about
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The public filter. Cultural observation, honest brand analysis, and a consistent perspective on where golf is going and what is getting left behind. Independent, not for sale. The front door to everything else.
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GB Connects:
For people who need a sharp outside eye before committing to something bigger. Strategic sparring. Market reads. Brand diagnosis. Opportunity mapping. Introductions, when earned. A conversation with consequences.GB Curates:
For existing models that need sharpening.
A shop that doesn’t reflect the course. A clubhouse with no real cultural layer. A brand with decent product and messy positioning. An event with good people and weak programming.
GB Curates brings structure, selection, and taste to what already exists. The client still runs it. We make sure it deserves to be run. -
GB Projects:
For building something new: A cultural program. A new brand system. A golf x non-golf collaboration that actually makes sense. A media property. A format nobody has tried yet.GB Projects is embedded, not advisory. The work is built together and credited together, GolfBranding x Partner, always publicly.
Commercial terms reflect that. Fees, and in some cases upside participation. If GB helps create something that generates value, the model should say so.
If we can’t put our name on it, it isn’t a GB Project.
GB Presents:
Owned GolfBranding IP: Gatherings, reports, working sessions, formats, and rituals created by GB, not as client service, but as inventory. This is where we create the room and invite others in it.
Henri has 12+ years in brand strategy, brand experiences, golf media & culture and design across golf and lifestyle. He came up in advertising and branding at Klingit and McCann Worldgroup and built brand experiences for Red Bull and Mercedes-Benz while at Lataamo.
Earlier he founded and led the growth of 2Up Golf Agency, an international golf brand agency and exited in 2024 to focus on Spill Club and later on GolfBranding. Henri is also the co-founder of Spill Club, a consultancy for B2C lifestyle challenger brands.
His editorial work has appeared in Golf Digest, Depeche Golf, Hypegolf and Golfheadz among many other golf media. He’s lived in four different countries and is currently based in Helsinki.
ABOUT
WORKING STYLE
GolfBranding is an editorial and strategic platform working between golf’s traditional and modern cultures. We help destinations, courses, brands and operators work out what belongs in golf next, and how to express it so golfers believe it.
Our audience is the people building golf’s future: founders, designers, course architects, tastemakers, independent golf media, journalists, investors and legacy brands.
Everything we do runs through one filter, and a filter only works because it removes things. Work gets through when it does something useful for golfers before it tries to look good, and when it adds to the game. Cosplay, lazy nostalgia, logo slapping and fake premium don’t get through.
The work runs on two sides. GB Editorial is where we publish, across our channels and Filtered, our newsletter. Coverage there can’t be bought, and commercial work appears only when it earns it.
The commercial side is GB Connects, Curates, Projects and Presents. That means paid advisory conversations, sharpening brands and retail that already exist, embedded projects we put our name on, and our own formats, including invitation-only gatherings for people working on golf’s future.experience
Henri Karttunen is GolfBranding’s founder, Brand Director & Culture Curator.
Henri brings the outside-in view most golf rooms lack: cultural fluency without the cheerleading, commercial awareness without agency incentives. He tells brands and destinations what he sees, including the parts they’d rather not hear.
Henri calls his style as formally relaxed: clear agreements, enjoying the process mutually, owning the outcome and respecting the high standards. GolfBranding works under agreement: the scope is shared, but the POV stays ours.THE USUAL conversation STARTERS
“We look fine, but we can’t say what makes us different.”
-> A clear answer to that question, written down, that your team can repeat and your golfers recognise.“We’re one of many, and buyers can’t tell us apart.”
-> A position in the market that’s yours to hold, with product, visuals, partners and pricing all backing it up.“Our members are getting older, or our customers all look the same.”
-> A way to reach the next group of golfers without losing the people who already pay the bills.“The pro shop or the product line isn’t earning what it should.”
-> A way to reach the next group of golfers without losing the people who already pay the bills.
“We have a collab or a launch planned and want an outside read before we spend.”
-> A range people want to buy, from brands that fit who you are, and more revenue from the space and traffic you already have.“The board and the team want different things.”
-> An honest read from someone with no stake in the answer, early enough to change course.“We’re making a big decision, a rebrand or a new clubhouse, and it has to last.”
-> One shared direction, written so everyone in the room can sign off on it and work from it.
“We’re making a big decision, a rebrand or a new clubhouse, and it has to last.”
-> One shared direction, written so everyone in the room can sign off on it and work from it.