Introducing Collectively
A podcast about purpose-led business and marketing with Monica from Mark My Words and Marijke from The Marketing Collective. Listen on Apple, Spotify or your preferred streaming platform.
Collectively is a podcast about building
better business
In here, we share our experiences of building our own purpose-led businesses and the trials and tribulations, actions and results of our clients, as well as some of the most memorable and successful ethical and sustainable brands we admire. As two marketers with over 40 years experience between us, we chat about the marketing methods and mindsets that really move the dial for small-to-medium sized businesses, and how by working in collaboration with others, you can build a successful business and market it in a way that feels aligned, authentic and appealing for you and all your audiences!
"It's like I'm sitting in a cafe with girlfriends who really want me to succeed."
Tania Zambrano, Founder of Altruist Apparel
We're kicking off our Collectively podcast with a real and raw chat about doing things for the first time. In here, we discuss what it takes to get started with anything in business, and in life. Imperfect action, imposter syndrome, stepping out of your comfort zone AND tips and tricks for doing some of those marketing things for the first time. It's all in here!
Did we suck first time? You decide...
Just another marketing buzzword? We don't think so...
Brands that are purpose-led experience more fulfilment and more customer loyalty. In a world of overwhelm, purpose can help you create more meaning in your business. By focusing on a higher purpose than just profit, you can connect with your customers, communities and staff on a much deeper level. This drives both income and impact.
In this episode, we discuss what purpose is, why it's a marketing fundamental (in our books) and how to define or refine yours so that it becomes a feel-good common thread that runs throughout your business. It's good business, but it's also good for business!
So many brands talk about their values. But, do they really live and breathe them? How authentic are brand values these days. Do consumers even care? And, how do employees feel about them?
We uncover all this and more inside Episode Three:
- What are values and why do they matter?
- How do you define meaningful brand values that become more than just a poster on a wall?
- How do you apply brand values so they truly represent your brand and business, and create differentiation and connection in the market?
We also share our own brand values and how we bring to them life in our own brands.
Cause marketing is about aligning your business with a cause, charity or community group and giving back by donating profits, resource or time—and then meaningfully communicating and demonstrating why supporting the cause is important to you.
Perhaps there’s an organisation whose work resonates with you and you’d like to support their impact in some way. Or maybe, starting your own cause connected to your business is something you’ve considered. Either way, how can you be transparent and authentic with how you talk about your partnership, ensuring that it’s a genuine part of your story, and not just a campaign or a trend?
In this episode we explore cause marketing: what it is, whether it’s right for your business and what to consider when it comes to aligning your brand with a cause, and how to avoid any pitfalls.
We know that not everyone feels comfortable showing up on social media, and that depending on your business, social media channels are not always the most effective means of reaching the right audience.
Social media can be an incredibly powerful tactic within your marketing strategy, but the pressure to show up a certain way can stop you from showing up at all.
In this episode we consider the answers to these questions (and more):
Does your business NEED to be on social media?
What’s the deal with faceless accounts?
How do you build confidence about showing up on social media?
What does ‘success’ look like on social media?
Is it possible to grow your brand while being anti-social? Have a listen!
Greenwashing, woke washing and virtue signalling— there are plenty of ways that brands can embellish the true results or impact of their products or processes to mislead consumers. So, are certifications and standards the solution to keeping brands accountable to their claims?
Certifications and standards are more than just marketing tools, in fact they take some serious commitment to operational KPIs, but they can become a helpful tool to leverage when it comes to sharing your story and differentiating your brand. But ‘labels’ can also be misleading when they are simply self-certified and less-than transparent!
This week we’re taking a look at how third-party validations and commitments can potentially boost a brand’s credibility and build trust with increasingly-savvy consumers.
We’ve heard horror stories and picked up the pieces of clients who have been burnt by bad experiences or paid high fees for inadequate results. It happens everywhere, not just in marketing. In every industry, there are people who do what they do well and others who let their clients and the industry down.
Paying for creative skills for your brand is an investment. How can you be sure you’re getting a good return for your business? In this episode we’re talking about red flags and green flags to look out for when it comes to choosing a creative or marketing agency to work with, and also, the part that you play in ensuring you get the best results.
In this episode we’re joined by Gina Cook, a Partner at advisory firm, BDO Auckland, who shares more about sustainability - or ESG - reporting. ESG stands for environmental, social issues and governance, and is all about how an organisation can understand, and manage, its environmental and social impacts.
Sometimes reporting like this can be hard to start, because we’re not actually sure where or how to begin. Gina shares some simple first steps that we can do as businesses to actually make a start when it comes to measuring and understanding our impact.
