Kia ora.
I’m Kate, a seasoned brand + marketing consultant.
I work at the intersection of creative brand development and social marketing – I’m here to make positive change for business & people.
I help organisations tell their stories - to grow their business, pivot into new areas or drive meaningful behaviour change.
I’m particularly interested in finding ways to prevent violence
against women with impactful social marketing.
Drop me a line if you’d like to chat.
Smart, bold marketing drives change.
It starts with strong brand foundations.
Organisations who know what they stand for can better work out what needs to be done to grow, evolve or make radical change. A clear, confident and consistent brand story not only tells the world who you are but also what you want to be and where you’re going. Smart, strategic brand foundations help guide all other marketing activity and make it easier hit your goals. They help you know what to say, to whom, and how and where to say it.
I love helping people figure this out.
Marketing that matters has to stand out.
The best strategy in the world - informed by incredible research insights - won’t land if not delivered with impact and originality. Whether B2B or B2C, social or science, if you’re going to spend big time & money rebranding, creating campaigns or building a following, you need to get noticed. Confident, creative and unique execution makes all the difference. Especially when highly-crafted. Relevant and distinctive messaging resonates better with target audiences than bland marketing speak that sounds like everyone else.
I work closely with business leaders and change-makers to deliver bold marketing that works hard to move the dial.
My story.
A wide range of experiences have led me to this mahi.
I’ve been doing this a while. Client-side I’ve had senior roles as Head of Brand for a global tech scale-up, and as Brand Marketing Manager for a leading outdoor apparel brand. I’ve led brand development and been on the board for Women’s Refuge.
Agency-side, I ran a boutique brand and digital agency for fifteen years working with a huge range of clients. I’ve worked in global ad agencies, and shot, art directed and produced numerous photographic and video campaigns.
In terms of sectors, I have worked across many –with a lot of experience in tech particularly. My main interest these days - and the area I have most depth in, is violence prevention research and marketing. This is driven by frustration that Aotearoa NZ is still the worst in the OECD for violence against women. Some call it an epidemic. My recent and somewhat unlikely thesis on how teenage boys can be change-makers to prevent this violence (soon to be published in the Journal of Social Marketing) informs an ambitious but hopeful violence prevention movement currently building.
Why work with me?
The simple answer is I’ll help you get the ‘right’ creative marketing solutions for your org. Tailored for your brief, budget and timeframe. I bring a good belnd of curiosity and left brain business logic combined with plenty of creative thinking, passion and visual literacy to land on ‘just-right’ outcomes.
Free consultation
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Drop me a line
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Free consultation 〰️ Drop me a line 〰️
My approach.
Brand discovery & strategy.
I start by teasing out clear goals and jobs to be done on a project. This isn’t always as obvious as it seems.
I delve into where are you headed, what you know about your organisation, sector and audience, and what we still need to find out. Often more research is needed. The right inputs and a sharp brief are essential. Then, informed by good insights, collaboratively we work out what to say. Purpose and positioning are key; why do you do what you do and where should you sit in the market? Then we get focused on exactly what you offer, how you are different and how you are relevant to your audience.
Next, I help you work out the best way to tell this story, in written, spoken and visual communications. This is the creative end of the strategy; a unique brand personality is articulated and a clear and compelling brand story emerges. Leading onto a creative brief for the next stage of developing look & feel and tone of voice…
Bringing brands to life.
I guide creative teams to express your story authentically, and in new and exciting ways.
Ultimately it’s about creative executions that resonate with target audiences. I can take care of as much or as little as you need; from managing identity design and creative collateral, to developing brand and copy guidelines. Then it’s on to exactly how and where to tell the world…
Marketing.
The ongoing execution of a brand out in the world is where it lives or dies.
Figuring out a strategic approach to maximise your ROI and making a plan for how to deliver this well is key. Then, high quality, consistent and bold audience informed messaging, creative collateral and campaigns is where the fun begins.
From websites and social media strategy to content creation and ad campaigns –I get right in there, helping you make the stuff that gets you where you want to go. I have stacks of experience managing high quality projects - efficiently. I’ve helped create numerous beautiful photo libraries. And I’ve spent years developing smart digital marketing for brands that need to thrive online.
Social marketing
Many of the same commercial marketing principles apply but changing behaviour is really hard.
With solid objectives in place further research is often needed. Considering all stakeholders with in-depth focus on primary audiences (and ways to segment) is critical. Thinking about the competition to the behaviour change is also important; what will stop someone making change? Conversely what can we offer, how could they gain? Leveraging appropriate theories of change makes this process more efficient.
Like any marketing, designing smart programmes with an appropriate marketing mix is fundamental. Then of course all of this must be measured, evaluated and refined repeatedly over time to be really effective.
Jobs I can help with …
Brand
Qual & quant research
Brand strategy
Brand storytelling / copy
Leading ID development
Brand management
Digital
Leading website (re)builds
Digital campaign management
SEO management
Marketing
Research & co-design
Strategy & planning
Setting up & leading teams
Campaign development
Measurement & evaluation
Content
Creative art direction Content marketing
Managing image production
