ASHTON BLOUNT
Helping brands through periods of change — building partnerships that align strategy, creative, cap investment and innovation across every brand discipline.
Ashton studied set design and fabrication at Emerson College in Boston, graduating in and developing a foundation in both conceptual thinking and execution—an early interest in how ideas translate into real-world experiences. His career began in Los Angeles in theme park and experiential development, where he worked on translating brands into unconventional platforms such as immersive environments, special events and large-scale attractions. This early exposure shaped his understanding of brand as something lived and experienced, not just seen.
Following the global financial crisis, Ashton relocated to New York City and joined the agency 24 Seven. Over eight years, he worked across retail, digital, and strategy roles, partnering with a wide range of clients on brand-building initiatives. During a challenging post-recession period for agencies, he became known not simply for design execution, but for his ability to read a brief, translate it into clear strategy, and shape work that won business—building trust with clients around feasibility and delivery, and turning pitches into long-term partnerships.
In 2017 he was recruited as Senior Design Director at Brooklyn-based design/build workshop Standard Transmission Productions, overseeing a wide range of artisans and craftsman bringing value to brand's physical spaces pitching and executing special events, retail design, window displays and immersive experiences.
In 2020, Ashton was recruited to PepsiCo Design & Innovation, placing him into a full-time role.
At PepsiCo, Ashton focused on building 360 partner-driven brand activations for marquee customers across dining, sports, nightlife, and entertainment, working at the intersection of brand, experience, and commercial impact. He brought executional knowledge accelerating stakeholder approval for the team's most ambitious ideas. Alongside this, he led the brand renovation of Flamin’ Hot, identifying its emergence as a Gen Z cultural phenomenon and helping reposition it as a standalone marquee brand. This work included shaping a new product pipeline and brand direction that significantly accelerated relevance and growth with younger audiences.
In 2023, Ashton joined Haleon (formerly Pfizer Consumer Healthcare) as Global Design Director for its wellness portfolio during a period of major organizational change and AI implementation. He led the global renovation of the Centrum brand—spanning packaging, advertising, and visual language—while aligning regional teams across the U.S., China, Europe, India, and Asia. In parallel, he oversaw front-end innovation pipelines, developed region-specific product strategies, and supported Centrum’s market entry into India, delivering significant marginal growth. Much of his impact came from building trust, facilitating alignment, and helping diverse teams reach shared decisions around complex brand and innovation challenges.
Today, Ashton focuses on creative leadership roles bringing his two decades of experience to foster and inspire. He is particularly drawn to multi-disciplinary creative work where clarity, collaboration, and momentum are essential, and where aligning teams around a shared direction is just as important as the work itself.