Roma Singhal · Sydney · AUNZ, APAC, ASEAN, MENA and India
Brand and creative strategist for agencies, brands and founders
I’m Roma Singhal, The Smiling Strategist™, a brand and creative strategist based in Sydney. I help agencies, brands and founders find the insight, positioning and story that make brands grow. I’ve spent 20+ years at Ogilvy, McCann, BBDO, Publicis Groupe and American Express across Australia, Singapore and India. Today I run Brandself and created Brand Game™.
My method is gamified. Your brand is a game. Play it to win. See the Brand Game way →
EFFIE Gold
EFFIE Australia judge
Miami Ad School strategy teacher
APG UK Head of Planning Forum
UNSW and Assisterhood mentor
hipages Empower Women in Leadership programme
Manifest columnist
20+
years in brand and creative strategy
5 regions
AUNZ, APAC, ASEAN, MENA and India
EFFIE judge
First-round judge, EFFIE Australia
Career at
Ogilvy
McCann
BBDO
Publicis Groupe
American Express
Strategy for agencies including
Landor & Fitch
Leo Burnett
VCCP
Wunderman Thompson
Clemenger
Brand strategy across AUNZ, APAC, ASEAN, MENA and India
Few strategists in Australia have worked inside agencies in three regions. I’ve led strategy in Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney, so I understand how brands, audiences and cultures differ across these markets, and how to make one idea travel.
Australia and New Zealand
Based in Sydney
Brand and creative strategy for brands including Bellamy’s, Lavazza, Nikon (a pitch win), Westfield, Compare the Market, Sydney Water, Intel and Banrock Station, often in partnership with leading agencies. See recent work →
Asia-Pacific
BBDO Singapore · regional briefs
Regional brand strategy from Singapore, including Guinness “Made of More” for Diageo. More recently, go-to-market strategy for Intuit across 51 APAC markets and an APAC aviation pitch.
India
Ogilvy, McCann, Publicis, BBDO
Strategy in Mumbai for Cadbury Bournvita (EFFIE Gold), Asian Paints, Garnier, Complan and Glucon-D.
Where this helps your brand
- Taking an Australian brand into Asia or India
- Bringing an Indian or Asian brand to Australia and New Zealand
- Adapting a global brand platform for local cultures
- Reaching Australia’s multicultural audiences
How I can help
Senior strategy when you need it, without the full-time hire. Quoted by day, by project or as monthly hours.
Brand and creative strategy
Positioning, brand platforms and creative briefs that give your team a clear idea to build from.
Pitch strategy
A senior strategist on your pitch team for the weeks that matter, on a budget that works.
Consumer and cultural insights
Sharp human truths drawn from your research, written so a creative team can brief from them tomorrow.
Strategy workshops
Hands-on strategy workshops that build your team’s skills, from storytelling to Millennial and Gen Z insight.
Mentoring
One-to-one mentoring for strategists and professionals, guided by the Mojomover: a 12-session personal growth process.
Thought leadership and writing
Opinion pieces and trade articles written for agency leaders and founders, from finding the point of view to pitching it.
Fractional strategy director
Senior strategy leadership for your agency or brand, for a set number of days each week or month, without a full-time hire. I lead strategy, shape pitches and build your team.
Two ways to work with me
Choose how we build your strategy
Every project gets the same senior thinking. You choose the format: a classic strategy project, or my gamified method, the Brand Game way.
Option 1
Classic strategy project
I do the deep thinking with you and your team, then hand over a strategy you can run with.
- Research, immersion and stakeholder interviews
- Insight, positioning and strategic idea
- A sharp creative brief, presented and handed over
Option 2
My gamified method
The Brand Game™ way
Your brand is a game. Play it to win.
Your team plays through Brand Game™ challenges built around your real brand problem, with me as game master. You get the same strategy outputs, co-created by your team, plus a team that has learned to think strategically.
