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Member Spotlight
Brand Strategist - Start Up · Member
20+ Years in Brand Strategy
10+ Years at Chameleon Collective
Now open for new projects
The Brand Strategist Who Stays Until It Sticks
“Julie is a truly exceptional marketing and brand strategist, and one of the sharpest people I've ever worked with. If you can hire, partner with, or work for Julie, do it.”
Chameleon Spotlight · July 2026 · 2 min read
Some people build brands. Julie Mantis builds the brand, and then builds the machine that keeps it true long after the launch decks are archived.
When Polaroid needed repositioning that went beyond a surface refresh, cultural relevance for entirely new audiences, Julie stepped in as Interim VP of Brand & Product. Over twelve months she directed a 56-person global team through a comprehensive transformation: a revised brand narrative, an updated audience approach, and the campaign, retail, and marketing systems to sustain it. The outcome was a market revival, with newly launched products selling through quickly.
That engagement reveals Julie's core approach. She investigates the "Why" with intensity, gathering the motivations behind behaviours and extracting the insight where consumer desire meets brand promise. That moment of connection is her foundation for creative work. What distinguishes her is how fast she moves from insight to execution.
As companies bring marketing and creative functions in-house, Julie has become the person organisations call to make it real: building internal agency structures, designing end-to-end marketing workflows, creating custom briefs and training materials, and mentoring teams until new processes are permanent. She has built these systems for Polaroid, Bugaboo, Vera Bradley, and Blink Fitness, developing in-house teams toward what she calls "complete independence and maturity."
Julie's connection to Chameleon runs deep. She is one of the Original Chameleons, here since the early days when Backyard Discovery was the first client and the checks went to Freddie's house in Florida, sometimes misaddressed. She has held every seat: agency strategist, consultant, interim executive, educator, mentor. She has also authored Chameleon's own brand strategy, twice.
Today Julie is advancing the field itself, advising organisations on integrating AI into brand stewardship so content and campaigns can scale without compromising what the brand stands for. It reflects the insight she has carried through every engagement: strategy only succeeds through the systems that carry it forward.
“Julie is a mastermind when it comes to understanding process workflows and paths to efficiencies. She dissects large obstacles and distills them into bite-size, digestible solutions, and she leads teams with grace and intention.”
“She has the ability to push herself, and those around her, to look for real insights that help you understand how your customer ticks. I admire her willingness to keep pushing until she gets to those core emotions, feelings, and drivers that make clients engage with brands and, in many cases, open their wallets.”
Engagements Julie is ready to step into right now.












Tell Julie what you're working on. The message goes straight to them.
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