Without knowing your audience, you’re shooting in the dark. It's essential for your marketing, messaging, and product development. As the adage goes: if you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one. Really understanding your audience goes beyond demographics - especially in an increasingly diverse world. In this episode we’re talking about how to craft effective, inclusive brand persons (or buyer personas) by digging into the psychographics that drive decisions and avoiding bias and stereotypes.
In our previous episode, we talked about how to create personas that represent your intended audience. But what next? How do you use what you know about your audience to communicate in a way that really resonates with them and helps them connect what they need with what you’re selling?
Brands grow through emotional resonance. At the heart of great brand messaging is a true empathy for the humans you’re here to help. When you start with empathy, you can offer relevant solutions (not sales spin), alleviate rather than agitate a problem, connect rather than coerce and pull people towards a decision that’s right for them (rather than pressure them through potentially unethical techniques).
In this episode, we’re talking about why leading with emotion creates the connection you need to sell, how to understand the emotional drivers behind purchasing decisions, and why storytelling will be one of your best brand assets.
It’s nearing the end of the year and fatigue for business owners and their teams is at an all time high. The holiday season can also evoke a lot of emotions and expectations. Which is why we thought it would be timely to chat to Kim Houdebine Benjamin, a coach who uses Human Design to help us understand ourselves and those we care about on a much deeper level so that we can have more fulfilling relationships.
Whether it’s with your partner, your kids, your colleagues, or even your business, we know it often starts with the relationship we have with ourselves.
This chat is an opportunity for listeners to check-in on their relationships with and within their business, those most important outside of their business and most importantly, their relationships with themselves - all of this, from the context of Human Design.
This episode is the first to go live for us in 2025, and we wanted to kick the year off with some inspiration for the year ahead. We’re talking to Libby Robertson, a coach who helps entrepreneurs manifest their next level by mastering their strategy, mindset and energetics.
Her business is called Parradiigm, and she’s on a mission to pave the way for a whole new paradigm in business. She believes businesses have the power to transform lives, families and communities in ways which will be felt for generations to come. Libby shares more about her own journey, being connected to purpose, why the current ‘system’ is broken and how we can use our businesses as a means to drive positive change.
For many of us, the new year feels like a bit of a clean slate, especially for us in New Zealand where we’ve had a summer break and space to think about what we want to achieve in the year ahead.
The last few years have been tough for many; but we think business sentiment is looking more optimistic for the year ahead. Planning is an opportunity to take charge, regardless of what the market, economy or political decisions may send our way.
Planning can feel daunting though, so in this episode we’re breaking it down to help you prepare a plan-on-a-page that will keep you focused and intentional with your actions.
Personal branding isn’t about jumping on the latest trends or creating an identity that isn’t ‘you’. It’s about owning who you are, sharing your expertise and connecting with the people who need what you have to offer.
You’ll have your best impact (and success) when people know what you stand for, the strengths that set you apart and the experience that influences the way you work (and makes you so great at what you do).
Today we’re talking about how to step into your role as a thought leader, how to showcase your expertise without feeling ‘salesy’ and how to build a really authentic personal brand (without blurring the line into TMI or oversharing).
When we talk about ‘diversity’ in marketing, we need to also consider neurodiversity, which still remains underrepresented and under-acknowledged (despite one in every 20 people in Aotearoa having ADHD).
Which is why we invited Sarah and Penelope from Superpower Communications to chat with us. They offer PR consultancy with the much-needed addition of workplace inclusivity consulting.
As neurodivergent professionals themselves, we asked them to share more about how organisations can make sure that neurodivergence is considered when they talk about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, the steps businesses can take towards inclusion in their culture and what to keep in mind when it comes to more inclusive communications.
What you may not know is that alongside her work at The Marketing Collective, Marijke is also the founder of Dara Children’s Trust, a charity supporting a displaced community in Andong, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In this episode, Marijke shares more about her first-hand experience as a charity founder and how she is now aligning her business for impact in a way that will support other organisations in creating their own impact.
For more information about Dara Children’s Trust visit www.darachildren.com
The value of your brand
What is the value of your brand? How do you measure investment in your brand? In this episode we talk about the difference between brand, branding and marketing, and why investing in brand equity is essential for growth and business resilience. We discuss ways you can grow and measure your brand, as well as the cost of not investing in your brand. Your brand is not just what you say it is, it’s what people believe about you. So, what are people saying about your brand, when it’s not in the room?
Visit this link for more information about the Brand Blueprint mentioned in this episode.
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