Real brand, real challenges
Community leaderboard
Strategy your team owns
The Brand Game way is currently available for clients in Australia.
Partners I work with
I work with a network of specialist partners, so every project gets the right team: creative, digital, design, research, education and mentoring.
Creative agency
DO. Agency
Digital and content agency
Seen Agency
Design agency
SGK
Market research
Stickybeak
Creative education
Miami Ad School
Creative agency, India
Plus One Agency
Mentoring partner
Assisterhood
Mentoring partner
UNSW
Mentoring partner
Practera
Open to new partnerships. Run an agency, studio, research company or school and need a senior strategy partner? Let’s talk.
Brand Game™: train strategic instinct by playing
Brand Game is a gamified training platform for brand strategy. Individuals and teams practise writing problem statements, consumer insights and positioning through timed, scored challenges.
Available in Australia, including to IMAA members through IMAA Group Deals, and in partnership with Assisterhood.
What people say
I had the pleasure of working with Roma on several key client projects, and I can confidently say that she is an exceptional brand strategist… Her ability to craft thoughtful, effective brand strategies is truly impressive and has consistently elevated the quality of our projects.
Nicola Richards, Director Creative Services ANZ, SGK
Roma is an absolute delight to work with. A brilliant strategic mind, and takes a rigorous and well thought through approach to each brief.
Daye Moffitt, Executive Strategy Director APAC, Landor & Fitch, Sydney
Was great working with Roma. Sharp, professional, and delivered fresh thinking – and always, in true form, with a smile.
Graham Alvarez-Jarratt, Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett Sydney
Published in and featured by: Campaign Brief · AdNews · B&T · Manifest (columnist) · IMAA Group Deals
Free video series on YouTube
Watch Blueprint to Blockbuster
Short, practical episodes on the frameworks behind brands that last, from brand archetypes to the Golden Circle. Start with episode 1: brand strategy vs creative strategy.
Join The Smiling Strategist on YouTube to get every new episode first.
Latest from the blog
- Brand strategy vs creative strategy: what’s the difference?Brand strategy is the compass; creative strategy is the sail. What each one does, how they work together and why brands need both to last.
- Brand strategy for entering India: lessons for Australian brandsThinking of taking your Australian brand to India? Lessons from years of brand strategy in Mumbai and Sydney on insight, positioning, pricing and building trust.
- Freelance, fractional or agency strategist: which one do you need?Choosing between a freelance strategist, a fractional strategy director and an agency? Here is how each model works, what it suits and how to decide.
Questions
What does a brand strategist do?
A brand strategist works out what a brand should stand for, who it’s for and why people should choose it. That becomes the positioning, brand platform and creative brief that agencies and marketing teams build from.
How do you charge?
Projects are quoted by day or by project, and ongoing work can run as monthly strategy hours. Book a free 15-minute call and I’ll send a quote for your brief.
Do you work with clients outside Sydney?
Yes. I work with agencies and brands across AUNZ, APAC, ASEAN, MENA and India, and on global briefs, remotely or in person.
What is Brand Game?
Brand Game™ is a gamified training platform for brand strategy, available in Australia. Players complete timed, scored challenges, like writing a problem statement or a consumer insight, to build strategic instinct.
What does a brand and creative strategist do?
A brand and creative strategist finds the insight and positioning that make a brand distinct, then turns them into a clear creative brief and strategic idea your creative team can build campaigns from. Brand strategy decides what the brand stands for; creative strategy decides how to bring it to life.
Do you offer brand consulting?
Yes. I help founders and businesses with brand audits, positioning, brand architecture, naming and brand platforms. See brand consulting.
What is a fractional strategy director?
A senior strategist who leads strategy for your agency or brand part-time and ongoing, for a set number of days each week or month, without a full-time hire. See fractional strategy director.
Have a brief? Let’s talk.
Book a free 15-minute call. Tell me the problem, and I’ll tell you how I’d approach it.