how i work
the cereal method™
my proprietary way of running creative with ai. six steps, same rigor whether it's a two-week audit or a year-long fractional engagement.
C
context
we brief the ai like a new hire. brand dna, audience, competitors, constraints, objectives. ai never solves a problem it doesn't understand.
E
explore
ai goes wide. territories, tensions, visual directions, campaign platforms. breadth first, judgment second.
R
reason
we interrogate everything. why does it work? what's predictable? what would a world-class cd kill on sight?
E
evaluate
every idea gets scored — strategy, originality, distinctiveness, commercial potential. kill / refine / pursue.
A
activate
winners ship. campaigns, identity, packaging, content, sites — ideas become things in the world.
L
learn
what worked gets recorded. the system gets smarter every engagement. the methodology is the ip.
the goal isn't more content. the goal is better thinking.
ai doesn't replace the creative director. the creative director orchestrates the intelligence. that's the job now — and it's what i do.
Fractional Brand Lab
Big creative thinking.
Built for growth.
Senior creative direction for startups and growing brands. Build the story, systems, and momentum to scale—without adding a full-time executive.
The advantage
Bring in the leadership before you build the headcount.
A fractional partner steps into the gap between ambition and execution—setting the vision, aligning the work, and helping your team move with more focus.
Why me
Big-brand perspective, built for startup reality.
Senior, not oversized
You get big-brand judgment and executive-level direction without the agency layers, full-time cost, or big-brand ego.
Founder-first
Your vision stays at the center. I sharpen it, translate it, and give the team what they need to bring it to life.
Cohesion as you grow
One clear story across brand, campaigns, channels, and teams—so growth creates momentum instead of creative chaos.
Capabilities
From the big question to the work that ships.
Lead the brand
- Fractional creative direction
- Fractional marketing leadership
- Brand strategy & positioning
- Creative team leadership
Build the system
- Brand identity & design
- AI strategy & creative workflows
- Website & e-commerce creative
- Brand audits & refreshes
Move the market
- Creative strategy & campaigns
- Digital & performance marketing
- Content & social strategy
- Email, SMS & retention
- Launches & go-to-market
Ways to work together
The right shape for the challenge.
Embedded fractional leadership
Ongoing senior guidance across brand, creative, and marketing—plugged into your team and priorities.
Focused strategic sprint
A concentrated engagement to solve a specific challenge, from positioning to launch planning.
Creative advisory
Clear outside perspective for founders and leaders who need a seasoned sounding board.
Working Together
I keep engagements simple, flexible and built around what your business actually needs.
Fractional Partnerships
Fractional Creative and Marketing Director engagements typically begin with a three-month commitment and continue month-to-month thereafter.
Three months gives us enough time to understand the business, establish priorities, strengthen the brand and marketing strategy, and put meaningful work into market—not just make recommendations and disappear.
Fractional engagements start at $4,500/month, with Creative + Marketing leadership starting at $6,500/month. Scope and investment are based on the level of involvement your business needs.
After the initial engagement, partnerships continue month-to-month with 30 days' notice to conclude the relationship.
Project-Based Work
Not every business needs ongoing fractional leadership.
I also take on select project-based engagements including:
- Brand Strategy + Identity
- Brand Refreshes
- Campaign + Launch Creative
- Website + E-commerce Creative Direction
- AI Strategy + Creative Workflows
- Brand + Marketing Audits
Projects typically start at $2,500–$7,500+, depending on scope and complexity.
How It Works
1. Let's Talk — We start with a conversation about your business, what's working, what's not, and where you want to go.
2. Define the Opportunity — I'll recommend the right level of engagement—whether that's fractional leadership, a focused project, or a strategic audit.
3. Set the Scope — You'll receive a clear proposal outlining deliverables, timing, responsibilities and investment before we begin.
4. Get to Work — Once we're aligned, I become an extension of your team—working directly with founders, leadership, internal teams and outside partners to move the work forward.
A Few Details
Fractional retainers are billed monthly in advance.
Project engagements follow a payment schedule based on the size and duration of the project.
Any work outside the agreed scope is discussed and approved before additional costs are incurred.
Specific deliverables, timelines, payment terms, intellectual property and termination terms are outlined in the individual client agreement.
Not Sure What You Need?
That's completely fine.
Sometimes the first step is simply figuring out where the biggest opportunity is. Tell me about your business, what you're trying to accomplish and where you're getting stuck.
Let's talkYour first 30 days
Clarity first. Momentum next.
Deep dive
Get inside the business: founder vision, customer, category, goals, existing work, team dynamics, and the decisions creating friction.
Quick wins
Set the priorities, sharpen the story, and address the highest-leverage creative needs while establishing clearer briefs, feedback, and decision-making.
Ongoing rhythm
Move into a working cadence built around the engagement: leadership sessions, team reviews, creative direction, and focused progress on the roadmap.
Built for
Founders, startups, and growing brands at an inflection point.
Early-stage startups defining the brand before they scale it.
Founder-led teams with a strong vision and no senior creative lead.
