatives in Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Germany, France, the UK and all over North America.

Sasha Strauss’s Experience

Managing Director, Brand Strategy

Innovation Protocol

(Privately Held; Marketing and Advertising industry)

July 2006 — Present (3 years 5 months)

Brand strategy consulting firm that exclusively serves organizations that are changing the nature of markets. Direct all programs for the international client base with a broad, seasoned team of full time analysts, strategists & designers. 10% of resources are allocated to serving non-profits.

Corporate Sample Clientele;
- BMC Software (top 5 enterprise software company)
- Wurth International (one of the world's largest privately held companies)
- Sanrio (global entertainment powerhouse)
- Korn/Ferry International (world's largest executive recruiting firm)
- Johnson & Johnson
- PayPal / eBay
- Bioness
- Medtronic

Startup Sample Clientele;
- Modular Wind Energy (Wind energy innovators)
- Genomatica (Biochemicals)
- Simply Continuous (Disaster recovery)
- Seriosity (Enterprise software)
- Cambrios (LCD manufacturing)
- Actiga (Active gaming)
- Magnify360

Non-profit Sample Clientele:
- Mozilla / Firefox
- Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
- Hostelling International
- PATH [People Assisting the Homeless]
- Dispute Resolution Services [LA County Bar Association]
- INMED [International Childrens Health NGO]
- Beit T'Shuvah [Dependency Counseling]
- LA County Bar Association [Dispute Resolution Services]
- LA Goal [Adults with Developmental Disabilities]
Professor

USC Annenberg School for Communication

(Research industry)

June 2006 — Present (3 years 6 months)

Developed curriculum, secured placement and have taught five graduate courses in brand strategy. 16 week series focuses on key elements used in practical case work throughout career, including; brand positioning, research, naming, brand architecture, extension and valuation. Curriculum is presented in guest lecturing roles at UCLA Anderson, USC Marshall, UC Irvine and range of professional organizations.
Director, Brand Development

Brand Sense Partners | Clients: Clorox brands, Electronic Arts, American Museum of Natural History

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

October 2005 — October 2006 (1 year 1 month)

Firm partners with strong consumer brands and engages in business and brand development partnerships to leverage strategic assets in new products and services. Directed department and lead all firm clienteles' brand strategy programs, from primary research to product development. Defined brand platforms, innovated ways to extend strategic assets, and then rationalized the opportunities through retail, market and competitive analysis.

Created and implemented new proprietary brand assessment and development systems; including category opportunity financial analyses, pioneering "fictitious brand extension" audience demand research and brand architecture growth systems. All programs are now used as master phases for every client strategic brand extension initiative.
Senior Brand Strategist

Siegel & Gale | Clients: Yahoo!, Adobe Systems, Microsoft, TiVo

(Privately Held; Marketing and Advertising industry)

April 2002 — October 2005 (3 years 7 months)

Lead international brand strategy programs. Managed relationships and directed multiple simultaneous teams of 2-10 strategists and creatives. Authored proposals and lead new business development with current clientele; responsible for $3.5 million in extended services drawn beyond contract.

Responsibilities included: stakeholder and customer interviews, personality / brand personification; mission, vision and positioning; primary research; global brand architecture systems; brand guideline development; direct and indirect competitive analyses; board and c-level executive presentations; worksession development and hosting internal and external brand launch programs.
Brand Planner

RiechesBaird | Clients: Toyota, Pacific Life, Edwards Lifescience, Bosch

(Privately Held; Marketing and Advertising industry)

April 2000 — April 2002 (2 years 1 month)

Developed brand platforms, campaign strategies and competitive analyses to guide creative implementation of branding recommendations as the agency's "voice of the market."

Built and directed research programs to explore target market appeal through focus groups, consumer intercepts and internet studies. Analyzed findings and developed new intuitive method for execution of the communications program in relation to competitive messaging.
Director, Promotional Brand Programs

Ellinai Industries | Clients: SoBe Beverages, Carter Wallace, Saran, AT&T, Toshiba, Philip Morris

(Marketing and Advertising industry)

August 1998 — February 2002 (3 years 7 months)

.
Promotional Brand Marketing

Directed promotional marketing events for consumer product brands. Managed business development, event organization and recruitment, hiring, training and payroll for 80 contracted employees.Teams of 2-25 promoted clientele through public address announcements, collateral distribution, promotional give-a-ways and direct consumer communication. Also collected demographic statistics, consumer insights and competitive market data through consumer opinion studies. Events included the ESPN X-Games, The Toshiba Tennis Classic and The Vans Warped Tour.
Brand Strategist

CRISP | brand agency | Clients: XFX, Pine Technologies and UC Irvine Athletics

(Privately Held; Marketing and Advertising industry)

1996 — 1998 (2 years )
Client Services

Rogers & Cowan | Clients: United Artists and American Red Cross

(Public Company; Public Relations and Communications industry)

1996 — 1996 (less than a year)
Client Services

TBWA Chiat Day | Client: Nissan

(Public Company; Marketing and Advertising industry)

1995 — 1995 (less than a year)

Additional Information

Sasha Strauss’s Websites:

Sasha Strauss’s Interests:

Music, snowboarding, world travels, pro-bono branding, teaching

Sasha Strauss’s Groups:

Council of Communication Management,
Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles
UC Irvine Alumni Association, Board of Directors
AIPAC, ProBonoBrands.org, USC Annenberg, BRITE Conference