Strategic Brand Consultancy  ·  London, 2026

SENSO
Method

Clarity for brands that refuse to be ordinary.

Most brands don't have a clarity problem. They have a courage problem — the courage to be specific about who they are, who they're for, and who they're not.

SENSO Method™ was built to make that specificity possible. Five steps. No buzzwords. No invented benchmarks. Just the work.

"The most common brand problem is not lack of strategy. It is strategy that was never connected to what the brand actually believes."

Giovanna Franchini. London, 2026.

15 Brand Audits Conducted  ·  Hult Scholar (100%)  ·  Dolce & Gabbana  ·  Aman  ·  Mandarin Oriental  ·  Live Diagnostic: Carbis Bay Hotel, Cornwall

The Method

S Soul Excavation

"What does this brand actually believe?"

Answers: What does this brand actually believe — and is it reflected anywhere?

We surface the real values. The ones that hold under pressure. Not the ones that look well on a website. In practice: the founding conviction is almost never what the website says.

E Experience Mapping

"Where does the brand promise break?"

Answers: Where exactly does the brand promise break, and what does it cost?

Every gap between what a brand says and what a client feels is a clarity failure. We find them all. The break almost always happens in the same place: between the public message and what the team still believes internally.

N Narrative Architecture

"What story is this brand qualified to tell?"

Answers: What story is this brand qualified to tell — and what would disqualify it?

The right story has evidence behind it. We build the narrative from what the brand can actually defend. Most brands are telling a story they inherited, not one they chose.

S Signal Design

"How does the brand communicate belonging without broadcasting?"

Answers: How does this brand speak to the right people without speaking to everyone?

Restraint is a signal. We identify the touches that speak to the right people: visual, verbal, experiential. Quietly. What a brand chooses not to say is often its strongest signal.

O Orbit Activation

"Who are the right people, and how do we bring them closer?"

Answers: Who already belongs, and what would bring them closer?

Audience defined by worldview, not demographics. We map who belongs at the centre and who sits further out. The right people recognise the brand before they can explain why.

Evidence of the Method.

Live Client Diagnostic

Carbis Bay Hotel & Estate

Cornwall  ·  May 2026

Applied at the property. Hotel open, guests present. Five-step diagnostic conducted on-site.

Soul: 6 Experience: 6 Narrative: 7 Signal: 4 Orbit: 5 Overall: 5.6

Key finding: credibility signals (G7 2021 host, Michelin 2 stars, Blue Flag beach) are factual and significant. Signal layer fails to deploy them. The whisper index sits at 4 — adequate for boutique; the narrative architecture does not leverage the property's credential density.

Confidential. Independent diagnostic — disclosed as analytical reference.

Public Brand Essays

The following are independent analytical essays — critical readings of publicly visible brand strategy. They are not client work, not affiliations, and not endorsements. They are published as a record of how the SENSO Method™ reads in practice across distinct luxury contexts.

Hermès

Soul  ·  Signal  ·  Orbit

The most disciplined signal system in luxury. Whisper Index: 10/10 — the benchmark against which all others are calibrated. What Hermès does that almost no brand can: it creates desire without addressing desire. The brand speaks to conviction, not aspiration. Every signal decision — from refusal of digital advertising to scarcity of Birkin supply — is a consistent expression of a single belief: that the right clients find the brand, not the other way around.

Cartier

Narrative  ·  Experience  ·  Signal

A masterclass in narrative architecture that both follows and selectively breaks Kapferer's anti-laws. The 'love' narrative is one of the most durable in luxury — not because it is aspirational, but because it is universal without being generic. The key tension: Cartier operates at scale (400+ boutiques) while maintaining a signal system more associated with ultra-luxury. Its experience layer holds the promise better than its digital touchpoints — a recurring pattern across luxury brands at volume.

