Emil Valdemar Madsen

I’ve spent 15 years working on both sides of the brief.

Hi! I’m Emil Valdemar Madsen. I’ve led strategy at London agencies and run brand and marketing inside global businesses. So I understand both what the business needs to achieve and what creative teams need to make something good.

Sometimes that means bringing order to a global marketing organisation. Sometimes it means finding the thought that unlocks a difficult brief. My role is to work out what really matters, make it clear and help people do something useful with it.

Brands and agencies I’ve helped

Clients usually bring me in when something important has become difficult to explain, prioritise or turn into good work.

Brand definition

When the brand has become hard to explain

When a brand has accumulated too many messages, audiences and ambitions, I help find the single idea that holds it together. The result is a clear position people can remember, use and build from.

Marketing strategy

When marketing needs a sharper focus

I help turn commercial ambitions into meaningful marketing choices: who matters, what needs to change and where your resources can make the greatest difference.

Creative planning

When the work needs a better idea behind it

I find the truth that reframes the brief and turn it into a platform capable of producing more than one campaign. Clear enough to focus the work. Open enough to inspire it.

DSV global marketing strategy work
The situation

DSV is the world’s largest transport and logistics company. Its marketing has to work across six industry verticals, four product divisions, multiple customer segments and more than 90 markets.

The challenge

The job was not simply to write another global strategy. It was to build a coherent approach that could guide global, regional and local decisions without ignoring the differences between industries, products and markets.

The strategy

Working directly with the global CMO, I am developing the marketing strategy and the frameworks that connect business priorities with what actually drives purchase decisions in B2B logistics — from acquisition and retention to trade fairs and major industry moments.

Alongside the strategy

I am also supporting organisational design, process development and the implementation of AI across the marketing organisation.

Saxo Bank brand platform
The situation

Saxo wanted to grow awareness and preference among experienced investors and traders globally. But it was competing in a crowded, price-driven category full of bland, bank-like advertising.

The unlock

Investors do not only want to protect their money. They want to put it to work. And with more tradable instruments than its competitors, Saxo gives money more things to do.

The strategy

We dramatised the product advantage of more than 75,000 tradable instruments by giving money a voice — and showing that, if it had a choice, it would choose Saxo.

Burger King UK brand strategy work
The situation

Burger King had shifted its global brand strategy from Have It Your Way to Be Your Way. But as more brands began celebrating individuality, the platform risked feeling generic and imported in the UK.

The unlock

British youth do not always express individuality through grand rebellion. More often, they do it by being cheeky — taking what is expected and giving it their own twist.

The strategy

We positioned Burger King as the destination for cheeky detours: a British expression of the global brand idea that felt natural to the product, the audience and the culture.

“If you need a marketing strategist who also has a flair for tactical execution, there is no one better than Emil. I cannot recommend him highly enough.”
John Veje Group CMO, Danske Bank
“Emil is a thoroughly modern strategist, combining the rigour of insightful strategic thinking with the ability to execute effortlessly across any channel. He thinks laterally and inspires creative teams with his briefings.”
Vicki Holgate CSO, FCB Inferno London
“Emil is a brilliant strategist. His work is meticulous, his approach is rigorous, and his presentation and communication skills are second to none.”
Nathan Cook Global Director, Unilever

Got a difficult brand or marketing problem?

[email protected]
Copenhagen-based · Working globally LinkedIn profile ↗