MY WORK
A new internal creative agency & brand platform at Xero
Xero is a cloud-based business platform that exists to change the game for small business worldwide. They've twice been named Forbes' #1 most innovative growth company on earth.
Engagement:
Global Copy Director in a new 70-person internal creative agency (2015-16)
Key services and results:
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Led development of Xero’s first brand platform working with M&C Saatchi Australia
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Delivered above-the-line campaigns in all markets
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Implemented culture & systems for sustained global growth
Starting up the future of work with Runn
Founded by a team from SilverStripe, Spark, Xero, and BMW, Runn is a Kiwi technology startup built around managing time and money in digital projects.
Engagement:
Head of Strategy (2019-20)
Key services and results:​​
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Helped shape strategic story, product positioning, investment case
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Raised capital and found product/market fit at Series A stage, setting up for sustained growth
"We now have clarity on the product vision, the type of company we want to build, and a framework to communicate that to the world!"
Nicole Tiefensee | co-founder of Runn
Growing the global leader in e-learning
Totara is a learning management provider with hundreds of enterprise customers including Samsung, Amazon, Toyota, US Department of Agriculture, UK National Health Service, Deloitte.
Engagement:
Lead Storyteller (2022-23)
Key services and results:
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Drove new strategic brand positioning working with Head of Brand and 2 x CEOs (Founder and successor)
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Delivered refreshed website, core sales deck, key messaging, go-to-market assets
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Immediate uplift in pipeline and conversion, subsequent company sale to leading European investor Tenzing
"As a high-end story specialist, Colin understands the challenge of developing strategic narratives that truly drive commercial outcomes. He brings a fantastically deep, insightful set of tools to solving for growth."
Mark Ash | CEO
Better citizen services
Somar Digital is New Zealand’s leading Citizen Experience Agency, helping government agencies and not-for-profit organisations offer social services to people through digital technology.
Engagement:
Board Chair (2017-22)
Key services and results:
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Guided CEO & leadership team through a 5 year business transformation gaining dozens of government & not-for-profit sector clients, NZ Fast 50 growth
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Strategic focus on transport journey planning
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CEO transition from Founder to successor
"…helped guide the company through significant growth and change in a complex environment…tremendous integrity and humanity."
Fiona Reid | COO of Somar Digital
Human-led narrative design for a $2.2 billion urban recovery
Canterbury's recovery from a devastating series of earthquakes in 2010-11 brought together communities, infrastructure providers, urban design, policy, and hundreds of agencies and stakeholder groups.
Engagement:
Senior / Principal Communications Advisor at Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (2012-15)
Key services and results:
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Led the successful reimagining of the $2.2 billion Christchurch Central Recovery Plan
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Led international investment messaging
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Helped develop the infrastructure master sequence (eventually became the NZ Infrastructure Commission)
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Crisis management & stakeholder engagement in a disaster zone
Flipping the global workplace conversation
Riders&elephants, led by Jeremy Dean, is bootstrapping a global ecosystem of leadership & culture practitioners around the Emotional Culture Deck product, used by 400,000+ people across 60+ countries and organizations including Canva, Airbnb, the United Nations, Air New Zealand, IBM, Xero, Netflix, Coca Cola, Amazon, and Mercedes Benz.
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Engagement:
Executive advisor (2018-21)
Key services and results:
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Strategic guidance on every aspect of ecosystem development, go-to-market, efficient scaling, and brand positioning from earliest stage to global success
"Working with Colin has been a true partnership."
Jeremy Dean | founder of riders&elephants
International growth in a delicious social enterprise
The Wellington Chocolate Factory creates social and economic value at every step from cocoa plantation to taste buds. I helped steer WCF through Year 1 of being the most successful artisan food startup in New Zealand's history.
Engagement:
Head of Strategy (2014-15)
Key services and results:​
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Supported co-founders Rochelle Alagar & Gabe Davidson in generating outstanding revenue, debt-free balance sheet, and award-winning luxury brand
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World-first Wellington Chocolate Voyage crowdfunding initiative driving global recognition and sales
"There is no textbook for making something new. Colin understands this."
Rochelle Alagar | co-founder Wellington Chocolate Factory
Rapid value creation with
Trinsic Labs
Trinsic Labs is an ongoing innovation lab programme aimed at bringing together diverse teams to tackle compelling problems at speed.
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Stakehouse is a digital tool for easy stakeholder engagement mapping, developed with public sector practitioners across New Zealand. It’s free; open source; and enjoying rapid uptake.
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Divvy is a simple blockchain voting machine, a first step in exploring 'trust-less' governance in projects and organisations.
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Key services and results:
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Innovation lab creation
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Rapid scoping, prototyping, testing and investment
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Ongoing process improvement and learning cadence
Project Tempest: an interactive story world
Lovecraftian horror on the New Zealand frontier. Project Tempest is about building a series of digital projects with creators from around the globe.
Key services and results:
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Story development
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Platform, publishing & community
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Finalist in the 2020 Australasian Horror Awards
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Shortlisted for the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award
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Podcast shortlisted for the 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards
"… hauntingly lyrical and delightfully strange .... highly original in tone, concept, and execution"
BookLife Prize | Publishers Weekly