Aman

Experience  ·  Orbit  ·  Soul

The closest living example of pure Inner Orbit strategy. Aman does not market to its guests — it selects them, and the selection mechanism is the brand itself. The 'Aman junkies' phenomenon (documented, self-identified super-guests) is not a loyalty programme outcome — it is an Orbit Activation outcome. Return rate among Aman guests consistently exceeds 70% [OBSERVED PATTERN — hospitality industry research]. Signal restraint: no advertising, minimal social media, no celebrity endorsement since the 1990s. The orbit is closed. That is the strategy.

Strategy Sprint

A Five-Star Mediterranean Resort

2026

A twelve-property hospitality group preparing for European expansion. Strategy Sprint: 21 days. Scope: narrative architecture, signal design, orbit mapping across three target markets.

"The founding conviction was clear internally — it had never been translated into anything external. That gap, between what a brand believes and what it communicates, is where most luxury strategy work begins."

Composite case — details anonymised.

Three ways to work with SENSO.

Clarity Audit

£1,500–2,500

7 days

Where the brand is unclear, and what it costs. A diagnostic that names the gaps without softening the findings.

You should choose this if: You suspect something is misaligned but can't name it precisely. Or you're about to invest in brand execution and want to know what you're executing.

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Strategy Sprint

£4,500–7,500

21 days

From clarity to a written strategy you can act on. Every recommendation is evidenced. No vague directions.

You should choose this if: You have clarity on the problem and need a written strategy you can hand to a team, an agency, or an investor. One that holds under scrutiny.

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Strategic Partner Retainer

£3,500–6,500 / month

6 months minimum

Embedded strategy, monthly. For brands in motion that need a consistent strategic eye, not just a one-time audit.

You should choose this if: You're in motion — launching, repositioning, or scaling — and need a consistent strategic eye that stays with the brand as it moves.

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What you might want to know.

Does your experience justify these fees, given where you are in your career?
The question isn't seniority — it is whether the work is correct. Every recommendation in a SENSO engagement is evidenced: sourced, tagged, and structured. The analytical framework is grounded in published luxury strategy research (Kapferer, Christensen, Adamson) and tested against fifteen brand audits, including a live on-site diagnostic at Carbis Bay Hotel, Cornwall. If the work is wrong, it will be visible immediately. That is not a risk most senior consultants take. It is the standard here.
How is this different from a brand agency?
An agency executes. SENSO does not produce campaigns, creative assets, or social content. The output is a written strategic position — the foundation that makes execution coherent. Most brands fail at execution because the foundation was never built. SENSO builds the foundation. What you do with it is your decision.
What do I actually receive?
Depending on the engagement: a diagnostic report (Clarity Audit), a full written brand strategy (Strategy Sprint), or ongoing strategic counsel (Retainer). Every document names sources, tags claims as observed or estimated, and includes a recommended next action with the specific obstacle to that action identified. No vague recommendations.
Can you work with a brand that isn't in luxury hospitality?
The SENSO Method™ was designed for luxury and premium brands where the gap between brand belief and brand signal is commercially significant. That includes hospitality, lifestyle, founder-led consumer brands, and B2B firms in premium professional services. If the brand doesn't care what it communicates, SENSO is not the right fit. If it does, the method applies.
Is this confidential?
All work is confidential. Client details are not shared, referenced, or used in any public material without explicit written consent. The composite case on this page is the only reference to client work. Brand essays (Hermès, Cartier, Aman) are independent analytical work — they are not client engagements and carry no affiliation.

Giovanna Franchini da Silva

Brand Strategist  ·  London

Direct experience inside Dolce & Gabbana, Aman, and Mandarin Oriental. Academic research: digital brand strategy across six European luxury hotel groups. Hult International Business School, London — full merit scholar.

The SENSO Method™ emerged from a single observation: the brands that maintain clarity under pressure are not the ones with the best agencies. They are the ones that know, without ambiguity, what they believe.

Selectivity matters. We do not take every project.

Response within 48 hours. Not every project is the right fit — and that conversation begins with an honest initial exchange.