Narrative & Positioning Strategy
I work with brands and founders to get clear on what they’re building — and how it shows up in the world.
For founders and executive teams who want their positioning, product, and voice aligned.
What I Do
The work scales to the moment.
A reset — clarifying positioning and language before the next chapter begins.
An ongoing partnership — guiding the narrative as it moves across product, brand, and key moments of growth.
Targeted support — refining a category position or clarifying how something appears in the market.
The outcome is a clear position and language that builds momentum.
The structure adjusts.
The throughline doesn’t.
Clarity. Alignment. Direction.
Engagements range from focused positioning resets to longer-term narrative partnerships.
Fashion Market
DOCUMENT JOURNAL
Global Product Storytelling & Editorial Strategy
RALPH LAUREN
Narrative & Positioning Strategy
Narrative & Positioning Strategy
Why this perspective
Positioning carries weight.
In some rooms, taste shapes influence.
In others, trust determines what moves forward.
That range shapes how I approach the work.
I pay attention to the gap between what something is and how it’s being understood.
Most friction starts there.
I’m often brought in when what a brand is building has evolved — but the language hasn’t evolved with it.
The Method
Clarity doesn’t happen by accident. It needs structure.
The work unfolds in four phases:
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Audit
What’s being said — and how it’s landing.
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Align
What’s actually true, and what you’re stepping into next.
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Architect
The structure that keeps everything aligned.
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Activate
How it travels — across teams, conversations, and the outside world.
About Me
Over the years, my work has taken me into very different rooms.
Editorial and luxury brand environments, where taste shapes influence.
Enterprise technology and regulated financial systems, where language has to withstand scrutiny.
AI-driven platforms, where what you say — and how you say it — determines adoption.
Different contexts. Different pressures.
But the same question keeps surfacing:
How should this be understood?
Not how do we market it.
Not how do we make it louder.
How do we make it clear?
I’ve seen how quickly momentum builds when language is aligned — and how quietly things stall when it isn’t.
That’s the work I care about.
Helping teams get clear enough that their position carries — internally and externally.
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Sarah Gentillon is a narrative and positioning strategist with over 15 years of experience shaping how brands and institutions articulate who they are and what they’re building.
Her career began in editorial, where she developed a sharp instinct for story, tone, and visual coherence — an approach she continues to bring to complex organizations and evolving brands.
She led narrative strategy at JPMorgan Chase within global technology platforms operating at scale. Earlier in her career, she held product storytelling roles at Ralph Lauren and contributed to category positioning within fashion and resale.
Across industries, she partners with founders and executive teams to translate complexity into clarity — building positioning that earns trust and builds momentum.
Her work has spanned brands and publications including Nike, Amazon, Vogue, GQ, Neiman Marcus, and Rolling Stone.
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Nike
Levi’s
Ralph Lauren
Ermengildo Zegna
Neiman Marcus
Target
Yves Saint Laurent Beauty
Refinery29
Vogue
W Magazine
Vanity Fair
The London Telegraph
Essence
Amazon
Rolling Stone
Interview Magazine
GQ
Macys
Bloomingdales
Victoria’s Secret
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New York Institute of Technology
Master of Arts, Digital Arts
State University of New York at Cortland
Bachelor of Arts,
Professional Writing and
Communication Studies
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Product Positioning & Editorial Strategy
Launch Storytelling & Narrative Planning
Creative Product Storytelling
Customer Insight & Cultural Context
Cross-Functional Leadership (Product, UX, Engineering, Creative)
Category Definition & Market Education
Regulated & High-Trust Environments
In Practice
The work shows up in different environments.
Enterprise technology.
Founder-led brands.
Public-facing leaders.
The context changes.
The thinking doesn’t.
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An internal AI platform preparing to launch inside a regulated enterprise.
The technology was strong.
The positioning wasn’t.Some teams saw innovation.
Others saw risk.
Many didn’t see its role at all.We clarified what it was — and what it wasn’t.
Not a side initiative. Infrastructure.Built a positioning thesis leadership could stand behind.
Framed rollout language around credibility, not hype.The result: clarity that held under scrutiny.
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A founder-led brand entering an emotionally saturated category.
The space was crowded.
Differentiation risked becoming noise.We clarified the thesis:
Hair objects of care and creativity.Not trend. Not novelty. Intention.
Built a voice that felt elevated but grounded.
Launched with coherence instead of cliché. -
A founder whose company was well known, but whose personal narrative wasn’t.
The mission was clear.
The positioning wasn’t.We clarified how the founder should be understood — beyond the brand itself.
Built authority pillars.
Aligned how the founder showed up publicly.The presence matched the ambition.
