N° 001 — Nicola Rao
Nicola Rao

Building strongbrands thatscale globally.

With two decades of core marketing and branding experience, I help companies of any size to systematically build and scale their brands.In an AI-native way.

StrategyAssetsSystemsAgents
§ 01 — Brand
01

Brand is often misunderstood. Thought of as a logo, color or marketing. A nice-to-have for when times are good. With no hard impact.

§ 02 — ExperienceView CV
01 / 06Swipe
2022 — Present · Oslo, NO
reMarkable

Global Head, Brand

  • Management: Built and led the brand team.
  • Strategy & Positioning: Defined category, manifesto, and long-term brand narrative around "Better Thinking".
  • Narrative & Growth: Led storytelling across consumer, enterprise, and strategic partnerships.
  • Assets: Developed distinctive brand assets across visual identity, verbal expression, and sonic identity.
  • Experience Design: Embedded brand across product, packaging, retail, and future experiences.
  • Systems & Governance: Built the global brand architecture, governance, and scalable frameworks.
  • Go-to-Market: Assisted with strategic partnerships and channel strategies, incorporating retail and distribution insights from senior Apple, Amazon, Flipkart & McKinsey leadership, for the entry into the Indian market.
2019 — 2022 · Oslo, NO
Telenor Group

Global Head, Brand Identity & Governance

  • Identity: Led the creation of Telenor's global brand identity and design strategy across 15 international business units.
  • Strategy: Guided go-to-market strategy, market expansion, brand platforms, and naming.
  • Governance: Managed brand equity, assets, and policies at a global scale with Group Legal.
  • Systems: Implemented a holistic brand management system that grew brand equity value.
2016 — 2019 · Oslo, NO
Telenor Group

Director, Brand Portfolio & Governance

  • Portfolio: Built brand platforms for adjacent tech businesses — Wave Money (Myanmar), Valyou (Malaysia), Telenor Health (Bangladesh), Telenor Banka (Serbia), Easy Paisa (Pakistan).
  • Partnerships: Worked with Apple, Google, and Facebook on principles and guidelines for app design and taxonomy.
  • Digital: Optimized digital identity and design assets across customer journeys.
2012 — 2016 · Oslo, NO
Telenor Group

Senior Manager, Brand

  • Strategy: Developed the portfolio strategy for Telenor's core and adjacent businesses.
  • Enablement: Trained 1,000+ employees on the Strategic Marketing Framework across Europe and Asia.
  • Education: Co-created a Strategic Marketing course with London Business School for 20k employees — +8 NPS.
  • Revenue: Set up a revenue stream via brand licensing agreements across 13 business units.
2009 — 2012 · Bangalore, IN
Telenor India · Uninor

Regional Head — Brand, Marcomms, PR

  • Launch: Launched the Telenor (Uninor) brand in Karnataka — part of the single largest rollout in telecom history.
  • Leadership: Recruited and led a team of 18 to deliver high-impact projects under tight time frames.
  • Go-to-Market: Built the GTM playbook for native culture, targets, and budgets.
  • Culture: Established Telenor's culture and way-of-work through internal comms and engagement.
2005 — 2009 · Bangalore, IN
Vodafone India

Manager, Marketing

  • Rebranding: Assisted on the re-branding of Hutch to Vodafone.
  • Budgets: Managed advertising and promotion budgets to deliver on overall business objectives.
  • Media: Launched innovative media planning approaches to build brand saliency.
  • Growth: Drove prepaid acquisition, usage, and retention against a INR 100mn revenue target.
§ 04 — Portfolio
01reMarkable

A manifesto for Better Thinking

Anchored the company in a clear point of view about thinking in the age of AI. The manifesto became the gravitational center for product, marketing and partnerships — from launch films to enterprise pitch decks.

Brand platform · Manifesto · Narrative
02reMarkable

The mark that moves

The reMarkable symbol — a quiet, precise gesture. Built as a system of motion and meaning that performs across product surfaces, retail, packaging and film.

Identity · Motion · System
03reMarkable

A brand you can hear

A sonic identity tuned to the act of thinking — calm, deliberate, unmistakable. Tap the speaker in the corner to listen.

Sonic identity · Audio system
05Telenor Group

1 brand across 15 markets

Telenor Brand Identity — a single source of truth for logo, typography, color, imagery and motion. Built so 15 business units can ship on-brand work without asking permission.

Brand portal · Design system · Governance
§ 03 — References01 / 07

What others
have to say.

