Elmwood London Doubles Its Strategy Team and Appoints Jade Horton as Strategy Partner

Award winning brand and design consultancy Elmwood London announces today that it has doubled the size of its strategy team as it looks to significantly grow its healthcare and consumer-focused brand partnerships.

The latest to join the team in London is industry visionary Jade Horton as strategy partner. Originally from New Zealand, Jade’s career has seen her work across Europe and North America with many of the world’s leading agencies and brands.

She started her career in advertising, working for the top networks, including WPP and Omnicom, before stepping into the world of branding and design. Jade joins Elmwood from Bristol-based agency, Taxi Studio, where she worked with leading healthcare and consumer brands like Nestle Health Science, Carlsberg and The Coco-Cola Company. She also previously worked at design agency, Bluemarlin.

“There was a very long list of brilliant things that made us want to hire Jade,” said Deborah Stafford-Watson, head of strategy at Elmwood. “She is a proven strategic powerhouse who has developed innovation strategies and design visions for top blue-chip brands, transforming perceptions of what design can achieve for a business.”

“Her experience at the intersection of health and wellness, and her knowledge of developing design strategies for brands within highly regulated environments, makes Jade the perfect fit for Elmwood as we look to bolster our consumer healthcare pillar.”

Elmwood London has a growing roster of leading healthcare brands including E45, Panadol, Voltaren, Advil and Otrivine. The studio was responsible for creating the award-winning brand identities for Hana and Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pills for the UK and the US respectively.

“Whether it’s the medicine we take, the health supplements we drink or the health apps we download, branding in healthcare is first and foremost about designing for people,” said Jade. “Elmwood understands this perfectly and is ideally placed to thrive in the next chapter of growth of health and wellness. It’s a true honour to be joining the team.”

Alongside Jade, Elmwood London recently appointed three highly respected strategy directors to the team. Amy Lee Stewart joined Elmwood from Interbrand in New York, where she was associate director and where she worked with brands such as Alkermes, IBM Watson and Samsung. Amy Lee has extensive experience of working with blue-chips and start-ups in the health, wellness and technology sectors, and is respected for her skills in brand positioning, brand architecture, identity and experience design.

Amy Lee is accompanied by Emily Stirling, who was previously senior brand strategist at design agency, ORCA. A leading expert on how to translate brand definition into actionable creative platforms, Stirling has worked with major global businesses such as Procter and Gamble and Unilever. She has a passion for building purpose-driven brands that enhance health and wellness and is the founder of organic skincare line, Hale Organics.

Rounding out the team of strategy directors is Isobel Grad, who joined Elmwood London from semiotics and cultural analytics insight agency, Sign Salad, where she was a director. Grad is a renowned cultural analyst and semiotician and has worked with many of the world’s leading brands, helping them to understand how to turn culture and consumer behaviour into actionable strategies for brand and design.

“With the addition of Jade, Amy Lee, Emily and Isobel, we're blending new skills and perspectives with fantastic experience to elevate our strategy offer in the London team and help unlock new growth opportunities for our clients across our corporate, consumer and healthcare pillars," added Deborah.