I’m an entrepreneurial brand and marketing director.
I create clear, concise and compelling brand and marketing strategies that meet commercial objectives.
For over twenty years, I have helped ambitious businesses with rich histories to shun the bland and predictable to engage changing prospects, clients and employees.
I'm a proven entrepreneur and strategist who thinks deeply to create commercially distinct and memorable marketing. Marketing that expresses relevance, builds awareness and fills sales funnels.
I have hired and managed writers, designers, front and back-end developers, SEO analysts, film crews and project managers.
Although a brand and marketing strategist by title, the skills I’ve honed by building my own business are broader than this. I’m an adept strategic problem solver with significant experience in consultative selling.
I’ve worked with various founders and senior business leaders across multiple markets. Some were global companies, others local.
I’ve operated on a range of projects with various budgets. Sometimes these led to wholesale changes; others just needed a refocus.
Great strategy is built on thoughtful answers to three questions.
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There is usually a client, donor or customer in mind when brands talk about what they do. Marketing often defines them in general terms; Gen-Z, Millennials, Baby Boomers and Empty Nesters. These catch-all and arbitrary terms make the audience faceless and impersonal. It's easy to lose sight that they're real people with many demands on their time and resources. Any brand plays a tiny part in their lives. The offer needs to compete alongside many other concerns and priorities. Discovering what they think about you through quantitative and qualitative research is critical. Understanding their lives and their awareness of you can help you to stay relevant and meaningful for your audience.
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You know what you do because you live and breathe it. Communicating it to someone else is another matter. Brands must ensure that the audience understands what they do and realise it is for them. And then there's the competition. How does your brand compare to its peers? How much overlap is there in how you and your competitors describe yourselves? Could your prospects tell you apart? Many can explain what they do quickly enough, but it's more challenging to talk about why it matters - to talk less about features and more about benefits. That's what cuts through.
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Unclear marketing objectives waste budget. Knowing what needs to be invested in and why is critical. It starts by understanding the market share you hold and the stages in the sales funnel that aren't performing as well as they could. Where are prospects dropping out of the sales journey, and why? Market research can help here to identify problems. But working hand in hand with sales and finance teams to find answers is a great way to set realistic and achievable growth.
What others say about me
“Over the last 8 years, I have hired Michael for two significant marketing and communication projects and sought his advice for countless others. He is an excellent communicator and ally, with a powerful ability to think deeply about a challenge and produce a pragmatic and commercially robust way forward. Michael listens, probes, challenges and inspires. I'm very proud of our work together - it's all far stronger than it would have been without Michael's expertise.”
Matt Holland
Head of Corporate Marketing, Iress
“Michael is brilliant at finding simple and creative ways of getting to the essence of what really matters. That’s an incredibly difficult thing to do. It takes a lot of professional skill and business experience. As importantly, it requires patience, persistence, generosity and kindness – personal traits he has in abundance.”
Neil Baker
Writer and communications consultant, EY
“Michael is a methodical strategist who understands business, brand and marketing. He asks the right questions, thinks creatively, and delivers thoughtful work that is highly practical to support organisations on their journey.”
Emily Penny
Founder, Be Colourful