What TwentyFirstCenturyBrand does

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand (also branded as 21st Century Brand or 21CB) is a private brand transformation consultancy founded in 2018 and headquartered in London (registered in England and Wales, company number 12137119), with additional offices in San Francisco and Brooklyn. It operates as a subsidiary of the Common Interest Group, a portfolio that includes CultureLab, Otherway, Baby Teeth, Amplify, and SEED Marketing. The firm serves enterprise marketing leaders — primarily CMOs and chief consumer/marketing officers at large organizations — and delivers its work through three service pillars: Brand Strategy (including proprietary frameworks such as Brand Blueprint, Brand DNA, Business Case for Brand, and a Brand Effectiveness measurement framework that has earned IPA Effectiveness Accreditation), Internal Growth (marketing transformation, organizational gap analysis, internal launch experiences, leadership coaching, and creative excellence training), and External Growth (messaging strategy, cultural playbooks, investor narratives, brand identity, activation, and brand campaigns). The firm employs a five-phase Discover, Define, Deliver, Drive, Demonstrate methodology.

Its commercial model is project-and-engagement based professional services, custom-quoted per scope rather than disclosed publicly, with no productized SaaS or transaction-based revenue. The go-to-market is sales-led, direct to enterprise CMOs through relationship-based selling, supported by thought leadership across Fast Company, Forbes, Marketing Week, and WARC, downloadable content such as the CMO Thrive Guide and AI-era whitepaper, executive speaking (e.g., SXSW London), and the firm's positioning as the only IPA-accredited brand consultancy. Named enterprise clients span Pinterest, PepsiCo, Chime, Monzo, Mars Wrigley, Instacart, Flo Health, Progressive, Starbucks, and Motorway.

Revenue is not publicly disclosed; no external funding rounds have been reported, and ownership resides with Common Interest. The firm's differentiation rests on the senior operator pedigree of its bench (former leaders from Airbnb, Netflix, Pinterest, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McKinsey, IDEO, Google, and Apple Media Arts Lab), its proprietary methodologies, its IPA accreditation, and its embedded position within the Common Interest ecosystem that allows strategy work to flow into creative activation through related agencies.

Name

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand

Legal name

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand

Website

https://twentyfirstcenturybrand.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand is a private brand transformation consultancy (founded 2018, London HQ, offices in San Francisco and Brooklyn) that helps enterprise CMOs define brand strategy, transform internal marketing organizations, and activate brands externally. It operates as a subsidiary of the Common Interest Group and is the only brand consultancy holding IPA Effectiveness Accreditation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Consulting Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Strategy & Positioning (BPAFAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD), Employer Brand & Recruitment Marketing Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAM), Employer Brand Strategy & Talent Branding (BPAFAEAH)

Keywords

• Brand strategy consulting
• Brand transformation services
• Marketing transformation consulting
• Brand effectiveness measurement
• Corporate brand building

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Brand Strategy Consulting: Strategic consulting engagements helping companies define brand purpose, positioning, and architecture. Engagements include leadership alignment sessions, organizational transformation, and brand activation programs delivered through direct client partnerships.
2. Internal Growth Services: Services focused on transforming organizations from within, including internal launch experiences, marketing transformation programs, leadership coaching, and capability building to drive adoption of brand strategy across the enterprise.
3. External Growth Services: External-facing brand development including messaging strategy, cultural playbooks, investor narrative development, brand campaigns, and brand partnerships executed with Common Interest collective.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand is a global brand transformation consultancy that helps enterprises turn brands into durable growth engines. Its offerings are organized into three service pillars: Brand Strategy (Brand Blueprint, Brand DNA, Brand Architecture, EVP, Brand Effectiveness), Internal Growth (Internal Launch Experience, Marketing Transformation, Leadership Coaching, Training, Creative Excellence), and External Growth (Messaging Strategy, Cultural Playbooks, Investor Narrative, Brand Campaigns, Brand Partnerships delivered with parent Common Interest). Engagements are bespoke consulting projects delivered to senior marketing leaders at enterprise clients.

Product overview

TwentyFirstCenturyBrand is a global brand transformation consultancy offering a comprehensive portfolio of strategic products and services organized into three core pillars: Brand Strategy, Internal Growth, and External Growth. The Brand Strategy pillar includes foundational products such as Brand Blueprint (BBP), Brand DNA, Brand Playbook, Brand Architecture, and Brand Effectiveness. The Internal Growth pillar focuses on transformation and capability-building with offerings including Internal Launch Experience, Marketing Transformation, Transformation Tools & Training, Leadership Coaching, and Creative Excellence. The External Growth pillar encompasses brand activation and communication services including Messaging Strategy, Cultural Playbooks, Investor Narrative, Brand Identity, Brand Campaigns, and Brand Partnerships. The company also publishes thought leadership resources including the CMO Thrive Guide and Building Brands for Humans & Machines whitepaper. Services are delivered through a five-phase methodology: Discover, Define, Deliver, Drive, and Demonstrate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brand Strategy Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 55% EBITDA increase (2022-2023) for Pinterest
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Common InterestflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommon Interest is the parent company and strategic collective that owns TwentyFirstCenturyBrand. The partnership enables co-delivery of brand activation, campaigns, and brand partnerships through the Common Interest network of specialized agencies including CultureLab (AI culture platform), Otherway (design studio), Baby Teeth (brand/entertainment), Amplify (experience agency), and SEED Marketing (youth audiences specialist).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lippincott: Premium brand strategy and identity consultancy serving enterprise clients with a similar senior-led, ex-in-house talent model; competes directly for the same strategic brand transformation engagements at Fortune 500 brands.
• Siegel+Gale: Global brand strategy and experience design consultancy; competes in the same brand strategy, positioning, and simplification mandate space as 21CB for enterprise clients seeking brand clarity.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy with deep heritage in brand strategy and identity, serving enterprise and challenger brands; comparable in scope and client type to 21CB's brand strategy and transformation offering.
• Redscout: Brand strategy and innovation consultancy with strong ties to the talent pool at 21CB (Colin Chow was previously Redscout CEO and Dan Hauck was a co-founder); a direct peer in the senior brand strategy space serving enterprise and challenger brands.
• Landor & Fitch: Global brand consultancy offering brand strategy, identity, and transformation services to enterprise clients; directly comparable as a top-tier strategic branding firm serving Fortune 500 brands across multiple sectors.
• Interbrand: One of the world's largest brand consultancies providing brand strategy, valuation, and identity services; a direct competitor for enterprise brand transformation mandates and a benchmark for premium brand consulting scale.

Broad incumbents

• BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty): Heritage creative agency where multiple 21CB leaders (Sara Tate, Dan Hauck, Neil Barrie via Zag) built their careers; broader creative agency mandate but comparable in serving premium enterprise brand strategy work.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy (where 21CB's Simon Phipps and Fauzia Musa previously worked); broader innovation/design mandate but overlapping on brand-led transformation for enterprise clients.
• R/GA: Hybrid creative and consulting agency combining brand strategy with technology and experience design for enterprise clients; broader scope than 21CB but competes for brand-driven transformation mandates.
• Mother Design: Part of Mother London creative network (where 21CB partner Sara Tate previously worked); broader creative agency offering but with overlapping brand strategy capabilities for enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/twentyfirstcenturybrand
• Xx.com/21cbrand

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TwentyFirstCenturyBrand