Brand Trust Team

We are a small, agile group of brand-focused communications professionals with diverse backgrounds. Our collective experience is rooted in virtually every relevant facet of modern marketing, including advertising, retailing, technology, social media and research. 

Having sat on both sides of the table, we know that mutual respect and trust are the backbone of a successful and enduring business relationship. To that end, we do whatever it takes to make relationships with our clients as productive and professional as possible. 

Brent Robertson
President, Creative Director & Brand Thinker

It all begins with the big idea. Brent has applied this simple rule to marketing, advertising & design in a wide range of categories including lifestyle, wine & spirits, travel, entertainment, retail, toys, technology, telco, and financial services. Brent's work reflects his fundamental philosophy: think big and out-of-the-box, be consistent, be persuasive and compelling and most of all, be human. 

Over the years Brent has worn many hats — everything from world traveler to senior designer, partner & creative director at firms including Pentagram London, DDB/Griffin Bacal, One World Solutions, Frierson, Mee + Partners, CulverRobertson and Brand Robertson. Brent holds a BA degree in Communications Design from Pratt Institute. He has won awards from virtually every advertising and design competition including The Art Directors Club, The One Show, The Effies for Effective Communications, The Type Directors Club, AIGA, AIA and has work in the permanent collection of MoMA and The Library of Congress.

With 25+ years experience in numerous categories Brent thinks like an entrepreneur, ready to hit the ground running to solve clients business challenges. Following is a short list of his client experience in numerous categories including: Wines from Spain, DOCa Rioja, DO Ribera del Duero, DOP Cariñena, Bordeuax Wines, Wines of South Africa, Sidra de Asturias, NYS Agriculture & Markets, Kobrand Importers, Diageo, Bernard Magrez, Restaurant Associates, Netherlands Tourism, Switzerland Tourism, Bermuda Tourism, Acapulco Tourism, Swissair, Macy's, Apple, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Hasbro, Disney, MoMA, Weleda, Rosenthal China, Coty/Lancaster, MTV, Miramax Films, Columbia Tri-Star Pictures, Cantor Fitzgerald, Dreyfus, plus many entrepreneurs and not-for-profits including The James Beard Foundation, City Harvest, FDC and the American Marketing Association.

Jim Lange
Writer, Strategist

Throughout Jim's career, he's often found the key to powerful, engaging creative comes from simply asking, "Why". An insatiable curiosity coupled with strategic insight has enabled Jim to consistently identify the core idea behind the brand and create compelling positioning for brands across a broad spectrum of product categories. Among his campaigns, he counts the work in support of the hugely unpopular 55 mph national speed limit as being among the most satisfying.

In his 25 years in advertising, Jim has held senior creative positions with W.B. Doner & Company, Baltimore, Ketchum Advertising, J. Walter Thompson and Frierson, Mee + Partners, New York.

Jody LoMenzo
Strategic Communications Counsel

Jody provides clients senior counsel on communications issues that affect many organizations in today’s ever-changing global economy, including: reputation management, multi-channel media relations, crisis management, and branding. 

Most recently she served as Senior VP at inVentivHealth, a global healthcare communications company. There, she provided counsel to agency clients, C-level leaders in biotech, disease management, and nutrition. She created programs to enhance visibility, increase brand awareness, and assess risk/reputation management; developed thought leadership platforms, enhanced corporate identity by conducting perception audits and freshening corporate narratives; and worked with top media outlets to generate coverage for her clients.

With a strong healthcare and pharma background, Jody has a successful history in helping bring new drugs national media coverage, from both consumer and financial news perspectives. She has worked with healthcare clients in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to introduce and promote new pharmaceutical breakthroughs. 

Jody was director of investor relations and public relations for Insmed, a bio-pharmaceutical company and also served as administrative director of marketing and public relations at Bon Secours Richmond, for a large regional healthcare system comprised of five hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, a nursing school and radiology school. There, she introduced a new umbrella brand, rolled out brand messaging to key stakeholders and measurably increased brand awareness by more than 20%. She also created compelling service line marketing campaigns for cardiology, women’s services, orthopedics, and pediatrics.

A skilled media trainer, Jody has coached a wide-variety of clients including CEOs, scientists, financial advisors, and physicians to help them better understand how to communicate with reporters and editors. She has conducted intense interview simulations to prepare spokespersons for appearances on 20/20, The Today Show and Good Morning America.

A former journalist, she has a clear understanding of how to tell a story to a variety of audiences. Jody worked as a producer, reporter, and writer for a Midwestern PBS network, ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Nightwatch, and WABC-TV. As special projects producer at WABC-TV, she covered presidential conventions and inaugurals, in addition to history-making events including the Challenger explosion.  She received an Emmy nomination for the production of the 100th Anniversary of the Statue of Liberty for ABC’s owned and operated stations.  

Jody received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from New York University.  She also completed the Harvard Law School-MIT program on Issue Management and attended the Leadership Development program at the Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina. 

Paul Posnick
Art Director / Writer / Creative Director

As a results oriented, award winning Art Director/Creative Director Paul has made launching new products a specialty, with the ability to identify and illicit emotional, as well as intellectual responses from target audiences. A short list of client experience includes: Hasbro, Playskool, Tiger Electronics, CareBears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Stride Rite, Harrod's, P&G, The Out Islands of the Bahamas, Citizen Watches and Sharp Electronics.