DTC and e-commerce brands ready for a more cohesive customer experience.
Growing creative teams that need direction, standards, and smarter systems.
About Jason
20+ years of making brands harder to ignore.
I’m Jason Davis—a Creative Director, Brand Strategist, and fractional creative leader helping companies get clear on who they are, how they show up, and why people should care.
Every stage of my career built toward this work. Entertainment and advertising taught me how to turn cultural energy into ideas. Hospitality and lifestyle taught me how a brand has to feel at every touchpoint. E-commerce taught me to connect creative ambition to business momentum.
Along the way, I’ve led teams and shaped work for Mean Girls, Crocs, McDonald’s, Heineken, Hearst, Austin City Limits, and ambitious brands still making their name. The scale changed; the job stayed the same: find the clearest idea, build the right system around it, and make the work matter.
Through Puppies & Cereal, I bring that range directly to founders, startups, and growing companies. I can define the brand, lead an internal or external team, develop campaigns, sharpen the customer experience, or bring clarity to a company ready to communicate better.
AI is part of my everyday creative process—from concept development and visual exploration to content, strategy, and production. The tools move fast; human taste, judgment, and original thinking remain at the center.
After 20+ years, I know where senior attention changes the outcome—and where a lighter, faster approach is exactly what a growing company needs.
Strategy. Ideas. Design. Storytelling. Growth. AI.
And occasionally, puppies and cereal.
Selected Work
Selected work.
Crocs x Salehe Bembury
Creative direction collaboration with the Bembury team for the Juniper & Pollex — making Crocs the next cool thing.
McDonald’s
Art direction and illustrations showcasing the convenience of the McDonald’s app — bold typography and custom icons that expand the iconic palette.
Heineken
Creative direction for Heineken social campaigns — strategy, art direction, photography, and copy for the U.S. Open, James Bond Skyfall, and Coachella.
Other selected clients
Client perspective
What it’s like to work together.
Jason is one of those rare professionals who truly transforms a business. In three months, he didn't just redesign our brand and shifted how we see our own company. His listening skills are exceptional, his business acumen is sharp, and his strategic mind combines seamlessly with a creativity that elevates everything he works on.
With his guidance, we clarified our positioning, refined our values, and built a visual identity that finally feels like us. He understood our target audience better than we did ourselves and translated that insight into a brand that's both coherent and powerful.
Jason offers an incredible support system to any project team he is part of. He anticipates the needs of both the project team and the client and proactively picks up tasks to accelerate work.
He is very talented at executing against a strategy and deftly creates and expands narrative worlds for brands, products, companies, and events that align with strategic intent. His positive, optimistic attitude is a bonus that energizes the people he works with.
Jason is an excellent communicator who is adept at building and maintaining relationships with clients, colleagues, and stakeholders. His warm and approachable nature, combined with his professionalism and integrity, make him a pleasure to work with.
His artistic skill coupled with his creative thinking and problem-solving skills, enabled us to deliver high-quality work and achieve our goals on time and within budget
Before we talk
The useful questions, answered.
What does a fractional creative director actually do?
I step into the business as a senior creative leader for a defined slice of time. That can mean clarifying the brand, setting creative strategy, directing campaigns, shaping briefs, reviewing work, building better processes, and helping founders and teams make sharper decisions.
Is this consulting or hands-on?
Both. I can set the direction and advise leadership, then stay close enough to help make the work real—writing the brief, directing the team, developing concepts, solving creative problems, and keeping execution aligned. We define the right balance at the start.
What if we already have a creative team?
Great. The goal isn’t to replace good people; it’s to give them clearer priorities, stronger feedback, and a more coherent system. I can lead an in-house team, align agency partners, mentor emerging leaders, or connect creative work more directly to the company’s goals.
How do engagements start, and what do they cost?
We begin with a focused conversation about the business, the pressure point, and what success needs to look like. From there, I recommend the right shape—a strategic sprint, ongoing fractional leadership, or advisory support. Fees are scoped to the challenge and cadence, with a clear proposal before work begins.
Have a brand problem that needs senior attention?
Let’s talk about where the business is going, what’s in the way, and the smartest place to start.
how i work
the cereal method™
my proprietary way of running creative with ai. six steps, same rigor whether it's a two-week audit or a year-long fractional engagement.
C
context
we brief the ai like a new hire. brand dna, audience, competitors, constraints, objectives. ai never solves a problem it doesn't understand.
E
explore
ai goes wide. territories, tensions, visual directions, campaign platforms. breadth first, judgment second.
R
reason
we interrogate everything. why does it work? what's predictable? what would a world-class cd kill on sight?
E
evaluate
every idea gets scored — strategy, originality, distinctiveness, commercial potential. kill / refine / pursue.
A
activate
winners ship. campaigns, identity, packaging, content, sites — ideas become things in the world.
L
learn
what worked gets recorded. the system gets smarter every engagement. the methodology is the ip.
the goal isn't more content. the goal is better thinking.
ai doesn't replace the creative director. the creative director orchestrates the intelligence. that's the job now — and it's what i do.