Branding, image, and marketing consulting focuses on improving the impressions that the general public and customers have of brands, products, and services, as well as of corporations, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, various other types of businesses, and individuals. For example, a branding, image, and marketing consulting company may work to improve a politician's image, with a goal toward attracting more votes in an upcoming election. A corporation with a brand that has lackluster sales may retain a branding and marketing consulting company to explore ways to change the brand's image to retain current customers while attracting new ones and selling more products. The marketing consultant industry generated about $55 billion in revenue in 2018, with 214,320 marketing consultant businesses employing 402,225 people, as reported by IBISWorld.

There are independent branding, image, and marketing consultants, who own their businesses and may work alone or have several consultants on staff. There are also advertising and marketing agencies that have branding, image, and marketing consulting departments, with dedicated and experienced consultants providing these services directly to clients. Some companies combine sales management with marketing consultant services; others may offer branding, image, and marketing strategy and development services.

A key part of the job of branding, image, and marketing consultants entails researching and analyzing the clients’ business operations, including sales and marketing history and current data, the performance of products and brands, and customers’ and the public’s perceptions of the company and its brands. Companies hire branding and marketing consultants when products or brands are not performing well and third-party help is needed to boost that performance. The consultants share the findings from their research and analysis, making recommendations for steps the companies can take to increase...