Brand Strategist, Copywriter, and Creative Director
Daniel Herndon is the founder and operator of HRNDN Brand Agency and the lead brand strategist.
After running traditional agency teams for 20 years, Daniel founded HRNDN to offer a streamlined, strategy-first solution without the waste of ordinary agencies.
His experience includes economic development, consumer services, professional firms, higher education, and restaurant brands. He brings leading expertise in brand strategy, messaging, and creative direction.
Daniel’s specialty is developing crystal clear messaging that connects with regular people.
He's been at the helm of an ad agency for two decades. His past work includes economic development, home services, higher education, and restaurant brands.
Work Experience
Strategy Development
Developing strategic solutions to support business goals.
- Research
- Brand Strategy
- Marketing Strategy
- Brand Identity Design
- Messaging Platforms
- Fractional CMO
Brand Management
Manage campaign development and asset creation.
- Marketing Campaigns
- Website Development
- Video Production
- Sales Enablement
- Experiential Branding
- Marketing Team Leadership
Creative Leadership
The following are samples of work produced over the years.
Over the course of 20 years, Daniel has led a creative agency as an owner, creative director, and lead strategist. From the launch of his agency in 2006, he has built teams from the ground up, including contract and permanent staff, and worked with those teams to reimagine brands and drive business results.
As a hands-on creative, his emphasis has been on strategy and copywriting. However, his skills reach into design, web development, photography, media placement, analytics, and PR.
Daniel's work spans 20 years, operating an agency that, through a merger, operated under the names Redwall and MilesHerndon and was eventually acquired by Matchbook.
Background
Daniel is a prolific writer and brand strategist. He's also CEO of breaking the silence with a joke. Although he may not take himself too seriously, he definitely takes brand communications very seriously. We've never seen anyone obsess over a headline or positioning statement more than he does, and it pays off for our clients.
One Million Years of Experience.
Well, not quite, but for the last couple of decades, Daniel’s work with clients has reached across the globe. He first launched his brand consulting career in the music business in 2006 and pursued brand endorsement partnerships. Eventually, he would shift focus to building corporate brands. He merged, bought, and sold agencies over the years before launching HRNDN in 2025 with his wife Carrie.
Writer. Ad Man. Fake Comedian.
Daniel was recognized in the Indianapolis Business Journal's Forty Under 40 in 2011. His first swing at publishing was co-authoring Facebook All In One for Dummies on Wiley Publishing in 2012. He now writes (and illustrates) a political satire newsletter at danielkherndon.com where he publishes at least once a week.
You'll also see his writing on marketing and brand strategy right here. Sign up to get insightful articles in your inbox most weeks.
Daniel serves on the board of the NO MORE Foundation, an international agency focused on creating awareness of domestic violence issues, and John Boner Neighborhood Centers, a vital organization supporting quality of life for the Near Eastside of Indianapolis. He also dabbles in woodworking, including building custom poker tables.
Daniel lives in Indianapolis with Carrie. They are young empty-nesters with two adult daughters. In his spare time, he studies philosophy, charcuterie, and other cured meats. He’s a devout bourbon enthusiast but religiously abstains from soda.
Reach out to connect with Daniel.