The most effective strategists today are not specialists; they are polymaths. They draw insights from unexpected places, understanding that the precision of a jeweler, the patience of a baker using fermentation, and the empathy of a linguist are the new tools for building brands. This is the eclectic and powerful toolkit Michelle Tay brings to her work at Vivaldi. Her diverse passions—from designing fine jewelry to mastering multiple languages—are not hobbies, but lenses through which she views strategic challenges. We spoke with her to understand how this cross-pollination of interests fuels her ability to craft solutions that are not just analytically sound, but creatively inspired and deeply human.
Michelle Tay is equal parts creative and strategic, and brings a unique skillset and cross-functional expertise to managing Vivaldi’s brand protection practice. Her ability to look at a problem in 3D, spin it around, and propose out-of-the-box solutions enable her to orchestrate powerful narratives that, among other things, help brands protect and defend their strength and equity in the marketplace. Get to know her more in this Q&A:
Meet Michelle Tay: The Strategic Mind Behind Vivaldi’s Brand Protection
You have a fascinating background as an editor and reporter in Singapore and New York before moving into brand strategy. How does that experience shape your work today?
My time in journalism was the perfect training ground. As a reporter, your job is to distill complex information into a clear, compelling narrative that resonates with a specific audience. You learn to ask the right questions, identify the core of a story, and communicate it with impact. That’s exactly what we do in brand strategy. We’re not just building marketing campaigns; we’re crafting the fundamental story of a business. Whether I was covering a new tech launch in New York or a cultural trend in Singapore, it was always about understanding the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ That curiosity is what I bring to every client engagement.
The term “brand protection” can mean different things. How do you define it at Vivaldi, and what does it look like in practice?
That’s a great point. Many people hear ‘brand protection’ and immediately think of legal teams and trademark disputes. While that’s a piece of the puzzle, our approach is much more proactive and strategic. For us, brand protection is about building a brand that is so strong, unique, and valuable that it becomes inherently defensible. It’s less about putting up walls and more about building an unshakeable foundation. I work with global brands across fashion, retail, technology, and automotive to articulate their unique value proposition and embed it so deeply in their brand and customer experience that it becomes their greatest competitive asset. It’s about ensuring the brand’s promise is consistently delivered, which in turn builds equity and loyalty that competitors can’t easily replicate.
You speak six languages. How does that global perspective influence your strategic thinking?
Language is a window into culture. Speaking French, Italian, Mandarin, and others has taught me that a message is never just its literal translation; it’s shaped by cultural context, history, and nuance. For the global organizations we partner with, this is critical. A brand narrative that works in one market might fall flat or even be misinterpreted in another. My multilingualism allows me to see those potential disconnects and help clients build brand strategies that are both globally consistent and locally relevant. It’s about creating a core brand idea that is powerful enough to cross borders, but flexible enough to speak to people in a way that feels authentic to them.
From Global Affairs to Global Brands: A Unique Educational Path
My academic journey has always been about understanding complex systems. With degrees in International Relations from NYU, International Peace and Security from King’s College London, and Business Journalism from Columbia, I’ve learned to connect geopolitical trends, economic shifts, and human stories. This background helps me see the bigger picture for the brands I work with, from automotive and tech to fashion and retail.
It might seem like an unconventional path, but studying international affairs was the perfect training for brand strategy. I learned to see the world as a set of interconnected systems where culture, economics, and politics collide. A brand doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it operates in a complex global ecosystem with its own set of rules, allies, and adversaries. My education taught me how to map those systems, identify underlying tensions, and anticipate how shifts in one area could create ripple effects elsewhere. That’s the core of brand protection—understanding the entire field of play. My journalism degree then gave me the tools to translate that complex analysis into a clear, compelling story that helps our clients build resilient and influential brands.
How a Journalist’s Toolkit Shapes Brand Protection Strategy
My experience as a reporter and editor has equipped me with the ability to listen to a variety of needs and opinions, identify the issues that stakeholders want to be solved, and then help find those solutions—all whilst crafting a narrative that keeps everyone focused on why we do what we do.
Putting Strategy into Practice: Real-World Brand Impact
At Vivaldi, theory meets execution. I’ve helped a large consumer brand orchestrate its portfolio to better connect with customers and worked to reposition a communications company as a trusted partner for a new client base. It’s about creating tangible value that drives business growth.
This work is about moving brands from a defensive posture to a proactive one. For the consumer brand, the challenge was a portfolio that had grown organically, creating internal competition and customer confusion. Instead of a cohesive family of brands, it was more like a crowded room where everyone was talking at once. Our goal was to act as a conductor, helping them create distinct roles for different brands within the company so each one could reach its ideal customer without cannibalizing the others. This wasn’t just a branding exercise; it was a fundamental shift in their business strategy that clarified their market approach. We built a brand system where each part amplifies the others, creating exponential value.
Similarly, with the communications company, their expertise was clear, but their market position wasn’t. They were perceived as a vendor, not the strategic partner they truly were. We worked to strengthen their position as a trusted partner, which meant reshaping their narrative and aligning their go-to-market efforts with this elevated identity. This involved a deep dive into their brand and experience strategy, ensuring every touchpoint—from sales conversations to service delivery—reinforced that promise of partnership. The result is a stronger, more resilient brand that can command a premium and build lasting relationships, proving that a clear identity is one of the most powerful assets a business can have.
Beyond Brand Protection: Building Enduring Relevance
To not only help brands protect the brand equity they have worked thus far to build up, but also help them ensure that that value translates into enduring relevance to consumers, which in turn leads to long-term and sustainable growth.