Words from people who have built, shipped and stood alongside the work.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside Nicola, and I can say without hesitation that she is one of the most dedicated and talented professionals I have encountered.

Nicola possesses an exceptional understanding of brand strategy. She has a rare ability to see the bigger picture while translating complex ideas into clear, compelling direction that unites a business behind a defined position. Her communication style is one of her greatest strengths — she brings clarity to every conversation and ensures that nothing gets lost in translation.

I have been incredibly impressed by Nicola's ability to step into projects that have lost momentum and completely turn them around. She has been an invaluable force in developing reMarkable's brand, bringing originality, energy, focus, and real expertise at every stage. Time and again, she has proven herself as someone who delivers — no matter the challenge.

Nicola leads with confidence and quiet resilience. She is equally effective working independently as she is uniting others around a shared vision, something I have seen make a real difference in outcomes.

Her dedication is evident in everything she does. She brings genuine passion to her work and consistently goes above and beyond. Any organisation looking to galvanize and build real value in their brand would benefit immeasurably from Nicola's abilities.

Paul Dymond
Paul Dymond
Chief Creative Officer, reMarkable
May 2026

Nicola is a highly capable and hardworking brand marketer and leader. I've had the pleasure of working with her in the last year and she operates strategically, and understands the importance of a well articulated brand positioning that inspires. She manages effectively across the organisation at all levels, with business maturity.

Nicola Emsley
Nicola Emsley
Chief Commercial Officer, reMarkable
May 2026

It has been a true privilege to work with Nicola. She is one of the sharpest brand professionals I've ever worked with. She has a rare gift for brand and communication — she communicates in a way that appears both authentic and impactful. Everything she creates feels deeply thoughtful, artistic, well articulated and genuinely human. What makes her stand out is the way she communicates from her heart to the hearts of others, while still bringing incredible sharpness and strategic clarity to the table.

Ingvild Erdal
Ingvild Erdal
VP Legal, Head of IP and Product Counseling, reMarkable
May 2026

As a designer your work is only as good as the strategic foundation it's built upon. Nicola's work on reMarkable's brand strategy, platform, and narrative have been exceptional. She is a master at crafting brand platforms that are sharp, unique, and concise, along with highly compelling storytelling that fosters a deep emotional connection among both employees and customers. Beyond her strategic prowess, Nicola is an outstanding communicator and presenter.

Didrik Rasmussen
Didrik Rasmussen
Creative Director, Head of Visual Design, reMarkable
May 2026

I had the opportunity to work with Nicola during the launch phase of Uninor. She is one of those rare managers who naturally serves as an inspiring mentor for anyone working in her team. With a strong background in Brand Management and Business, Nicola displays strong interpersonal skills and a unique capacity for empathy. These qualities translate into her ability to motivate a team to care about its project and be invested in the project's success.

Naimeesha Murthy
Naimeesha Murthy
VP of Product — GTM Enablement & AI Business Transformation
February 2013

A mentor, guide and a great leader! That's how I would describe Nicola. I was lucky to have worked with Nicola and reported directly to her for over two years. Not only have I been inspired by her leadership skills but have also observed some of her traits — meticulous, detailed, having an eye for detail and prioritizing work on a day to day basis to reach long term goals. What I liked most is the freedom of thought and expression she gives to every member in the team.

Suruchi Jajoo
Suruchi Jajoo
Public Relations — Ex-Amazon · Ex-Urban Ladder · Ex-Myntra
September 2012

As a driven and passionate marketing communications professional, Nicola always balanced her creative edge with a strong business focus. Her broad understanding of the business ensured that all campaigns were developed and launched with both internal and external customer at the forefront, and her strong focus on execution led to on schedule, on budget delivery every time. I admired her energy, relied on her ability to get things done and highly recommend her as a strong member of any marketing team.

Ann Hofvander
Ann Hofvander
Group COO at U.Plus
January 2011
§ 05 — Education, Languages

Education

  • INSEADStrategy Execution Program2016
  • London Business SchoolStrategic Marketing course co-creation2014
  • Telenor AcademyLeadership Program2018
  • Xavier Institute (XIME)MBA, Marketing — GPA 6.3/72003-05
  • Bangalore UniversityBBM — ranked No.1 in College2000-03

Languages

  • EnglishNative
  • HindiNative
  • NorwegianB1
  • FrenchBasic
  • KannadaBasic
  • TamilBasic
§ 06 — Contact

Let's grab a coffee

Book a chat
© 2026 Nicola Rao