Long & Short of It

What Long & Short of It does

Long & Short of It is a brand strategy and marketing consulting firm founded in 2016 by Sue Stabe and Dean Ilijasic, both former senior corporate marketing executives with 20+ years of experience across Visa, American Express, JPMorgan Chase, KeyBank, and American Greetings. The firm operates as Long & Short of It LLC, a privately held, bootstrapped Ohio-based boutique practice with offices in Cleveland, Ohio and College Station, Texas, functioning as a two-principal team plus undisclosed support staff (1-10 total employees). There is no external investment, parent company, or public funding involvement.

The company's core offerings comprise six service lines: Branding (brand platform development, architecture, and messaging), Fractional CMOs (embedded executive marketing leadership), Brainstorming (structured ideation sessions), Strategic Planning (vision through execution), Buying Journey (customer journey mapping and playbooks), and Marketing Advisor (ongoing consultation). Beyond professional services, the firm has developed IdeaJournal™, a trademarked proprietary notebook system designed to help conference attendees organize notes and generate innovative ideas. Revenue is generated through project-based and retainer engagements with mid-market to enterprise B2B clients spanning professional services (Meaden & Moore, a 100+ year accounting firm), specialty chemicals/life sciences (Lubrizol Life Science Health across 12 countries), public broadcasting (Ideastream Public Media), and consumer products (Ditto, NYC Fashion Week launch).

Long & Short of It's go-to-market is sales-led and referral-driven, structured as a low-friction four-step engagement (free conversation, free approach proposal, formal scope/cost proposal, activation). New business is sourced primarily through referrals and collaborative agency partnerships, with top-of-funnel demand generated through an active blog (50+ articles), monthly email newsletter, short-form video, speaking engagements, earned media coverage, and LinkedIn distribution. Geographic reach spans the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. via client engagements.

Name

Long & Short of It

Legal name

Long & Short of It LLC

Website

https://lasoi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Long & Short of It is a Cleveland-based brand strategy and marketing consulting boutique founded in 2016 by two senior marketing principals, serving mid-market and enterprise B2B clients across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. with branding, fractional CMO, customer journey, strategic planning, and ideation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Project-based consulting engagements and retainer arrangements for brand strategy, marketing consulting, fractional CMO services, and strategic planning. Work on either a project basis or retainer model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Long & Short of It is a brand strategy and marketing consulting firm that delivers upstream strategic services to mid-market and enterprise clients. Core offerings include Branding (brand platform, architecture, messaging), Fractional CMO engagements, Brainstorming/ideation sessions, Strategic Planning, Buying Journey mapping with playbooks, and ongoing Marketing Advisor consultation. The firm also sells IdeaJournal™, a proprietary research-backed notebook system for conference attendees.

Product overview

Long & Short of It is a brand development and marketing consulting firm offering strategic services including Branding, Fractional CMOs, Strategic Planning, Buying Journey mapping, Brainstorming, and Marketing Advisor services. The company also offers a proprietary product called IdeaJournal™, a research-backed notebook system for conference attendees. Their service portfolio is delivered through a two-person team (Sue Stabe and Dean Ilijasic) providing ongoing consultation and speaking engagements on brand strategy topics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IdeaJournal: A proprietary note-taking system and conference tool backed by scientific research that helps attendees turn notes into innovative ideas. Customizable for conference organizers.

Products and services

• Branding Develops modern brand platforms, architecture, messaging, and strategy that set the foundation for all marketing and communications. Delivered to mid-market and enterprise organizations seeking brand differentiation.
• Fractional CMOs Long or short-term executive leadership services, with the firm serving as Chief Marketing Officer as part of the client's team. Provides senior marketing leadership without requiring a full-time executive hire.
• Brainstorming Structured ideation sessions that generate hundreds of ideas in a few hours through creative inputs and collaborative processes. Designed for teams needing rapid ideation and innovation outcomes.
• Strategic Planning Develops strategic plans from vision through execution, including moderating planning sessions and providing ongoing guidance. Supports organizations in creating and operationalizing marketing strategies.
• Buying Journey Maps the unique journey customers and prospects take from trigger to purchase decision, including customer journey maps and marketing playbooks. Used by B2B organizations with complex sales cycles.
• Marketing Advisor Ongoing consultation service providing regularly scheduled sessions to refine strategy, tackle challenges, and offer marketing guidance. Functions as an outsourced senior marketing advisor.
• IdeaJournal™ A proprietary research-backed notebook system that helps conference attendees turn notes into innovative ideas, maximizing conference ROI. Customizable for conference organizers. Trademarked as IdeaJournal™.
• Speaking Engagements Educational speaking sessions on strategic topics including branding, customer buying journeys, and ideation methodologies delivered to organizations and events.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17 customer journey-based playbooks developed for Lubrizol Life Science Health
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• flourishminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative agency that designed the Long & Short of It logo and brand identity. Sue and Dean provided the concept and flourishes creative team brought it to life visually.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Independent design firm with senior partners leading brand strategy, identity, and messaging engagements. Directly comparable on the partner-led engagement model and focus on brand platform and architecture work for established clients.
• Interbrand: Global brand consultancy delivering brand strategy, naming, architecture, and customer experience across enterprise clients. Directly comparable on the brand platform and up-front strategy work that Long & Short of It sells to mid-market and enterprise clients.
• Prophet: Global brand and marketing consultancy offering brand strategy, customer experience, and growth strategy. Directly competes with Long & Short of It on the brand strategy and customer journey engagements that anchor its offerings.
• Siegel+Gale: Brand strategy and design consultancy specializing in brand positioning, messaging, and customer experience. Directly comparable because its core service line — simplifying brand strategy for mid-market and enterprise clients — mirrors Long & Short of It's founding offering.
• Lippincott: Brand strategy consulting firm helping corporations build brand platforms, identity systems, and customer experiences. Directly comparable on the brand platform development and executive-led engagement model that Long & Short of It emphasizes.
• Landor: Brand consulting and design firm specializing in brand strategy, architecture, and expression. Closely aligned with Long & Short of It's brand platform development, messaging, and architecture work for enterprise clients.
• Red Antler: Brand strategy and creative agency that helps companies build brands from launch through growth. Comparable because it emphasizes upfront strategy, brand platforms, and launching brands — directly paralleling Long & Short of It's brand and product launch engagement model.

Broad incumbents

• R/GA: Large digital agency and brand consultancy with services spanning brand strategy, customer experience, and marketing technology. Comparable on the brand strategy and customer journey front end, but at much larger scale and with broader delivery capabilities.
• Jellyfish (brand strategy arm): Global digital marketing group offering brand strategy, media planning, and content services. Overlaps with Long & Short of It on the brand and marketing strategy front of the funnel, but operates as a much larger full-service organization.

Regional players

• Mower: Mid-sized independent marketing and brand strategy agency with strong presence in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. Comparable as a similarly-sized independent offering brand strategy and marketing consulting, and a likely competitor for the same mid-market clients in the Cleveland/New York corridor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/lasoiCLE

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Long & Short of It