Together with our clients, we drive change by delivering greater user value and increased customer loyalty.

J. Margus Klaar

Founding partner

Margus has over 30 years of experience in strategic marketing and business development. Since co-founding Brand Manual in 2009, he has helped develop our service design toolkit, educational concept and even written a book about it.

He is a frequent speaker at service design and innovation conferences. On a daily basis, he helps organisations make products and services customer-centric by understanding the customer journey from need to satisfaction. He has worked across almost every industry, from medicine and start-ups to public services and ministries.

Along the way, Margus has helped reimagine renal care, change vocational education and rebrand Estonia’s market-leading chocolate maker. He has also mentored at the European Innovation Academy, lectured at several universities and helped catalyse the Service Design Network’s global service design award.

Kaarel Mikkin

Founding partner

Kaarel is the person to call when you are not yet sure what you need. Especially when you are struggling to articulate the initial challenge facing a commercial business or public service.

His experience ranges from manufacturing—metal, wood, textiles, food and drink—to services such as retail and energy. Having seen the machinery behind the curtain, he understands what influences day-to-day operations, business results and environmental impact.

Through mentoring and workshops at Estonian Business School, the European Innovation Academy and Enterprise Estonia, Kaarel has helped hundreds of companies define what makes them different, where they are going and how strategy becomes visible in products and services.

When internal biases are slowing progress, Kaarel brings the outside perspective. Research, interviews and co-creation with leadership, staff and customers help him uncover new solutions—and occasionally question which business the organisation is really in.

Kaili Kallas

Partner

Kaili has more than a decade of experience shaping and improving public- and private-sector services. She creates brands and designs services with a relentless focus on the people who will actually use them.

That user-centred perspective keeps every part of a brand or service connected to the real needs and expectations of its audience, rather than the assumptions made in the meeting room.

Her experience in the Government Office and as a retail entrepreneur has given her a strong foundation for both strategic rebranding and complex public-service work. She has led projects for Helmes, Kalev and Põltsamaa, as well as service redesigns for the Tallinn Strategy Centre and Estonia’s Education and Youth Board.

Kaili’s empathy, command of design methodology and understanding of innovation processes have also made her a public voice for design thinking in industry.