Hi, I'm Graham A. R. Phillips. I've spent 25 years building brands and the last nine putting AI to work in marketing. Through GARPco, I help growth-stage companies, PE portfolios and established brands find the Unexpected Truths that set them apart, build a brand foundation on them, then put AI to work turning that foundation into growth.
Most marketing holds up a mirror and hopes people get excited by what they already know. It rarely sticks. Audiences want a surprise, not a reflection.
Now add AI. Left on autopilot, it hands you the average answer, faster and at scale. And the average is the obvious.
I use data and AI the other way around: to find the Unexpected Truths hiding in what customers actually say and do. Then I build the brand and the marketing that put them to work.
"Yep, I knew that."
True and familiar, so people agree. Then they forget it by lunch.
"Huh. I never thought of it that way."
Familiar enough to trust, surprising enough to stop people. That's an Unexpected Truth, and it's what I go looking for.
A brand foundation without new ways to activate it sits on a shelf. AI without a real brand underneath makes more noise. You get both.
Audit, Assess, Activate. The same rigor I've used for 25 years, now with AI built into every step.
Five marketing axes, plus AI-assisted listening to what customers say unprompted. The unexpected usually shows up where the axes meet.
A clear, prioritized report for your leadership team: insight-driven, strategic and tactical, built around your most pressing needs, and flexible as priorities shift.
What gets built depends on the business. Often:
As sole marketing leader, I led the rebrand and built the marketing engine on AI from the start.
At Davis & Partners, I helped turn an NLP engine into licensed marketing products, including Fuel.AI, launched with Leo Burnett.
With Omnicom Commerce, we built an index from two-plus years of public conversation, used by QSR and CPG brands.
At Intent HQ, I led brand, content and marketing during a stretch when revenue roughly tripled. British Data Awards 2024.
Our team at LIDA built the campaign for Christie's sale of Jeff Koons' Rabbit, a record for a living artist and an Effie winner.
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Brands I've worked on
"Graham has a special ability to find the unexpected essence of a brand in a customer-centric world and make that essence clear and actionable."
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