Establishing Brand Clarity and Trust During Hyper-growth in Global Cybersecurity

Context.

OPSWAT operates in the most sensitive areas of global cybersecurity, providing protection for critical infrastructure organizations across regulated industries, government, and enterprise environments.

When I joined, OPSWAT had approximately 350 employees and was transitioning from a fast-growing startup into a scaled, global B2B operation.

Within the first months of my tenure, OPSWAT received a $150M capital investment and formed a board of directors, triggering rapid expansion and organizational change. Over the following 18 months, the company grew 2.5x and made multiple acquisitions, introducing new teams, products, and audiences — increasing the complexity of its brand, messaging, and communications needs.

The Challenge.

• Establish and evolve brand and messaging clarity during a period of accelerated growth
• Communicate complex cybersecurity solutions across 20+ products
• Address highly diverse buyer audiences, including CISOs, security architects, OT/ICS leaders, government, and regulated industries
• Maintain credibility and trust in a high-risk, high-consequence domain
• Scale global communications while navigating leadership transitions
• Align brand storytelling with demand generation, product marketing, and content teams without fragmenting the narrative

My Role.

I was initially hired as Executive Creative Director, serving as the de facto head of brand and creative during a period of high-growth transition. In this early phase, I was responsible for shaping brand expression, messaging foundations, campaign creative, website direction, and the overall look and feel of OPSWAT’s external communications.

As the organization matured and marketing leadership stabilized, my role evolved into Brand Lead for Operational Technology (OT) and later Creative Director of OPSWAT Studios, the company’s centralized function for short and long form video content. Throughout this evolution, I worked directly with executive leadership and partnered closely with demand generation, product, and content teams to align storytelling with business strategy.

Strategy & Narrative Approach.

In a domain where trust is non-negotiable, the core strategy was to use clarity, consistency, and credibility as the foundation of brand communication.

As OPSWAT scaled, it became clear that video storytelling would be the highest-leverage medium for conveying complexity, authority, and confidence in the 2020s — particularly in a post-pandemic, digital-first environment.

Key narrative principles included:

• Treating brand as infrastructure, not decoration
• Translating complex technical solutions into clear, credible stories
• Elevating perceived value through higher-quality, more disciplined storytelling
• Ensuring consistency across global markets and product lines
• Using executive and product leadership voices to reinforce trust

Early in my tenure, I led a virtual product keynote and launch featuring the CEO and product leadership — including green-screen production and broadcast storytelling — at a time when in-person events were still constrained. This set the tone for how OPSWAT would communicate authority and innovation at scale.

Execution.

Execution evolved in phases as the organization scaled:

Early Phase (Foundation & Continuity):

• Led brand and creative direction across campaigns, website, and core materials
• Established visual and narrative standards during executive turnover
• Supported product launches and corporate messaging at the highest level

Later Phase (Focus & Leverage):

• Founded and led OPSWAT Studios, a centralized internal creative function
• Specialized in short- and long-form video storytelling, executive narratives, and product communication
• Delivered higher-quality, more consistent video content to support global marketing, sales, and communications
• Partnered closely with demand generation and product teams to ensure alignment without overlapping ownership

This shift was intentional — prioritizing the medium that offered the greatest impact, consistency, and perceived value as OPSWAT continued to scale.

Impact.

• Helped maintain brand clarity and trust during rapid growth
• Supported global communications across critical infrastructure sectors
• Elevated the quality and consistency of OPSWAT’s video and executive storytelling
• Enabled scalable brand execution across a complex, multi-product portfolio
• Met and exceeded yearly revenue goals

Selected Work.

Samples from a 5 year period.