What Starfish does

Starfish is an independent Brand and Creative Intelligence™ agency founded in 2002 by David Kessler and headquartered in New York City. The firm operates as a senior-led boutique (~35 staff across creative, strategy, and account disciplines) serving global enterprises and emerging challenger brands across B2B and B2C categories including healthcare, financial services, consumer products, professional services, nonprofit, technology, and hospitality. Named clients include Avis, Gallup, ADL, Dunkin', PwC, CRISIL (S&P Global), Hologic, Samsung, 24 Hour Fitness, and HuFriedyGroup.

The agency's core offering is organized around three integrated disciplines — Brand Soul (strategic discovery), Brand Coherence (governance across human and AI-mediated touchpoints), and Intelligent Activation™ (advertising, content, digital, and AI-era optimization). Strategic and creative work is grounded in a proprietary discovery methodology called ALBERT™ (the ACNA Model — Attributes, Capabilities, Needs, Ambitions), refined over 20+ years and hundreds of engagements. The agency also operates Starfish Studio, a scalable creative production capability offering brand toolkits, motion assets, templates, and campaign creative with AI-assisted workflows under hourly, retainer, or fixed-fee engagement models. There are no patents, proprietary AI/ML models, or disclosed data assets — the underlying technology is the trademarked methodology framework combined with standard creative and digital production tools.

Starfish generates revenue through professional services engagements: brand strategy and consulting (discovery, positioning, brand architecture), creative and design services (visual identity, advertising), digital and activation services (websites, digital marketing, social), and Studio-based scalable production. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; engagements are structured as project fees, hourly rates, retainers, or fixed-fee arrangements. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales targeting C-suite and senior marketing leaders, supplemented by thought leadership content, industry awards, and referrals. The firm is privately held with no disclosed external funding, parent company, or institutional investors.

Name

Starfish

Legal name

Starfish

Website

https://starfishco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Starfish is an independent NYC-based Brand and Creative Intelligence agency, founded in 2002, that delivers brand strategy, creative, and activation services to global enterprises and challenger brands across healthcare, financial services, consumer, and nonprofit sectors using its proprietary ALBERT™ discovery methodology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Brand Strategy & Consulting: Discovery, positioning, and brand architecture engagements typically structured as project-based or retainer work for enterprise clients. Deliverables include strategic platforms, messaging frameworks, and brand governance documentation.
2. Creative & Design Services: Visual identity systems, logo design, advertising creative, and marketing campaign development. Billed through project fees, hourly engagements, or retainer arrangements.
3. Digital & Activation Services: Website design, digital marketing campaigns, social media programs, and ongoing brand activation work. Structured as project engagements or ongoing retainer relationships.
4. Starfish Studio: Scalable creative production offering through configurable engagement models including hourly/on-demand, full retainer, and fixed-fee arrangements. Provides brand toolkits, motion assets, templates, and campaign creative with AI-assisted workflows.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Starfish is an independent Brand and Creative Intelligence agency that provides brand strategy, visual identity, advertising, experience design, activation, and culture services to enterprise clients. Its offering is organized around three proprietary disciplines—Brand Soul (strategic discovery), Brand Coherence (governance), and Intelligent Activation™ (execution across human and AI-mediated environments)—and is grounded in its ALBERT™ proprietary discovery methodology refined across 20+ years of engagements.

Product overview

Starfish is a Brand and Creative Intelligence agency that operates as a single integrated discipline. The agency offers three core service disciplines: Brand Soul (strategic discovery), Brand Coherence (governance), and Intelligent Activation™ (brand activation). These are delivered through proprietary tools including ALBERT.ai (a discovery methodology) and the ACNA Model (Attributes, Capabilities, Needs, Ambitions). The agency provides five main service categories: Branding (Brand Strategy, Brand Architecture, Brand Naming, Brand Story, Logo & Visual Identity), Advertising (Creative Concept Development, Digital & Social, Traditional), Experience (Customer Journey Mapping, Experience Design, Experience Playbooks), Activation (Marketing Strategy, Website Design, Digital Marketing), and Culture (Employer Branding, Internal Communications, Change Management). Services are delivered through Starfish Studio using configurable engagement models (hourly/on demand, full retainer, fixed fee). The agency works across B2B and B2C brands, global enterprises and emerging challengers, serving clients across healthcare, financial services, consumer products, professional services, and other industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ALBERT.ai: Proprietary brand discovery methodology that identifies strategic drivers differentiating a brand by evaluating organization attributes, core competencies, customer needs, and ambitions
• Brand and Creative Intelligence™
• Intelligent Activation™
• Starfish Studio

