Phil Cox, brand strategist and writer

Phil Cox

Writer and brand
strategist

helping organizations
articulate who they are

and what they
stand for.

What I’ve done

Doris Duke Foundation
Brand positioning and copywriting

Materials for the Arts
Mission and copywriting

Advocates for Trans Equality
Naming, mission, and brand positioning

Conservation International
Campaign creative strategy

Meta
Communications strategy

MCA Chicago
Strategic planning

Gates Foundation
Creative strategy (multiple projects)

MoMA
Audience research and visitor strategy

Terra Foundation for American Art
Opportunity assessment

Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County
Strategic planning

La Brea Tar Pits
Opportunity assessment

University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning
Brand positioning

University of Chicago
Naming, exhibition planning, and copywriting

How I can help

Mission, vision, and values
Brand positioning
Tone of voice
Short- and long-form writing
Landscape assessment
Brand audit
Stakeholder interviews
Brand architecture
Naming
Opportunity assessment
Workshops and trainings
Guidelines

About me

I am a freelance brand strategist and writer based in NYC. Using words and images, I help organizations of all types articulate who they are and what they stand for. I have particular experience in the arts, climate and conservation, global development, and philanthropy.

As an Associate Partner at Pentagram, I led brand positioning projects for massive corporations and tiny start-ups. At LaPlaca Cohen, I focused on strategic planning and audience research engagements for museums, architecture firms, and other non-profits.

Outside my client work I also write about architecture and the public life of buildings. My first book, “What A Building Does: The Hoosier Modernisms of Evans Woollen” (a collaboration with the photographer Niall Cronin) will be published by Indiana University Press in September 2025.

I am also the co-author, with the designer Giorgia Lupi, of “Speak Data,” a book of essays and interviews exploring the societal role of data today. The book will be published by Chronicle in 2025 and feature conversations with Paola Antonelli, Refik Anadol, Kate Crawford, Nico Muhly, John Maeda, Adam Grant, and others.

Freelance Strategy Lead(2024–)
Pentagram
Associate Partner
(2023–2024)

Strategy and New Business Lead
(2019–2023)

NEW INC
Mentor
(2019)

LaPlaca Cohen
Strategist
(2018–2019)

Associate Strategist
(2017–2018)

Marketing and Research Coordinator
(2016–2017)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A. Media and Journalism;
B.A. Art History
(2016)

Contact