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DEFINE AND DELIVER YOUR
Ready to be different?
You know a cardinal
when you see one.
Its distinct red feathers and signature crest are dead giveaways. Cardinals stand out because they go all in on their unique differences. Companies brave enough to do the same are 4x more likely to grow than their competitors.
Cardinal Strategy helps leaders and teams drive growth by defining and delivering their difference.
Let's be honest. You don't just want deliverables. You want real outcomes that drive real business results.
Here are the three outcomes Cardinal Strategy focuses on delivering with clients.
"We're in a crowded market and don't stand out anymore."
"We're having a harder time attracting new customers."
"Our churn rates are higher than they've been historically."
"We're in an unsustainable, intense price competition that's eroding margins."
"We can't keep eroding our long-term margins."
1
Create business growth through meaningful difference.
Let's clearly define your opportunity to create compelling, relative difference that breaks away from commoditization, establishes sustainable competitive advantage, and improves your market position to protect margins and drive long-term growth.
Business challenges solved through compelling, relative difference:
"Our new product has to gain traction and drive adoption quickly at launch."
2
Build internal focus and capabilities for developing differentiated products & services.
Let's design a structured, executable innovation function tailored to your realities that can consistently identify, validate, commercialize, and launch differentiated products and services that deliver new value for customers and drive long-term growth for your business.
Business challenges solved through disciplined innovation capabilities:
"We've hit market saturation and aren't sure where or how we can create new growth."
"We're in a competitive battle, struggling to keep up with our current offerings."
"We need internal alignment on the best new customer needs and markets for us."
"We're in a commoditized race-to-the-bottom where price is the only difference."
"Our innovation "process" is disorganized, unpredictable, and chases shiny objects."
"Our new ideas aren't tightly aligned with our overall business strategy."
3
Maximize marketing's impact on business goals and priorities.
Let's elevate marketing's true potential to drive business results consistently by leveraging Cardinal's hard-earned Scar Tissue to: serve as an external advisor and confidential sounding board for marketing leaders; expand your marketing team's capabilities through workshops and assessments; or coach emerging marketing leaders on your team.
Business challenges solved with high-performing marketing teams:
"I'm an executive leader navigating strategic complexity and internal dynamics alone."
"We don't have a marketing planning process that drives successful plans."
"Our marketing team has gaps that are holding back our ability to deliver."
"We delay making decisions or seek too much consensus, losing speed-to-market."
"We need to help our rising stars continue growing so they stay and create impact."
"Our marketing team's lack of experience with a specific need leaves us vulnerable."
A few of the brands
I've flown with over the years.
Can you tell when a cardinal is blushing
if it's already red?
"David is, in a word, incredible. He's a problem solver, a business leader, and a growth-oriented executive who makes everyone around him better. He listens deeply, asks the right questions, and brings clarity to complex challenges, always with an eye on results. I partnered with him at my last two companies and valued him as both a strategic advisor and an unwavering partner."
Paige Farrow
Senior Director, Marketing
NAPA Auto Parts
"David pairs strategic vision with deep empathy to inspire teams and consistently deliver solutions. He is a true thought leader - able to anticipate trends, challenge conventional thinking, and set a clear path forward that others are eager to follow. His leadership leaves a lasting impact not only on the business, but also on the careers and lives of those fortunate enough to work alongside him."
Katie Kroko
Executive Brand Director
JPMorganChase
"We needed outside expertise and perspective without disrupting our new team's dynamic and leadership. David not only delivered that expertise, but did so in a way that strengthened our team and brought everyone together, creating lasting impact beyond the strategic project."
Harris Henderson
VP, Deputy GC & Dir, New Business
Hanesbrands, Inc.
"David is a great partner in thinking through business challenges and finding creative ways to solve or reframe them. He balances big, new thinking with day-to-day realities and incremental improvement opportunities. He works collaboratively and infuses energy into any team."
Carolyn Haicl
VP, Head of NA Marketing
Frigidaire & Electrolux
"Working with David gave LYVZ the clarity and firepower we needed to hit the market with confidence. His strategic eye and disciplined execution made him one of the first outside partners we trusted with our brand."
Rob Dilmore
Founder
LYVZ Energy
"David creates a corporate culture that attracts and retains top talent and differentiates companies from all of the noise in the marketplace. Strategy seems to be second nature for David - he is so good at it. Plus, he is fun to be around."
David Barksdale
Chief Executive Officer
Piedmont Federal Bank
Swipe left for more kind words...
The brain behind the bird.
Hey, I'm David.
I spent the past 23 years in innovation, marketing, and advertising agencies, most recently serving as CEO and partner of The Variable, a 5-time AdAge Small Agency of the Year winner and a 3-time FastCompany Best Workplaces for Innovators during my tenure. I've partnered with more than 100 B2C and B2B companies from pre-revenue startups to $10 billion in annual revenue behemoths across a wide range of categories to collaboratively help their leaders and teams identify and wrestle strategic opportunities and threatening challenges to the ground.
I exited The Variable in late 2024, three years after successfully closing an investment deal with a fantastic PE firm in 2021. I started Cardinal Strategy Partners in 2025 to begin my next chapter focused on the work I love most - consulting directly with clients to drive their businesses forward and making it to more of my kids' things before they leave the nest.
My dream partners aren't brands.
They're people.
Smart, brave, curious people who are unafraid to tackle challenges head on together - locking arms through the hard parts and giving high fives through the best parts.
If you're ready to be the kind of different that primes your business and your people for growth, let's talk.
2025 Cardinal Strategy Partners
Native to North Carolina.
Sighted everywhere.