Dutch Uncle isn't a traditional creative agency or business consultancy, it's a new strategic and creative services model built to work the way the business does.
Hiring Dutch means working with a dedicated Creative Business Partner who brings objective thinking, smarter framing, and practical project leadership to your organization when and where it's needed, without markups or hidden incentives.
What is a Creative Business Partner?
A Creative Business Partner (CBP) is an experienced strategic and creative collaborator who works alongside executive teams to help solve critical business, marketing, and culture challenges through structured thinking, embedded leadership, and targeted creative support.
Creative Business Partners specialize in the kinds of complex, human-centered work that most organizations desperately need but rarely have the internal capacity, objectivity, or time to do well.
We do this by working from the inside—close enough to see what’s really happening, but removed enough to challenge unproductive thinking, reveal blind spots, and get things done.
No junior team handoffs. No pre-decided list of deliverables. Just one highly experienced partner helping you think clearly and move your business forward.
Creative Business Partners help you do four things:
Position yourself
Clarify what you offer, to whom, and why it matters.
We lead brand strategy, messaging, and marketing alignment, then steward execution through internal or external teams.
Move forward
Turn big goals into strategic plans that actually get traction.
We help map opportunities, shape innovation strategy, and support growth and transformation with clear direction.
Find alignment
Connect strategy, process, and narrative.
We help surface values, shape internal narratives, and ensure customer, employee, and brand experience actually line up.
Navigate change
Tackle hard truths and face the future with confidence.
We cut through noise, frame the real problems, and develop achievable plans for technological, cultural, or economic change.
Not an agency, not a consultant
Dutch Uncle developed the Creative Business Partner model in response to something many insiders know but are afraid to say out loud:
Traditional agencies and consulting firms like to talk about partnership, but they're built to help themselves, not clients.
- Creative agencies sell deliverables like campaigns, websites, and videos, not business outcomes. Their revenue model pushes them to prioritize more work over the right work.
- Consultancies sell analysis, not execution. They’re incentivized to extend engagements and upsell expensive implementation plans, not help clients solve problems.
Most businesses don’t need overbuilt deliverables or overwhelming analysis, they need straightforward help getting complex things done.
That means:
- Asking better questions
- Framing the real problem
- Communicating with clarity
- Bridging goals and action
- Aligning internal and external stakeholders
- And staying involved long enough to make sure it sticks
A Creative Business Partner operates like a general contractor for organizational transformation and projects where creative problem-solving matters.
We help you define what needs to change and why, then lead the right people to get it done, whether they’re internal, external, or somewhere in between, all without markups or hidden incentives.
You own the relationships. You meet the experts. Dutch just makes sure it all works to move your business forward.
The Dutch Uncle story
After two decades in strategy and creative leadership I saw what the data now confirms: the traditional ways organizations get creative problem-solving support aren't working.
83% of CMOs are restructuring to move faster and work smarter, often by reducing reliance on agencies, and even top consulting firms now admit their legacy models are too slow for today’s business environment.
The problem isn’t talent, it’s structure. Strategy and creativity are treated as separate conversations. Execution drifts from intent. Nobody owns the in-between.
Dutch Uncle was built to fix that, not with another framework or service bundle but an entirely new model: The Creative Business Partner.
CBPs are flexible, customer-oriented creative thinkers with a rigorous understanding of business principles. They don’t sell decks or deliverables, they embed alongside leadership teams to help clarify direction, frame the real problem, and carry strategic intent all the way through execution.
Because here’s the other truth: Creative problem-solving still matters, now more than ever. It's the interpretive muscle organizations need to make sense of complexity, understand people, shape ideas, and operate with integrity.
The mistake hasn’t been overinvesting in creative and strategic work, but investing in work disconnected from hard truths and real outcomes. What that’s produced is endless content, lookalike tactics, and a customer base that’s increasingly unmotivated, skeptical, and disengaged.
Dutch Uncle exists to reconnect creative problem-solving to clarity and intent, and to help organizations like yours adapt, communicate, and grow.
Chris Frampton
Founder and Principal Creative Business Partner
Real-world experience you can trust
From high-growth startups to mature enterprises across finance, tech, healthcare, culture, and consumer brands, Dutch Uncle brings a wealth of real-world experience helping organizations lead change, build trust, and create momentum.
Frequently asked questions
How is a creative business partner different from an agency or consultant?
Unlike agencies who are incentivized to sell you creative services, and consultancies who drop decks and upsell you on expensive executional plans, once a creative business partner is engaged we have nothing to sell you.
CBP isn't a boutique agency model, it’s a way of working that brings creative problem-solving into the heart of strategic decision-making, where it belongs.
CBPs are flexible, end-to-end specialists who work alongside leadership teams to bring clarity where there’s noise; unlock new value through human insight (not just analysis); align creative thinking with commercial outcomes; and make sure execution reflects the original intent.
What kinds of companies do you typically work with?
Dutch Uncle works with small-to-midsize businesses, startups at inflection points, and larger organizations undergoing strategic, marketing, or cultural change.
Do I need to hire Dutch Uncle for everything, or can I use you alongside other vendors?
Dutch can help you identify and source the skilled people you need, or work alongside your vendors to strengthen their impact. You keep control, we bring clarity, strategic thinking, creative direction, and project leadership as needed.
Is Dutch Uncle just one person or a team?
Every engagement is led by a creative business partner who sits on your side of the table and acts as your go-to resource and contact, but that doesn't mean we work in a vacuum. We help source, structure, and manage external partnerships where needed so you're never locked into a closed system.
What if my internal team doesn’t want outside help?
Totally fair, and not uncommon. Creative business partners aren't here to displace people or micromanage your teams or vendors. We fill the gaps between strategy, creativity, and execution that often go unaddressed, helping good people do better work together. If there's overlap, we clarify roles early and transparently to build trust, not turf wars.
What does a typical engagement cost?
There’s no one-size-fits-all fee. Costs are shaped by scope, duration, and complexity, but always transparently, with no hard sells or surprise add-ons.
Ready to go Dutch?
Find out if working with a creative business partner is right for you.
Book a free intro call