Make Lemonade
Maria Sze
Co-founder, Make Lemonade
Brand and commercial strategy for luxury hospitality and travel brands.
Brand and Commercial Strategy
Two decades of brand strategy. Applied to AI.
Maria Sze is co-founder of Make Lemonade and leads the brand strategy, commercial positioning, and client relationships across the business. She brings more than two decades of brand and commercial strategy across some of the world’s most respected agencies, with deep experience in luxury hospitality, travel, retail, and consumer goods.
Her approach is direct and commercially grounded. She understands what CMOs and senior marketing leaders actually need, and why agency work so often fails to deliver it. At Make Lemonade, she ensures that AI visibility strategy connects clearly to brand positioning and commercial outcomes, not just technical metrics.
LinkedIn ProfileAreas of expertise
Where Maria focuses her work.
01
Brand Strategy
Positioning luxury and premium brands for clarity, distinctiveness, and commercial relevance. Translating brand values into specific, AI-citable signals that build long-term recommendation authority.
02
Commercial Strategy
Connecting AI visibility investment to commercial outcomes. Ensuring that visibility improvements translate into measurable business results, not just improved metrics.
03
Agency Partnerships
Structuring Make Lemonade’s partnerships with PR and marketing agencies. Helping agency teams understand AI visibility and bring it to their luxury hospitality clients.
04
Luxury Hospitality and Travel
Deep sector knowledge across luxury hotels, travel brands, and premium consumer categories. Understanding what matters to CMOs and marketing directors in this space and what does not.
05
Client Leadership
Senior client relationships built on directness, commercial clarity, and genuine accountability. No handoffs. No dilution of thinking between strategy and execution.
06
AI Visibility for Brands
Translating complex AI visibility findings into clear brand strategy implications. Ensuring that technical AI optimisation work connects to the brand positioning the client has built.
Background
What CMOs need. Not what agencies sell.
Maria has spent more than two decades in brand and commercial strategy across some of the world’s most respected agencies. Her career has been built at the intersection of luxury brand-building and business performance, working with senior marketing teams across hospitality, travel, retail, and consumer goods.
She has seen from the inside why most agency work fails to deliver what clients actually need, and built Make Lemonade around eliminating that gap. Strategy and execution delivered by the people who designed it, without handoffs or dilution.
“Her approach is built around one question: what will actually move the dial for this brand?”
Work with Maria
Start with a call. Leave with clarity.
Whether you are a brand questioning your AI visibility or a PR agency looking for a partner who can bring this capability to your clients, get in touch.