The One Piece of Advice That Changes Everything
If you don’t ask the question, you won’t know what the answer is.
What a Modern, Thriving Work Culture Looks Like
A global team, a hybrid work culture, and knowing that there is space for your voice to be heard.
My Superpower for Creative Problem-Solving
I hear everyone. As a creative problem solver, I won’t give up until I find a solution (or two).
Beyond the Strategist: Languages, Jewelry, and Fermentation
I believe diverse interests fuel creativity. I speak six languages, including French, Italian, and Mandarin, which opens up different ways of thinking. In my free time, I design and make fine jewelry—a practice in precision and storytelling. Lately, I’ve been exploring food science, especially the art of fermentation in baking.
My approach to strategy is deeply influenced by these passions. Mastering languages taught me that communication isn’t just about translating words; it’s about understanding the cultural frameworks that shape perception. When you can think in different linguistic structures, you can see a brand challenge from multiple angles, which is critical for building globally resonant narratives. Designing fine jewelry is a similar exercise in translation—transforming an abstract idea into a tangible object of value. It’s a constant reminder that the most powerful brands are built with intention, precision, and a compelling story.
This philosophy extends even to my recent fascination with fermentation. It’s a perfect metaphor for brand building: you combine the right ingredients, create the optimal environment, and then allow a natural, transformative process to unfold. It’s not about forcing growth, but cultivating it. True brand equity, like a perfect sourdough, develops over time through patience and a deep understanding of the underlying chemistry. Each of these pursuits reinforces my belief that the best strategic solutions are found at the intersection of discipline and imagination, where structure enables creativity.
A Book That Will Challenge Your View of the Future
“Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” by Yuval Noah Harari. “Homo Deus” takes off where “Sapiens” left off, provocatively arguing that humans, in attempting to refine ourselves to perfection (the logical apotheosis of humanism), will destroy humanism itself (as the information age disintegrates the individual). Something to chew on, right?
What I’m Reading and Listening To
Brand strategy is fundamentally about understanding human systems. To build something truly relevant, you have to look beyond market trends and into the core drivers of human behavior. That’s why I’m always exploring works that provide a deeper framework for why we do what we do. Harari’s “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” is essential for this, offering a macro-view of the cultural software we all run on. Then, to translate that insight into business impact, Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” is brilliant at turning purpose into a strategic asset—a core principle of our brand and innovation work. When I’m not reading, I’m listening to “The Hidden Brain” podcast. It reveals the invisible scripts that guide our choices, which is critical knowledge for building brands that don’t just capture attention, but earn a permanent place in people’s lives.
Frequently Asked Questions
“Brand protection” sounds like a legal issue. How is your approach different? That’s a common starting point, but we see it much differently. While legal teams reactively defend a brand’s trademarks, our work is proactive. We focus on building a brand that is so clear in its purpose and so consistent in its customer experience that it becomes its own best defense. Think of it as building a fortress with a powerful identity and loyal customers, rather than just stationing guards at the gate. It’s about making your brand so uniquely valuable that it’s incredibly difficult for competitors to imitate.
It’s interesting that your background is in journalism, not a traditional marketing path. How does that give you an edge in brand strategy? Journalism is the ultimate training ground for understanding and telling compelling stories. As a reporter, my job was to cut through the noise, find the core truth, and communicate it in a way that connects with people. That’s the heart of brand strategy. I bring a journalist’s curiosity to every project, asking the tough questions to uncover a company’s true “why.” This allows me to help businesses craft a core narrative that is authentic, clear, and powerful enough to guide every decision they make.
My company struggles with creating a consistent brand message across different countries. How do you tackle that? This is where a deep understanding of culture is non-negotiable. Speaking multiple languages has shown me that a direct translation is never enough; you have to translate the meaning and intent within a cultural context. The key is to establish a core brand idea that is universally powerful but flexible enough to be expressed in locally relevant ways. We work to build that strong central narrative first, then define the framework that allows regional teams to bring it to life authentically without diluting the global brand promise.
You mention repositioning companies. What does that actually look like and what kind of results can it produce? Repositioning is about changing how the market perceives you, moving from being seen as a simple vendor to a vital strategic partner. In practice, this means reshaping the company’s core story and ensuring every single touchpoint, from a sales pitch to a service email, reflects that new identity. For one communications client, this shift meant they could build deeper, more resilient client relationships and command a premium for their expertise. The result isn’t just a new slogan; it’s a fundamental change in business trajectory that leads to more sustainable growth.
Your hobbies are so diverse. Is there a common thread between designing jewelry, baking, and building a brand? Absolutely. Each one is a lesson in transformation and intentionality. Designing jewelry teaches precision and the art of turning an abstract concept into a tangible, valuable object. Working with fermentation in baking is a masterclass in patience and creating the right conditions for organic growth to happen. Both are perfect metaphors for brand building. A strong brand requires a precise strategy, the patience to cultivate it over time, and the creative vision to transform a business idea into something people truly value.
Key Takeaways
- Build an indefensible brand, not just a legal defense: True brand protection is proactive. It means embedding your unique value so deeply into the customer experience that your brand itself becomes the competitive asset, making it inherently difficult to copy.
- Cultivate a polymath’s mindset to solve complex problems: The most powerful strategies emerge from cross-disciplinary thinking. Applying insights from seemingly unrelated fields—like journalism, linguistics, or even jewelry design—helps uncover non-obvious solutions and craft more human-centric brand narratives.
- Translate your brand’s core idea, not just its words: For global success, a brand’s message must be both consistent and culturally resonant. This requires moving beyond literal translation to understand the nuances that shape perception, ensuring your brand feels authentic in every market.