Derrick has spent the past 25+ years helping organizations release their full potential. His experience is extensive in the disciplines of brand strategy, brand management, advertising and public relations. At The Blake Project he manages daily operations and helps clients build competitive and valuable brands.Prior to launching the brand consultancy, The Blake Project in 2003, Derrick held rewarding leadership roles at global advertising agency leader Saatchi & Saatchi as well as at three other respected agencies. He credits his focus on brand strategy with his ability to align organizations with unmet customer needs. He has led and co-led the brand strategy effort for many respected B2C and B2B brands, including Abbott, Coca-Cola (Olympic Games), Deloitte AI, EA Sports, FootJoy, Intel, LexisNexis, Nestle and Wyndham.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 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 tools needed for an age of disruption.A widely sought after speaker, Derrick keynotes at major conferences around the globe. He is a guest lecturer at USC and UCLA, is quoted regularly in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today and has been a nationally featured brand management expert on ABC News.Most notably he has worked with The White House Press Corps, Dr. Bernice King and helped develop the Statue of Liberty's brand strategy.

In 2006 Derrick launched Branding Strategy Insider with the goal of creating the leading resource for marketing oriented leaders and professionals.Today, Branding Strategy Insider is the global thought leader in brand strategy and brand education offering marketing oriented leaders and professionals actionable insights and a 360-degree perspective of the rapidly evolving disciplines of brand strategy and brand management. Through thought pieces from some of the world’s leading brand experts BSI promotes debate and conversation about the value and role of brand in today’s marketplace.Advertising Age recognizes Branding Strategy Insider as the leading resource on brand management on its list of the world's Top 150 marketing resources. www.BrandingStrategyInsider.com

As an Advisor to the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, Derrick serves in the development of the center's brand and growth strategy and as a resource for early-stage founders.

Guest Lecturer at the University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Northwestern University, Loyola Marymount University, Utah State University, and EDC Paris Business School. Further, I speak on these topics and more at meetings and conferences.

In 2013 Derrick launched The Un-Conference: 360 Degrees of Brand Strategy for a Changing World, marketing's only problem solving event.This annual, fun, ‘competitive-learning’ event is about taking a deep dive into the best practices that result in strong brands. It is designed to help marketing oriented leaders and professionals develop strategies that will propel their brand to a leadership position or to assist in maintaining the leadership position they have worked so hard to achieve.No Attendees. Only Participants.The best pathway for learning is through participation, not observation. Marketing's most unique event challenges established thinking about brands and brand management. To do that, we put participants on a team of 10 and offer opportunities to compete, lead and learn alongside other marketers. The challenges participants tackle are based on actual issues that participants are facing.We reserve these two days and a kickoff mixer for 50 senior marketers who see comfort zones as a dangerous place and who seek a learning experience superior to last century’s format of marketing conferences.Every year a wide range of brands from around the world join us. Past participants include AAA, Bayer, Bloomberg, Humana, Land O’ Lakes, Liberty Mutual, Pilot/Flying J, RJ Reynolds, TD Ameritrade, GlaxoSmithKlein, Wounded Warrior Project, Monsanto, Ogilvy, Kawasaki, GE and many more.Our 7th edition of marketing's most unique and powerful brand strategy event will be announced soon.