Most agencies start at the logo. We start at the business.
Principal-led by Alex Z. Wang — former Kearney principal, co-lead of the firm's marketing practice (luxury, fashion, beauty) · exhibiting contemporary artist · founder, Collective Z & Honesty Brutal
Most branding agencies stop at communications — the logo, the campaign, the message.
Maison Z is rooted in strategy and operations. We solve what's fundamental — positioning, business model, growth economics — then make it culturally undeniable.
Taste and business rigor, in one house.
01
Brand Strategy & Identity
Fixed scope · 4–6 weeks
Positioning, brand architecture, naming, identity, and launch — built from the business case, not the mood board. For brands whose next move is structural, not cosmetic.
Typical work Repositioning · brand architecture · identity systems · creative direction · launch strategy
02
Growth & Performance Marketing
Monthly program · audit to start
Paid social and search, lifecycle and retention, conversion — run against contribution margin, not vanity metrics. Built by an operator who runs his own P&L, not a media desk chasing spend.
Typical work Paid social & search · email / SMS lifecycle · funnel & CRO · analytics & attribution
03
Content & Creative Production
Retainer · per campaign
Campaign and social-first creative at testing volume — AI-native production under senior creative direction. Concepts shipped weekly, not one big idea a quarter.
Typical work Performance creative · social-first video · photography direction · e-comm creative
04
AI Strategy & Adoption
Diagnostic sprint · retainer
Where AI actually cuts cost and cycle time inside a brand and marketing organization — and where it shouldn't touch. Pilots that reach production, not decks that reach shelves. We install what we run ourselves.
Typical work Marketing-org AI audit · workflow redesign · tool selection · pilot to rollout · team enablement
05
Cultural Campaigns & Collaborations
Project · concept through production
Artist partnerships, limited editions, gallery activations, events, cultural campaigns. Credibility you can't media-buy — earned with real artists in real spaces. We run both sides of that exchange.
Typical work Artist collaborations · limited editions · activations & events · partnerships
06
Market Crossing: China ↔ West
Diagnostic · advisory
Positioning and go-to-market for Western brands facing China and Chinese brands facing the West — run bilingually, in one head, without the translation loss.
Typical work Market-entry positioning · GTM strategy · cross-cultural brand adaptation · partner diligence
3.1
The conversation
Bring the problem, not a brief. Thirty minutes. If we're not the right house, we'll say so and point you somewhere better.
3.2
The proposal
A fixed scope, a fixed team, a fixed number — in your hands within days. No discovery-phase billing, no moving targets.
3.3
The work
Principal-led throughout. A curated bench of senior specialists and an AI-native production stack carry execution at studio speed.
You work with the principal, not a pyramid.
The studio runs the way we tell clients to run: senior judgment where it matters, AI where it compounds, nothing in between to mark up.
No borrowed logos. The strongest proof we can offer is what we've built ourselves.
Founder-built
Collective Z
Contemporary art gallery — New York
A working gallery on Broome Street, built from zero: exhibition program, artist development, collectors, and the commerce that sustains them. The cultural half of the house — practiced, not theorized.
collectivez.com ↗
Founder-built
Honesty Brutal
Premium DTC label
A label owned end to end — product, brand, pricing, growth economics — designed and run AI-native, in limited editions of 100. Where cultural instinct meets the P&L, with no client in between.
honestybrutal.com ↗
An artist and a strategist. The same person.
Maison Z is led by Alex Z. Wang — an exhibiting contemporary artist and a former Kearney principal who co-led the firm's marketing practice across luxury, fashion, and beauty. Client work there: brand, go-to-market, and pricing strategy for one of the world's largest luxury-beauty groups, a Fortune-100 consumer-health portfolio, one of America's largest apparel retailers, and the consumer-device line of one of the world's largest technology companies — including a $2.5B marketing-spend program. Before strategy, the agency side: Ogilvy and Hill & Knowlton. Two fluencies that rarely share a desk — the gallery and the boardroom.
He builds what he advises. The gallery, the label, and the studio's own AI-native operation run daily, in public, under his name. When Maison Z recommends something, it's because we've done it with our own money.
Kearney — Principal, Marketing Practice
Agency-side — Ogilvy · Hill & Knowlton · Acxiom
Parsons · Cooper Union · Art Students League
New York — working languages: English · 中文
Who actually does the work?
Alex leads every engagement — strategy, direction, and the client relationship. A curated bench of senior specialists and an AI-native production stack execute under his direction. There is no junior team to be handed off to, because there isn't one.
Who has the principal worked with?
At Kearney: one of the world's largest luxury-beauty groups, a category-defining K-beauty e-commerce brand, a Fortune-100 consumer-health portfolio, global consumer and pet-care groups, one of America's largest apparel retailers, and consumer-device portfolio and pricing for one of the world's largest technology companies. Consulting confidentiality applies — we share specifics where appropriate, in conversation.
What does an engagement cost?
Scopes are fixed before work begins and shaped to the problem and the stage of your business — a focused audit is scoped very differently from a full repositioning or a monthly growth program. You'll have a firm number in the proposal, and it won't move mid-engagement.
Can you run our paid media and retention ongoing?
Yes — growth & performance runs as a monthly program with principal oversight: paid social and search, lifecycle email and SMS, conversion, and reporting against contribution margin. It usually starts with a two-week audit so the first proposal is grounded in your numbers, not a template.
How fast do you move?
Strategy engagements typically run four to six weeks. Creative and growth programs ship weekly. Because production is AI-native and the team is senior, there's no agency lag between deciding and making.
Do you replace our existing agency or team?
Not necessarily. We can set the strategy and direction your partners execute against, run a single lane end to end, or carry the whole system — whatever the gap actually is.
Where are you based?
New York — Lower East Side, where the gallery lives. We work globally, and bilingually in English and Chinese.
Start a conversation.
Tell us what you're building and where it's stuck. Every serious note gets a reply from the principal within two business days.
Prefer email? [email protected]
Maison Z — Brand & Growth Studio
New York — worldwide
Working languages: English · 中文