Kara Tullman

I work at the intersection of culture, business, and brand growth.

For the past decade, I’ve worked across insights, strategy, and marketing, helping brands go from zero to one, and from one to what’s next. I love being at the early, messy stages: finding the opportunity, shaping the idea, defining the strategy, and turning it into something people actually want to engage with. And I stick around after the launch to build what comes next, growing audiences, strengthening brands, and turning early momentum into lasting relevance.

My edge is understanding the role culture plays in all of this. I’m especially interested in the moments when culture shifts, people’s behaviors change, and new opportunities emerge for brands to matter in different ways.

I help brands enter culture and participate in it meaningfully, so they can build communities, create relevance, and grow for the long haul.

Business strategy

Strategic decision frameworks, operational risk assessment, competitive landscape mapping, stakeholder management, program orchestration

Brand strategy

Brand architecture, brand positioning, audience definition, brand-led innovation, naming

Research

Primary research (ethnographies, interviews, surveys), audience segmentation, semiotics, trend mapping, cultural localization

Marketing

Integrated lifecycle marketing, experiential activations, digital event strategy, customer marketing such as referral programs and community engagement

SectorsTechnology, retail, entertainment, industrial, financial services

Selected work

Johnson ControlsHow do you make an energy efficiency masterbrand mean something at the category level?
FP MovementHow do you build a billion-dollar brand without becoming what the category expects you to be?
Match GroupHow do you get Gen Z to embrace dating apps when they’re tired of apps?
JustworksHow do we support small businesses in crisis while creating opportunity for brand growth?

Johnson Controlsco:collectiveBrand positioning, creative campaign launch

How do you make an energy efficiency masterbrand mean something at the category level?

The challenge

Johnson Controls’ “Where It Really Matters” campaign was building equity for the parent brand, while its acquired product brands already had strong equity of their own. The opportunity was to connect the two, translating the masterbrand platform across categories in a way that strengthened individual brands while building equity in Johnson Controls and its mission overall.

The solution

We needed to create a new way for Johnson Controls to market at the category level, a space they had never owned before. We immersed ourselves in the products to uncover the unique value each category brought to the masterbrand, then translated those insights into copy and imagery that connected each category back to the “Where It Really Matters” platform.

The impact

The project fundamentally changed how Johnson Controls approached category marketing. Beyond extending the masterbrand campaign into categories, it established a new narrative framework for future campaigns, bridging the equity gap between product brands and the masterbrand.

Senior StrategistStakeholder interviews, competitive audit, product downloads and expertise, positioning, workshop planning and facilitation

Johnson Controls masterbrand campaign shown across a Wall Street Journal ad, a LinkedIn post, and an office banner

Campaign altitudes framework showing masterbrand, domain, and product levels

FP Movementco:collectiveAudience definition, brand positioning

How do you build a billion-dollar brand without becoming what the category expects you to be?

The challenge

FP Movement, Free People’s activewear and wellness division, was growing fast, but shoppers saw it as more fashion than performance. Its brand world also leaned on category tropes, from narrow-cast models to templated run clubs, in a market boxing women into rigid ideals. The challenge was to define a consumer and brand that would grow FP Movement into a $1B business.

The solution

We immersed ourselves in FP Movement’s brand and the category through competitive audits, cultural trends analysis, stakeholder interviews, store visits, and community events. We ran a research sprint with women across the US and the UK to codify the muse. From there, we defined a positioning rooted in joy, brought it to the board through a brand video, and created a brand toolkit that was rolled out to the larger org.

The impact

Established FP Movement’s first-ever brand strategy, giving the brand a distinct path to growth while preserving its Free People roots. The work helped build executive buy-in and unlock greater investment across product and revenue growth.

Senior StrategistStakeholder research, ethnography, strategy development, brand guidelines development, presenting to the C-suite

Match GroupCrowdDNAPrimary research, product strategy

How do you get Gen Z to embrace dating apps when they’re tired of apps?

The challenge

Dating apps are facing growing churn among Gen Z, a generation increasingly burned out by both dating apps and technology itself. Their attitudes toward dating also differ from previous generations, creating a fundamental challenge: building an experience that feels natural to Gen Z while staying true to what makes a dating app a dating app.

The solution

We researched Gen Z through expert interviews, academic research, and cultural analysis, then partnered with the client in a collaborative hypothesis session to pressure-test emerging needs and behaviors. We followed with participant IDIs and focus groups, a university campus immersion, and quantitative validation, then translated the insights into product recommendations, identifying new features to beta with Gen Z to drive engagement.

The impact

The work directly validated and supported the launch of two new Tinder features, Dynamic mode and Astrology mode, in 2026. The insights were presented at Match Group’s CEO Connection series in June 2026.

Project and client leadClient communication, project management, stakeholder interviews, ethnographies, trends research

Research slide on how Gen Z has grown up, with a collage of social media content

JustworksIn-houseCommunity marketing, program development

How do we support small businesses in crisis while creating opportunity for brand growth?

The challenge

Justworks had built a strong demand-generation engine around events: local dinners, workout classes, pop-ups, sponsorships, and a newly planned annual conference. When the pandemic brought events to a halt, it also cut off a major channel for connecting with customers. At the same time, small businesses were facing an entirely new set of challenges around payroll, HR, benefits, and remote work.

The solution

I saw an opportunity to turn what we already did well, bringing small businesses together and providing expertise, into a new way to support them. We brought together HR, compliance, engineering, design, content, and brand to rapidly launch a webinar channel with a weekly series of timely guidance on evolving policies and workplace challenges.

The impact

The webinar channel created a new path to leads through knowledge and expertise. Where Justworks’ events had been experience-led, this channel delivered value through education. It drove customer retention, generated new leads and revenue, and became a permanent channel that still exists today.

Program creatorProject producer, ongoing channel lead