Character

What Character does

Character, LLC is a boutique brand storytelling and strategy consulting firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon, founded in 1999 by Jim Hardison and David Altschul. The firm specializes in helping large consumer brands and B2B companies discover, articulate, and revitalize their authentic brand story through a proprietary Story Framework methodology built on three principles: Conflict (the engine that drives a story), Meaning (the central belief a story expresses), and Purpose (demonstrated through action). The four-person core team brings backgrounds in animation, comic book publishing, filmmaking, screenwriting, television production, and literary fiction, applying narrative theory from entertainment to brand strategy.

The firm's core offering is the Character Camp workshop, an intensive on-site engagement with senior marketing leadership that delivers a structured story framework analysis and strategic imperatives. Additional services include brand character creation and revitalization (with documented work on Ronald McDonald, Juan Valdez, Laughing Cow, and M&M's characters), storytelling principles development, and the Campfire Stories video podcast series. The methodology is visualized as an iceberg model where storytelling is the visible tip and the story framework sits below the waterline as the foundational layer.

Character operates a professional services revenue model, generating revenue through bespoke consulting engagements with enterprise clients. The go-to-market is relationship-based, relying on direct outreach to CMOs and brand leaders at major brands, leveraging named testimonials from senior marketing executives at Walmart, Wendy's, McDonald's, Tabasco/McIlhenny, Veritiv, 7-Eleven, General Mills, Sam's Club, and over 100 other brands to drive referrals. Pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed. The firm is founder-owned and independently operated with no disclosed institutional investment, acquisitions, or parent company.

Name

Character

Legal name

Character, LLC

Website

https://characterweb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Character, LLC is a four-person Portland-based brand storytelling consultancy that helps Fortune 500 consumer and B2B companies articulate their brand story through a proprietary Conflict-Meaning-Purpose framework delivered via Character Camp workshops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Strategy Consulting

NAICS

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (711410)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Strategy & Identity Systems (MPAAAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Packaging & Brand Identity Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAN)

Keywords

• Brand storytelling
• Brand strategy consulting
• Story framework methodology
• Advertising agency services
• Brand character development

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Brand Strategy Consulting Engagements: Character generates revenue through bespoke consulting engagements with enterprise clients. They conduct Character Camp workshops and provide ongoing strategic advisory services to brand leaders. The engagement model involves working directly with the people who know the brand best to uncover and articulate the 'why' behind the brand story. Deliverables include the story framework and strategic recommendations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Character is a boutique brand storytelling and strategy consulting firm that helps enterprise clients discover and articulate their authentic brand story. Its core paid offerings are Story Framework Analysis and the Character Camp workshop, through which senior marketing teams identify the conflict, meaning, and purpose underlying their brand, along with specialized services for creating, revitalizing, or reimagining iconic brand characters. Engagements are bespoke consulting projects delivered on-site to CMOs and brand leadership teams.

Product overview

Character is a strategic branding and storytelling consultancy that offers a unified set of services centered on story framework analysis and brand character development. Their core offering combines Story Framework Analysis workshops (Character Camp), storytelling principles development, and brand character creation/revitalization services. The company works with clients to uncover and articulate the authentic 'why' behind brands, providing strategic recommendations and practical tools for more effective brand storytelling. They also produce the Campfire Stories podcast as a content extension of their core consulting practice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Story Framework Analysis

Quantifiable outcome

• Gallo Family Vineyards experienced best year ever, up 10% and outpacing category after story framework articulation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• FutureBrand: FutureBrand, part of the IPG network, is a global brand strategy and design consultancy working on positioning, naming, and brand experience — overlaps with Character's enterprise brand storytelling engagements but operates at significantly larger scale and geographic reach.
• Interbrand: Interbrand is a large, established brand strategy consultancy inside the Omnicom network offering brand valuation, positioning, and identity — comparable scope to Character's Story Framework but at much greater scale and with broader service lines.
• Brand Union: Brand Union (part of the Young & Rubicam/WPP network) provides brand strategy and identity services — analogous to Character in delivering brand positioning and character/icon articulation for major consumer brands, though typically as part of a larger integrated offering.
• Landor & Fitch: Landor & Fitch, a WPP-owned brand consulting and design firm, provides brand strategy, naming, and identity system work for global enterprises — directly comparable in deliverable types (brand articulation, character/iconic identity work like Ronald McDonald) but with significantly larger resources.
• Wolff Olins: Wolff Olins is a global brand consultancy within the Omnicom network that focuses on brand purpose, narrative, and identity systems — overlaps with Character's Story Framework methodology for major brand transformations.

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Pentagram is the largest independently owned design consultancy, with partners leading strategy and identity work for major brands — directly comparable to Character's partner-led, methodology-driven model for brand articulation and iconic character/identity work.
• Lippincott: Lippincott is a brand strategy and identity consultancy that helps clients define positioning, purpose, and naming — directly comparable to Character's Story Framework and brand character development work, with a similar premium-boutique, senior-led delivery model.
• Siegel+Gale: Siegel+Gale is a global brand strategy and design consultancy focused on simplicity, narrative, and customer experience — analogous to Character in using a structured storytelling methodology and serving Fortune 500 CMOs on brand articulation engagements.
• MetaDesign: MetaDesign is a brand strategy and identity design consultancy that helps companies articulate positioning, narrative, and visual systems — closely comparable to Character in being a specialist, methodology-led brand strategy boutique working with major consumer brands.

Emerging players

• Red Antler: Red Antler is a brand strategy and design agency known for launching and re-launching consumer brands (e.g., Casper, Allbirds) — comparable to Character in narrative-led brand articulation, but focused on challenger/newer brands rather than revitalizing legacy Fortune 500 brands.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CharacterCamp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/character

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Character