Lee BarnesBrand strategist and team builder

I build brands and teams people believe in.

Blood Monkey social grid
Two Shores rum label
Two Shores rum bottles
adidasVansCurrysUGGBlood Monkey GinUniversity of LeedsHarrodsTwo Shores RumMorrisonsTangle TeezerNestléadidas OriginalsJDSelfridgesHäagen-DazsLucozadeWarburtonsAvonmoreOfficeSchuhWorld Duty FreeReebokASICSOnitsuka TigerMacIvors CiderRye River BrewingJet2EpsonTriumph Motorcycles

Brands I’ve worked with

Tangle Teezer heart
Tangle Teezer Big Love for Big Hair campaign
Adidas Olympic windows at Harrods
Blood Monkey in hand
Adidas Team GB takeover, Oxford Street
Lee BarnesLee climbing an overhang

Adventurous at work and play, with a bold vision and the nerve to chase it.

I build brands that stand for something, and the teams that carry them. I've done it on both sides of the table, agency and client, across sportswear, retail, FMCG, drinks and higher education. From a challenger gin with no history to one of the UK's biggest universities.

I go for the bold version of the brief. A clear position, argued well, then made real by people who believe in it. I'll challenge a brief, and I expect my team to challenge me back. That's where the good work comes from.

Work is bold brand building and team play. Play is climbing, ideally upside down. Both reward the same things: commit to the move, trust your team, and don't look down.

Expertise across brand strategy, creative and coaching.

Courses and accreditations

Mini MBA in Brand Management

Mini MBA in Brand Management, Mark Ritson

IPA

Advanced AI for Strategy and Planning

ILM

Level 7 Coaching and Mentoring

Chartered Management Institute

Level 5 Leadership & Management

D&AD

Creative StrategyIn-House Creative Management

Belief, built from scratch

Blood Monkey gin range Blood Monkey wordmark and copper mark Blood Monkey bottle in hand Blood Monkey label copy defining the name Blood Monkey on a painted wall Blood Monkey gold-taped typography Two Shores rum range Two Shores rum bottle front Two Shores rum label detail Two Shores rum range with its World Rum Awards medals Blood Monkey botanicals: stick it up ur botanicals

Outcast Brands

Partnering with a founder to build two award-winning brands

Founders bring the nerve. I bring the brand thinking. As brand consultant to Outcast Brands founder Jason Kidd, I helped build Blood Monkey gin and Two Shores rum from a blank page: the proposition, the attitude and the positioning, then briefing and steering the agency partners through to launch.

World's BestColumn Still Rum for Two Shores, World Rum Awards 2024
Best Brandplus Best Design, Best Label and Best in Ireland for Two Shores, World Rum Awards 2023
15 marketsacross Europe, North America and Asia within five years of launch
2 goldsfor Blood Monkey at The Gin Masters 2022

Founder: Jason Kidd, Outcast BrandsRole: shareholder, brand strategy advisorBlood Monkey design: Kastner LondonTwo Shores design: Backbar Studios

What I do best

Brand leadership

One brand strategy, held together at scale across every team, agency and channel.

Brand diagnosis

Find out what people really think, inside and out, before anything gets decided.

Positioning and value propositions

Choose a position worth defending and turn it into propositions people can act on.

Brand architecture and planning

Structure the brand family and plan its year, so every launch builds on the last.

Brand governance at scale

I set up and oversee a 21‑agency creative and marketing framework, balancing in‑house capability with the best of the market.

Campaigns and activation

Campaigns that build memory and drive response, measured on what they actually move.

Creative culture and coaching

Build the teams and leaders that keep a brand alive.

Creative team culture

Teams people would join again tomorrow, with clear roles and ways of working that let the work get better.

AI adoption

I lead AI across brand and creative, from research and strategy to rapid prototyping, with the training that makes it stick.

Leadership coaching

ILM Level 7 coaching that takes leaders through change with energy and a good laugh.

Employer brand

Turn what it is really like to work somewhere into a reason to join.

Sector experience

Higher Education
University of Leeds · Leeds University Business School
FMCG
Nestlé · Häagen-Dazs · Lucozade · Warburtons · Avonmore
Retail
Morrisons · Harrods · Selfridges · Currys · JD · Office · Schuh · World Duty Free
Sportswear & Fashion
adidas · Reebok · ASICS · Onitsuka Tiger · UGG · Vans · Tangle Teezer
Drinks, Travel & More
Blood Monkey Gin · Two Shores Rum · MacIvors Cider · Rye River Brewing · Jet2 · Epson · Triumph Motorcycles

Got a brand that needs a what if?

Email
[your email]
LinkedIn
[your new LinkedIn URL]
Based
Leeds, West Yorkshire
Founders and small teams
Work with me, Form Function
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