We’re an independent brand marketing studio

We create brands and brand stories with impact, to help you stay ahead in a competitive world. We combine strategy and creativity, business and psychology, to be radically clear and persuasive.

 

No bullshit, but a clear brand story that speaks to your gut

In a time when people hate advertising but love brands, authentic connection is everything. The time for windowdressing and empty words is over. We put our hearts into the brands we build, so that your audiences will too.

 

Your sparring partner

 

Elwin Stevelink is a brand- and marketing strategy expert with 15 years of experience. He creates and implements winning brand- and marketing-strategies for start-ups, unicorns, corporates and public organizations across industries. He works for clients directly as well as through partner agencies.

While doing research, strategy and copywriting himself, he briefs and coordinates creation and campaign teams, often consisting of freelancers and partner agencies in design, video production, animation, advertising, PR and tech development.

Before advising, he obtained academic training in both Psychology and Business Administration and spent 5 years as entrepreneur creating and marketing large-scale music-events across Europe with massive ‘skin in the game’. Leveraging knowledge of marketing strategy, concept development, social media, performance advertising and PR, his first concept Neonsplash drew 1M+ visitors and >€10M per year across 15 European countries before its acquisition in 2015.

His achievements and innovations in event marketing sparked demand and authority for marketing- and strategic advisory roles across industries.

 
 
 
 

Super Expert Network

We work with a trusted network of freelance experts to execute the strategies we create. Each expert is among the best in their field: Design, UX/UI, Web/Tech/AI Development, SEO/SEA, Performance Advertising, Marketing/Sales Automation, PR, Content Creation, Photo/Video.

Unlike traditional agencies, we don’t have bench players, overhead costs, juniors or accountmanagers. Your project team is always tailor-made for your project and you speak directly with your experts and your dedicated project lead.

 

Clients

 
 

Testimonials 

  • Jouk Pleiter

    Backbase, Founder & CEO

    Elwin and his team did a great job helping us to move our internal and external communications / story telling to the next level.

    Keywords: Smart, Empathy and Passioned about the work they deliver.

  • Tim Rutten

    Backbase, CMO

    Elwin is a one-of-a-kind brand and overall marketing strategist whom I can highly recommend after having been a client multiple times. He will simply not stop until he gets to the essence of what you're trying to achieve and the purpose it serves. In his own unique way - he will challenge you to be more crisp than ever before - and take the leap forward to bring it to life in an "out there" and differentiating approach.

    Want to stand out and have fun while building together? Seek no further. He's your guy!

  • Sascha Struijs

    VU University Amsterdam, Project Leader MoodLift

    Working with Elwin Stevelink has been an absolute pleasure. Elwin expertly guided us through the development of a new brand name, platform design, and communication strategy. Meanwhile involving our complex stakeholder environment for support and backing each step with (campus) research. His ability to present key ideas in a clear plenary session, and deliver an easy-to-use communications package was highly effective.

    Elwin has a gift for simplifying complex topics while keeping the focus on our main communication goals. His efficient use of time and resources helped us stay on track without sacrificing quality. Beyond his professionalism and expertise, Elwin’s positive and engaging attitude made the entire process genuinely enjoyable. I would highly recommend him to any organization seeking a skilled strategist who knows how to get results while keeping the experience fun and collaborative.

  • Kiliaan Toorenaar

    Close, Founder & CEO

    Elwin’s strategic marketing advise has been valuable to Close’s success since our early concept stage.

    After sharpening our initial positioning, brand and product design, Elwin educated us on the event industry dynamics, sharpened our sales-decks and successfully landed our launching customer contracts with A-list event companies from his network. Furthermore he assisted in creating a compelling investment pitch deck that successfully raised our first 3 million euro funding.

    I would highly recommend working with Elwin for his clear sense for persuasive marketing communication, his vast marketing experience and network and his persistence to continue to push for maximum results!

  • Stein Fortuin

    Varias, Founder & CEO

    In the short period I have worked together with Elwin, he impressed me with his clear vision. For our current project, he managed to articulate our brands mission and purpose clearly, including a supporting marketing strategy. Doing that within the strict time restrictions we had for this project is quite admirable.

    Not only that, he also advised us on to further improve our event format. His background in, and knowledge of, both brand strategy and the event business was clearly noticeable, and made him confident in his advice and feedback.

    I would definitely recommend working with Elwin!

  • Florian Eckelmann

    Neonsplash, Founder & CEO

    Elwin is a well educated and highly intelligent entrepreneur who does not aim lower than achieving excellent results. Due to his eclectic business experience and educational background, Elwin has the ability to quickly solve complex problems in the search of an unilateral win win for all parties involved. Most striking about Elwin however, is his loyalty, long breath and from the ground up positive attitude.

  • Gert-Jan van Wijk

    ListNRide, Founder & CEO

    Elwin has been of great help in a crucial stage of our company. After a positive proof-of-concept, we asked Elwin to advise us on growing a user-base on our platform as well as attracting funding for our marketing and operations. He advised us to take the crowdfunding route and supported us building the campaign and prepare our brand and touchpoints for it.

    The crowdfunding succes exceeded our expectations. We grew a passionate bike sharing community, secured plenty of seed-funding and attracted attention from all relevant press. Bonus; as our funding largely came from bike enthousiasts who would use the platform themselves, we have the best brand ambassadors we could ever wish for!

    We would advise working with Elwin to anyone if you have the chance. He is no-nonsense, smart, driven and above all; a lot of fun to work with!

  • Alexander Broekman

    Superconnectors, CEO

    For the setup of Superconnectors (a high end international connections event) we really needed an all star Branding expert, since we need to go into the world with a bang.

    We had very little time and needed someone that could really quickly get to the essence and at the same time help us translate that essence into video, website and press release packages.

    I know, a lot to ask… but Elwin really delivered.

  • Julius Bachmann

    Journey, Founder & Executive Coach

    Elwin is a great sparring partner in brand and marketing strategy as he is both smart and kind. He helped me laser-focus my business purpose and express my brand and storytelling in a way that is clear and appealing.

    For my marketing he helped me identify the tools best suited for my goals and target audience - as well as suiting my personal qualities - and how to leverage them for max performance. Writing content is one of the main pillars we chose, not only is it super effective in attracting new clients, I notice it helps me develop myself also.