Our Story
Questfire helps develop brands and organizations that matter — by igniting the energy, talent, and imagination of a workforce driven to make its mark.
We believe that the best approach for building a great company, brand, product or service is that all parts are seen, understood, and experienced as connected pieces of a whole. Critical to strategy is that it puts the pieces together in a way that the whole is distinctive from competitors.
To that end, we believe in an idea we call “brand culture”. That a company’s strategy for winning in the market – its brand & customer experience strategy – can succeed only if it is propelled by an internal energy and culture obsessed about being different in a way that matters.
When this happens the distinct, committable values of an organization integrate into the everyday language, thinking, and behaviors of its people…focus and effectiveness of the organization becomes greater…and the creation and delivery of a valuable and differentiated brand becomes nearly automatic.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
– Peter Drucker
We tackle an age-old problem. Nearly 2/3 of companies lose significant business value because of misalignment between their strategy and culture.
Brand-building is a team sport.
We base our work on a powerful truth. A company’s strategy for winning in the market – its brand & customer experience strategy – can succeed only if it is propelled by internal team energy and culture obsessed about being different in a way that matters
Ignite Your Culture. Ignite your Brand.
Our task is clear – and essential. Help companies build brands and products & services that win in the market - by unleashing the energy, talent, and imagination of a workforce driven to make its mark.
One team, one solution.
We align culture and brand. We strip-out risk and value-loss from misaligned intangibles to drive advantage and long-term, self-generating growth. To do that, we take an integrated approach that combines external brand know-how with internal organizational expertise
Our Team
Questfire is one of the few consultancies that combines external brand know-how with internal organizational expertise into one team. This "one team, one solution" approach enables us to help company leaders drive lasting and self-generating impact. For each client situation, we combine the right set of skills: organization strategy/leadership + people/culture + insights/brand strategy + customer experience/visual strategy. This allows us create internal commitment, momentum, and impact from the get-go.
John Kelly | Founder, CEO
Based on his 20 years of experience as a business and brand strategist, John founded Questfire on the belief that a company's strategy for winning in the market -- its brand + customer experience -- must start from inside the company and radiate to the outside. Prior to Questfire, John was a founding partner at Keen Strategy, a consultancy focused on helping managers make smarter, faster brand and marketing decisions with greater impact.
John's signal strength is in building collaborative, trust-based relationships whether in large, complex, multi-stakeholder companies or medium-sized organizations. He is known for achieving results through strategic clarity, deep customer insights, team performance, and new thinking. He has achieved success in diverse situations in both B2C & B2B: financial services, health insurance, consumer packaged goods, professional services, retail, hospitality, business services, pharmaceuticals, and telecom.
Before Keen, John was a strategy consultant for over 8 years with Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy. John was based in Prophet's New York City office. John began his career in brand marketing at BBDO Atlanta and Doremus NY.
John graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife and two sons. He has been active with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (Triangle Chapter), The Contemporary Art Museum (CAM Raleigh), and a board member of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.