Strategic Advisory
Strategic guidance on brand, marketing and design strategy, design leadership, brand transformation, and customer experience for executive teams.
by Kristine Mayer, Strategic Brand & Design Leader
I help companies strengthen their brand, create stronger customer experiences, and turn strategy into reality.
Advisory, project-based and interim assignments.
SAS livery launch — leading brand and design implementation across one of Scandinavia’s most iconic brand transformations.
I have spent more than 15 years leading brand and design initiatives across aviation, hospitality, retail, and other brand-led industries.
At SAS, I led large-scale brand and experience projects across aircraft livery, cabin environments, lounges, products, and customer touchpoints. The goal was to create a stronger and more consistent brand experience across every point of interaction.
Today, through MahoneDesign, I help companies strengthen their brand, lead transformation, and turn strategy into reality, whether as a strategic advisor, project lead, or interim leader.
I believe the strongest brands are built when strategy, design, and execution work as one.
How can I help
I work with companies that need strategic brand, marketing and design leadership to drive transformation, strengthen market position, and create lasting value.
Interim Leadership
Interim Brand Director, Design Director, and leadership roles during transformation, growth, or organizational change.
Project Leadership
Leading brand, marketing, design, and transformation initiatives from strategy to implementation.
Brand & Design Development
Developing concepts, environments, products, and customer experiences that strengthen brand value and commercial performance.
CAse
SAS
Building a coherent customer journey
A decade of brand and customer experience transformation across cabins, lounges, livery, uniforms, and service touchpoints.
I led the development and implementation of the SAS branded customer experience across cabins, lounges, livery, uniforms, and service touchpoints. The work evolved from the redesign of the cabin experience into a broader transformation spanning physical environments, employee experience, and service touchpoints across the entire journey.
The ambition was not to redesign individual touchpoints, but to create a coherent and recognisable experience across the SAS customer journey. Brand identity, physical environments, employee experience, and service touchpoints were brought together into one integrated experience system.
My role combined strategic direction, design leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and large-scale implementation across one of Scandinavia’s most visible and complex brand and customer experience transformations.
Internationally recognised work
Multiple projects recognised as among the world’s best in their respective categories, including award-winning work across brand identity, aircraft design, cabin experience and customer experience.
Role
Strategic direction • Design leadership • Brand experience • Customer experience transformation • Implementation
Designing a complete uniform system
Creating a complete uniform system that connected brand identity, employee experience, and customer perception.
I led the creative direction, design development, and implementation of the SAS uniform system, translating the renewed brand identity into a consistent and recognisable expression across customer-facing roles.
The work included garments, accessories, textiles, styling principles, and functional requirements, developed across concept, design, prototyping, and large-scale implementation. The ambition was to create a contemporary Scandinavian expression that balanced aesthetics, functionality, inclusivity, and long-term brand consistency.
Role
Creative direction • Uniform design • Brand identity • Design leadership • Supplier collaboration • Large-scale implementation
Extending the brand through strategic partnerships
Bringing Scandinavian design expertise into the SAS experience through carefully curated partnerships.
I initiated and developed partnerships with leading Scandinavian design brands including DUX, Hästens, Fritz Hansen, Db, Blankens, and Filippa K — bringing their expertise into products, interiors, and customer-facing experiences.
The partnerships were designed to create meaningful value for both the SAS brand and its customers, while extending the experience beyond the traditional airline category.
Role
Strategic partnerships • Brand experience • Design direction • Concept development • Collaboration
