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Steven Morris is a brand and culture building expert, advisor, author, and speaker.

A united group of souls,

ignited by a common cause

How I help & serve

BUILDING BRANDS

UNITING PEOPLE

INTEGRATING BUSINESS

When you’ve solved the brand challenge, you can solve just about everything else in your business. But if you don’t solve this challenge, just about everything else suffers.

Because your brand is everything your company does, it’s too important to separate from your culture.

Your business is too important to operate in parts and pieces.

Your brand and culture, together with your business strategy, drive results.

I’ve applied my Brand Evolution framework to build or evolve more than 275 world-class brands. This time-tested framework cultivates your branded-business drivers and activates them into an operationalized brand strategy.

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Matter Consulting is the home of Steven Morris’ brand, culture and business advisory work. He is an expert at evolving and building integrated brands and people-first cultures. Steven has been a trusted brand and culture consultant to more than 3,000 business leaders at more than 250 global, national, and regional brands since 1994.

Steven can help if:

You want integrity between your brand, culture, and business strategy.

You know that your brand is too important to be strategized by an agency or marketing team alone.

You want to future-proof your business for changes ahead.

You want to create a business that makes a significant difference in the world of your people.

You are ready to take your business to the next level

You can consider my nearly 30 years of building over 330 successful brands and cultures. Or just learn from what my clients say.

“You helped us kick off a great year, and while it’s been a whirlwind, we’ve made progress. We couldn’t have done it without you. And I’ve made progress as a leader because of you. I thoroughly enjoyed working with you — and look forward to engaging you again in the future. ”

Elle Duncan

Vice President, Mastery Team, Global Go-To-Market Operations
Google

“Steven guided us through a thoughtful process that helped uncover a brand reflecting who we truly are as a company and community. His ability to push us out of our comfort zone led to extraordinary, lasting results, including cultural shifts and a refined brand promise that continues to inspire us.”

Rob Sherer

CEO & Founder
Plumb Bill Pay

“Steve Morris’s facilitation skills are unparalleled. He turned initial skepticism into enthusiastic buy-in, empowering every voice to shape our college’s refreshed identity. Our team now thrives with a renewed sense of respect, value, and purpose. Beyond rebranding, Matter Consulting strengthened our connections with external partners and ignited collaborations aligned with our mission. A master at navigating complex structures, he brought unity and clarity during a pivotal transition, leaving us with an identity that resonates deeply with both internal and external stakeholders.”

Steven P. Hooker, Ph.D.

Dean and Professor
. College of Health & Human Services, SDSU

We needed an advisor who could be smart and creative, while understanding how to help us navigate a complex marketplace. Steve was that and so much more.

Linda Mignone

Vice President Marketing
Bridgepoint Education

The impact of our work with Steve is beyond measure. Everyone seemed to double down on their commitment to our mission and vision once we’d grounded it in “Our Why,” and every staff member is 100% committed to delivering on our brand promise in every aspect of our work. We’ve even been able to increase employee engagement by working intentionally to ensure or promise of “creating experiences that transform the heart, mind, and practice” applies within our walls – this promise now drives our interactions with our partners as well as with our staff.

Jennifer Tucker-Tatlow

CEO
The Academy for Professional Excellence

We truly appreciate all of the guidance and insight you provided. Steve’s presentation to the board was pivotal for our brand’s success. You had a lot of passion for this project, and it showed in the beautiful work that you did.

Wendy Grant

Director of Marketing & Communications
Fleet Science Center

Steve has been an outstanding partner. He effectively managed all aspects of our brand development and was instrumental in working with dozens of key stakeholders to fully execute our regional initiative. Steve provided strategic leadership and creative vision that were integral in achieving our organizational goals.

Anna-Marie Rooney

former VP of Marketing and External Relations
The San Diego Foundation

Steve did a masterful job in strategizing and expressing the Chargers brand across all areas and developing a campaign that was unique and met with great public acceptance. His efforts have been instrumental in the success the team.

Jim Steeg

former VP of Marketing and External Relations
The San Diego Foundation

Steve delivered outstanding strategic and creative work. He got our business and reached our fans. What impressed me more was how well the process was managed. Steve is a strong strategic partner — always thoughtful, always dependable. He is an excellent communicator and have an unflappable service mentality. I would not hesitate to work with Steve again.

Dave Dresden

Director of Marketing
ESPN

The work you did in bringing civic pride into San Diego through the Padres brand is terrific. San Diego needed it and the Padres loved it. I appreciate your creative and strategic work in bringing this to life.

Tom Garfinkel

(past) President
San Diego Padres (currently CEO, Miami Dolphins)

“Steve is a best-in-class advisor and consultant. We needed someone that was smart, experienced, organizationally-fluent who could work with the complexities of our teams. Steve exceeded our teams’ very high expectations. He gets business and brand, and I trust him implicitly.”

Joe Stinziano

President
Samsung North American

Steve Morris is a creative visionary, marketing guru and inspirational leader. He empowers and inspires every team member to reach their personal best and brings out the wisdom of any crowd. His centered demeanor brings calm to every project and instills the utmost confidence from stakeholders at all levels. He distills a brand promise to reach the greatest impact, leaving a lasting impressions that moves people to action.

Heather Back

Communications and Policy
Metro, San Diego Community Foundation

Over the years, my Sony team and I used the strategic services of Steve many times. He is the partner-of-choice for several mission-critical projects. His thinking and work is always focused on the brand strategy and the ultimate take-aways for the audience.

Linda Vuolo

Sr. Product Manager
Sony

“Our new branding is transformative, giving the Chula Vista Bayfront its own distinct identity. It sets this project apart as a landmark destination for the South Bay and beyond. By integrating this brand across all signs and materials, we’re ensuring that the Bayfront is recognized as a centerpiece of growth, innovation, and community pride.

Ann Moore

Commissioner
Port of San Diego, Chula Vista Bayfront

The campaign strategy you created doubled product sales over same quarter last year. Great job, great results!

Brian Pancarik

Sr. Manager, Corporate Marketing
Sony Electronics

Client Partners

The Beautiful Business:

An Actionable Manifesto to Create an Unignorable Business with Love at the Core

“The Beautiful Business is a must-read manifesto for 21st century business leaders” – Gay Hendricks, best-selling author of The Big Leap and The Genius Zone

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