Derrick has spent the past 25+ years helping organizations release the full potential of their brands. His experience is as extensive as it is diverse, encompassing the disciplines of business strategy, brand strategy, advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. At The Blake Project he manages daily operations and serves as a senior consultant, helping businesses and brands define and articulate what makes them competitive and valuable.
Prior to launching The Blake Project in 2003, Derrick held rewarding leadership roles at global advertising agency leader Saatchi & Saatchi as well as at three other respected advertising agencies. He credits his focus on brand strategy with his ability to align organizations in all stages of growth with unmet customer needs. He has led and co-led the brand strategy effort for more than 200 respected B2C and B2B brands, including Abbott, Coca-Cola (Olympic Games), Deloitte AI, EA Sports, Entrepreneur Magazine, FootJoy, Heliae (Mars Family), ING, Intel, LexisNexis, Nestlé, OPRY Entertainment Group, Southwest Airlines, Utah Jazz, and Wyndham Hotels Worldwide.
Since 2018 he has expanded The Blake Project's operations to Australia, Ecuador, India, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to better serve global clients in their quest for growth.
Derrick's emphasis has been to push the limits of what an independent, strategic brand consultancy can lend toward industry innovation. In 2006 he conceptualized and launched Branding Strategy Insider to help marketing oriented leaders and professionals build strong brands. Today his vision serves 60,000+ marketers daily and is recognized by Advertising Age as the leading online resource for brand strategy and management.
His quest to better equip marketers for the challenges of an over-communicated society, led to the launch of The Un-Conference: 360°of Brand Strategy for a Changing World. A unique, competitive-learning experience that features marketers competing on teams, working together to gain the techniques needed for an age of disruption.
Derrick is a widely sought-after speaker and keynotes at major conferences around the globe. He is a guest lecturer at UCLA, USC, USU, LMU, EDC Paris Business School and is quoted regularly in the business press in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Adweek, Inc. Magazine, London Times and has been a nationally featured brand management expert on ABC television news.
As an Advisor to the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, he serves in the development of the center's brand and growth strategy and as a resource for early-stage founders.
Most notably, he has worked with Dr. Bernice King, The White House Press Corps and helped the National Park Service arrive at new and optimistic decisions about the Statue of Liberty's competitive future.
Derrick earned an Executive MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education.