Former Movado Marketing Chief Scott Woodward Wins A 2026 Standout Award
NEW YORK — Scott Woodward spent much of his career running global marketing for some of the best-known names in fashion and luxury. He now does the same work on a smaller scale through his own consultancy, and that business has earned him a 2026 Standout Award, an independent award for small businesses and people who work for themselves.
Woodward is the founder, chief executive and chief creative officer of SEW Branded, a New York brand marketing consultancy that works with start-ups, emerging labels and established companies. The firm handles brand strategy, positioning, design and branded content, and works either as a standalone studio or as an extension of a client's in-house team.
Before the studio
Woodward joined Chevron's marketing training program after earning an MBA from Loyola University. He went on to Bausch & Lomb, where he became the first global director of image marketing for Ray-Ban, then served as global vice president of retail marketing and public relations at Calvin Klein and as the first global chief marketing officer of Movado Group. His last corporate role was at the Arnell Group, an Omnicom agency, where he worked on brands including Lego, Martha Stewart and Coca-Cola's Coke and Sprite.
He also teaches. As an adjunct professor in the Strategic Design and Management department at Parsons School of Design, he teaches marketing, public relations and branding to undergraduates. Earlier this year Saint Leo University, where he earned his bachelor's degree, named him its 2025 Distinguished Alumnus, the alumni association's highest award.
On younger consumers, he told Forbes in 2023: "Gen Z wants real and authentic, and they know when they are being told a story."
Flat budgets, more to do
Woodward's consultancy works in a market where marketing teams are being asked to do more with roughly the same money. Gartner's 2026 CMO Spend Survey, based on responses from 401 marketing leaders in North America, the UK and Europe, found budgets effectively flat at 7.8% of company revenue. Respondents now put an average of 15.3% of their marketing budgets into AI initiatives, yet only 30% reported mature AI readiness.
The judges' view
"Senior corporate experience is common among consultants," the Standout Awards said. "Bringing it to start-ups and emerging brands, and teaching it to students at the same time, is less common. Woodward's studio gives smaller companies access to the kind of brand thinking usually reserved for global marketing departments, and that is what set his entry apart."
About the Standout Awards
The Standout Awards is an independent award for small businesses and people who work for themselves. More information is available at https://standoutawards.org.