• by Larissa Faw , March 17, 2015

As brands increasingly struggle to gain the attention of consumers, brand identity is becoming more critical, which is why strategic and brand consultancy Landor, part of WPP, is beefing up its naming and verbal identity teams.

First, Tom Sepanski is promoted to regional director of naming and verbal identity in North America to lead Landor’s North American team. He's tasked with buttressing client offerings, such as naming, nomenclature strategy, brand lines, messaging, and brand voice. 

With more than 15 years of branding experience, Sepanski has developed "verbal identity solutions" for clients including American Express, Barclays, Kiehl’s, Lancome Paris, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Verizon.

Joining Sepanski on Landor’s naming and verbal identity team are three new hires:
Julie Doughty returns to Landor as director of naming and writing, having worked on naming, brand line development, brand voice, and brand writing projects for clients such as Barclays, Crest, and Dell. 

Margherita Devine joins as manager of naming and writing, after previously working on branding projects in London at Lambie-Nairn, where she assisted on projects for clients, including O2 and Telefónica. Both Doughty and Devine will be based in New York.

In Landor’s San Francisco office, Marc Hershon has been appointed senior manager of naming and verbal identity. Hershon comes to Landor from Lexicon Branding, where he worked for more than 20 years, serving as creative director from 2010 to 2014. There, he helped to create brand names such as BlackBerry, Dasani, and Swiffer. 

Landor operates 28 offices in 22 countries, working with clients that include Barclays, Bayer, BMW, BP, FedEx, GE, Intuit, Kraft Foods, Pernod Ricard, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Taj Group.