Brand, strategy and marketing for organisations rooted in complex environments
Translating complexity into clarity
Rooted Marketing is a brand and marketing consultancy for organisations operating in complex environments - where multiple stakeholders, competing incentives and high levels of scrutiny make communication difficult to get right.
Most consultancy talks about thinking outside the box. But in reality, organisations are constrained by regulation, commercial pressure, internal politics and public accountability. The challenge isn’t escaping those constraints - it’s succeeding within them.
Rooted helps founders, leadership teams and mission-led organisations win inside the box - making sense of complexity and translating it into clear positioning, credible narratives and marketing strategies that work in the real world.
Whether you’re dealing with regulators, customers, partners, funders, communities - or all of the above - Rooted brings senior-level thinking to align those realities into something coherent, confident and commercially effective.
What I do best
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Translate complex stakeholder landscapes into clear, actionable strategy
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Turn technical, political or operational detail into compelling narratives
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Build trust across audiences with different priorities and incentives
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Align brand, marketing and delivery inside complex, constrained systems
If you need senior thinking with sleeves rolled up, you’re in the right place
Rooted is led by Josh Nesfield, a senior marketer and strategist with over a decade of experience working in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Where Rooted Works
Rooted works best where stakeholder complexity is high and context matters.
Food & Drink Systems
From farming and processing through to brands, retail and policy. I work across the full food system, understanding how commercial pressure, regulation, supply chains and public trust intersect - not just how products are marketed at the end of the chain
Regulated & high-scrutiny environments
Marketing and communications for sectors where claims are examined, behaviour is constrained, and mistakes carry real risk. This includes policy-adjacent work, health and sustainability claims, government-backed organisations and heavily regulated consumer markets - where credibility, judgement and evidence matter more than noise.
Place, heritage & public-interest organisations
Helping places, institutions, charities and mission-led organisations communicate relevance across communities, funders, users and authorities. Work here is about balancing governance, funding, public value and long-term legitimacy not chasing attention for its own sake.
Services
Strategic Marketing Support
Senior-level marketing support for organisations with complex stakeholder environments.
I work as a fractional Head of Marketing or strategic advisor, helping organisations:
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Navigate competing stakeholder needs and expectations
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Build marketing strategies that reflect operational and political reality
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Align internal teams, partners and external audiences
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Focus effort where it will have real impact
Ideal for organisations where decisions are slow, scrutiny is high and simplicity is hard-won.
Brand Strategy & Positioning
Clarity in crowded, contested spaces.
I help organisations articulate:
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Who they are within a wider system
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What role they play relative to other actors
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How to communicate without over-claiming or oversimplifying
This includes:
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Brand positioning and value propositions
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Stakeholder-aware messaging frameworks
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Brand architecture across complex portfolios
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Tone of voice for sensitive or high-trust contexts
Especially suited to food systems, sustainability, infrastructure, heritage and other multi-actor environments.
Sustainability, Provenance & Impact Communications
Credible communication where evidence, politics and perception collide.
With a background in food systems, sustainability and public policy, I help organisations communicate impact in ways that stand up to scrutiny from regulators, media, partners and the public.
This includes:
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Sustainability narratives grounded in evidence
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Provenance and supply-chain storytelling across stakeholders
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Translating technical, regulatory or scientific detail for mixed audiences
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Stress-testing claims to avoid reputational risk
This is about building trust - not just telling stories
Project Management, Campaigns, Content & Launches
Strategy that lands in the real world.
I lead and support:
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Brand and product launches
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Integrated campaigns
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Thought leadership and content strategy
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Partnerships and events
I’m delivery-minded and commercially pragmatic - focused on what will actually move the needle.
Why Rooted?
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Because complexity is your reality
Most organisations don’t operate in neat markets with a single audience and a clear value proposition. You’re dealing with customers, partners, communities, funders, regulators, media and internal teams - often with competing priorities. Rooted is built specifically for this kind of environment, where marketing needs judgement, not just tactics.
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Because noise is cheap - credibility isn’t
When trust and legitimacy are at stake, oversimplification creates risk. Rooted brings evidence, sector insight and political awareness together to help organisations communicate in ways that hold up under challenge - from the boardroom, supermarket shelf, public forum and to the press.
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Because you want someone who will get stuck in
Rooted isn’t a floaty, hands-off consultancy. I’m prepared to graft - to sit with the detail, work through messy realities, and help move things forward when plans meet friction. You get senior thinking and practical support: someone who will write, plan, challenge, fix and deliver, not just advise from a distance.
How I work
Practical. Honest. Collaborative.
I’m not interested in vanity metrics or overcomplication.
My approach is:
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Strategic: grounded in commercial and organisational reality
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Evidence-led: especially on sustainability and impact
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Stakeholder-aware: built for real-world constraints and trade-offs
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Hands-on: senior thinking with delivery support
A typical process:
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Context + constraints + stakeholders - what’s really going on, and who matters
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Clarity - what you stand for, what you can claim, what you’re aiming to change
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Strategy - priorities, audiences, channels, investment and measures
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Delivery - make it real: writing, planning, comms, content, campaigns
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