His skill set includes print to TV advertising and everything in between, with creative and compelling ideas that gain traction and build brands in the marketplace. He has counted many of the world's top shops home, including Papert Koenig Lois, Ted Bates, with numerous D&AD Awards, among others, to prove his effectiveness. In addition to the production of an off-Broadway play and 2 children's books, he co-authored the novel "Weather War" and created the NBC special "Medicine in America".

Jon Stamell
Account Management, Research & Strategic Planning

Jon has 30+ years of experience in market research, strategic planning and marketing, including international consulting, expansion and acquisitions, market research, brand management, image enhancement, e-commerce and multi-media. He formerly was CEO of the largest advertising and pr firm in Northern New England. He has been profiled by CNN and CNBC, is the author of Celebrate Your Mistakes and FutureShift 2010. He has spoken many times in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia on strategic planning, customer engagement, and industry and country branding.

Jon received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, did graduate work at Harvard University's Yenching Institute, and received an M.B.A. from the University of Maine.

Lidija Markes
Interactive Designer

Lidija has over fifteen years of experience working in web development. She has a passion for digital content and her past work experience has been in business, higher education, fundraising and development. For the past 10 years, she has managed digital and research programs for Futureshift, a strategic planning consultancy. Her skills include web development, database creation and management, social media and email marketing, as well as media buying, monitoring, and reporting.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and International Politics and has a strong business background stemming from an MBA in Accounting in progress (which she is determined to complete before she retires.) Originally from Croatia, she also lived in England and Italy prior to coming to the United States two decades ago.

Greg Nesbit
Photographer

Greg has been working in the publishing industry as a photographer and production manager producing magazines, books, and catalogs for over 15 years. He specializes in culinary, commercial, hospitality and event photography. Whether in the studio or on location, he provides a relaxed and easygoing environment to achieve the goal of creating the best possible images to suit the needs of the client while conveying the essence of the brand experience.

A partial list of clients include: Absolut, Chivas, Pernod Ricard, Wines from Spain, Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits, Kahlua, Hiram Walker, Double Tree by Hilton, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, American Airlines, as well as publishers Santé Magazine, Culture Magazine, and book projects for Storey Publishing.

He produces imagery of commercial products for packaging, print and web marketing for businesses of all sizes and provides quality content for use in newsletters, blogs, and print projects and point of sale signage.

Mariano Pastor
Photographer

After a highly successful career as a fashion photographer, Mariano shifted gears into the world of cosmetics, beauty and fragrance, working for Lancome, Estee Lauder, etc. His current passion is conceptual tabletop, often shot in natural environments, suggesting a duality — elegant images shown in unexpected locations. Mariano is always up for a challenge, and always brings a fresh approach to every project.

Greg Paprocki
Illustrator, Designer

Greg has spent over half of his life working as a professional in the fields of art and design. After college, Greg spent several years as an advertising art director and designer accumulating national and international recognition with his smart, edgy designs and concepts.

In 2001, Greg embarked on his career as a freelance artist and has never looked back. Since then, he has worked for hundreds of companies, many of them global corporations including MTV, McDonald's, PepsiCo, and Proctor & Gamble. Greg's art has also graced the covers of several New York Times Best Sellers List titles. 

Greg has also created artwork and branded the look and feel of two of the most recognizable popular culture icons - Barbie and Curious George.

Patrice Tanaka
Consultant, Brand PR & Creative Business Solutions

Patrice Tanaka is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded three award-winning, PR & marketing firms and, most recently, Joyful Planet, a Business & Life Strategy Consultancy. “Through Joyful Planet, I am doing what I love and do best, leveraging my creative, problem-solving talent to help individuals and organizations discover and live their purpose and unleash greater success, fulfillment and joy in business and life,” says Patrice. This is the subject of Patrice’s new best-selling book, Beat the Curve, co-authored with world renowned management consultant and coach, Brian Tracy, and other business leaders. Her chapter is entitled, "Live Your Life's Purpose and Unleash Your Joy."

Patrice also collaborates with organizations to come up with inspired solutions to business challenges designed to create a bigger, brighter, better future for all stakeholders.  She has been recognized as a “creativity all-star” and her agencies have been recognized as the “#1 Most Creative PR Agency” and  “#2 Best Workplace” in America.  The breakthrough PR campaigns that Patrice has been involved with have delivered strong business results and won more than 300 awards for clients, including Avon Products, American Express, Charles Schwab & Co., Coors Brewing Co., Council for Responsible Nutrition, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, Dyson Vacuums, Girl Scouts of the USA, Godiva Chocolatier, Korbel Champagne, KRUPS, Liz Claiborne, Mercedes-Benz USA, Microsoft, Target Stores, Wines from Rioja (Spain), Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, among others.

Patrice has been honored by many PR, marketing, business and civic organizations, including PRWeek (2016 Hall of Fame inductee), Public Relations Society of America (“Paul M. Lund Award for Public Service”), The Holmes Report (“Creativity All-Star” Award), New York Women in Communications (“Matrix” Award), among others. 

Joanna Pruess
Food and travel writer, lecturer, radio personality, and publisher

Joanna Pruess is a food and travel writer and consultant to the food industry. She is the award-winning author of fourteen cookbooks including "Seduced by Bacon",  and, most recently "Soup for Two: Small-Batch Recipes for One, Two, or a Few", and "Dos Caminos Tacos: 100 Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Mexican Street Food" with chef Ivy Stark.

Pruess graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, received a master's degree in English from Stanford University, and a certificate of graduate studies in French literature and arts from the Sorbonne. She also studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Pruess was the director of the Cookingstudio, a school she founded that held classes in a number of New Jersey branches of the Kings Supermarket chain, from 1982 to 1987.