Products and services

• Branding Services Comprehensive branding services for enterprise clients including Brand Strategy, Brand Architecture, Brand Naming, Brand Story development, and Logo & Visual Identity design. Forms the strategic foundation for everything a brand is and does.
• Advertising Services Full-service advertising offering including Creative Concept Development, Digital & Social advertising, and Traditional Advertising Channels. Develops creative platforms that naturally express themselves across all channels and assets for enterprise brands.
• Experience Services Experience design services including Defining The Brand Experience, Customer Journey Mapping & Optimization, Experience Design, and Experience Playbooks. Considers sensory, affective, behavioral, and intellectual interactions to craft strategically leveraged experiences for enterprise clients.
• Activation Services Activation services including Marketing Strategy, Website Design, and Digital Marketing. Designs strategic plans for internal and external activations across various channels and mediums to bring brands to life for enterprise clients.
• Culture Services Culture and internal brand services including Employer Branding, Internal Communications, and Change Management. Helps enterprise organizations nurture their company culture as a living entity that expresses the brand internally.
• Starfish Studio A scalable creative production system providing brand toolkits, motion assets, templates, and campaign creative for clients. Supports three configurable engagement models including hourly/on-demand, full retainer, and fixed-fee arrangements, with AI-assisted production workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• Managed 100+ campaigns and 5,000+ unique ads for municipal client program
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MyHomeStory ProflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2026Starfish partnered with MyHomeStory Pro to develop the new brand identity and digital experience for the company's homeowner intelligence platform launch. MyHomeStory Pro launched a platform designed to help contractors connect with homeowners using data-driven marketing tools, building on the company's USA Home Listings model that has served over 500 moving companies over eight years. Starfish developed the new brand identity, positioning, and digital experience for the nationwide launch.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Interbrand: One of the world's largest brand consultancies offering brand strategy, naming, identity, and experience services; competes with Starfish for the same enterprise brand transformation engagements across global markets.
• Lippincott: Brand strategy and design firm known for senior-led engagements with large enterprises; competes with Starfish on brand positioning, identity systems, and integrated brand experience work for global clients.
• Pentagram: Independent partner-led design studio producing brand identity, advertising, and digital work for major global brands; matches Starfish's senior-led, independent model and enterprise visual identity work.
• Siegel+Gale: Global brand strategy, design, and experience firm (part of Omnicom) with a simplicity-driven methodology; directly comparable to Starfish on brand strategy, naming, and visual identity work for enterprise clients.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy delivering brand strategy, identity, and experience work to large multinationals; competes with Starfish on enterprise rebrand and brand platform engagements.
• Mother Design: Independent design-led agency producing branding, identity, and creative campaigns for premium brands; comparable to Starfish on independent, senior-led identity and campaign work for enterprise clients.
• Landor & Fitch: Global branding and design consultancy with deep brand strategy and identity capabilities serving enterprise clients across categories; directly comparable to Starfish's brand transformation and visual identity work for Fortune-tier brands.
• FutureBrand: International brand consultancy offering brand strategy, design, and experience services to multinational clients; overlaps with Starfish's positioning, identity, and brand experience offerings.

Broad incumbents

• R/GA: Larger, network-affiliated creative and digital agency offering brand, experience, and technology services to global enterprises; a broader incumbent with overlapping brand strategy and activation capabilities relative to Starfish.

Emerging players

• Koto Studio: Independent brand and design studio known for identity work with tech-forward and challenger brands; an emerging player with partial overlap with Starfish on brand strategy, naming, and visual identity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/starfish-brand-experience-design
• Instagraminstagram.com/starfish.nyc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Starfish