I’m the one waving my hands around and getting excited!

What do you do at Keystone – and how does that help our clients?

I help clients get clear on who they are, what they want to say and how they want their audiences to think and feel about them. That can mean working on positioning, messaging, tone of voice, visual identity or the creative direction for a campaign. It’s joined up thinking so that whatever goes out into the world for a client feels like it belongs and has aced its job.

What does Head of Brand and Creative Strategy actually mean?

For me, it is the bit between marketing strategy and execution. I take all the thinking about audiences, objectives, behaviour and what makes a business different, then help turn it into something people can see, hear and respond to. It’s not about making things look pretty (although that obviously helps!). It’s about making sure the creative has a reason to exist.

Tell us about the moment you thought: “Yes! This is why I do this job.”

It’s all the moments when a plan comes together. You can have a room full of research, half-finished thoughts and terrible scribbles, then inspiration hits and the whole thing clicks into place. That bit is pure sparkly magic.

What’s a personality trait you bring to work that doesn’t show on your CV?

Boundless enthusiasm. I’m definitely the one waving my hands around and getting excited about all the things! I love finding the golden nugget that makes a brand interesting, then helping clients see how that can become something bigger.

What are you best at?

Getting to the heart of a conundrum : ) I ask a lot of questions because quite often the thing someone initially asks for is not actually the thing they need. I enjoy finding the interesting bit, the thing that makes a brand distinctive, then working out how to express it clearly and creatively.

What do clients get from working with you?

Clarity, challenge and lots of ideas. I want clients to feel more confident about what they’re saying and why they’re saying it. I want them to leave with something they can be proud of, not a beautiful strategy document that sits in a drawer.

What’s one thing clients always appreciate about working with you?

I hope it’s clarity! There can be a lot going on in a brand or communications problem, and I’m good at getting to the heart of all of that and finding the thing that actually matters. No jargon, no creative smoke and mirrors.

If you could give one tip to someone choosing a marketing partner, what would it be?

Choose someone who listens before they create. The best ideas rarely start with a logo, a campaign line or a sketchbook. They start with understanding the problem, the audience and what needs to change.

A good partner should help you work that out first, then create something that genuinely fits.