THE POWER OF NO
OR WHY ‘YES’ IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE WORD IN MARKETING
Most agencies say yes to inflate the brief. I've spent 20 years learning when to say no — so we can find the one simple idea that actually works.
Whether it's a behaviour change campaign that saves lives, a fundraising push that exceeds targets, or a digital build that cuts through — I work through the complexity until only the essential remains.
With over 100 international awards including Gold at Cannes, a D&AD Yellow Pencil, and work featured in NZ On Screen and Te Ara Encyclopedia of NZ. I bring 20+ years of senior strategic and creative expertise directly to your problem.
SAYING NO TO THE EXPECTED. A CAMPAIGN THAT SAVED LIVES AND BECOME CULTURAL CURRENCY
The brief was a 50 page government strategy. The answer was a bunch of mates at a party. Simple idea. 90% prompted awareness. 50% drop in teen drink-driving. You can still buy the merch a decade later.
LATEST RESULTS SPOTLIGHT:
“You did it! Thanks to you and the rest of our amazing community who came together this tax time, we have well exceeded our goal to raise $479,000 for critical heart research, raising an outstanding $542,090! We cannot thank you enough for your generosity."
VICTOR CHANG FOUNDATION (with Change & Co & Tone)
Target: $479,000 | Actual: $542,090 | Result: 113% of goal achieved
Proud to be working alongside leading Australian fundraising agencies Change & Co and Tone, who know that purpose-driven work demands results-driven creative. I worked on the digital component of this campaign, a growing area in Fundraising.
Featured Work
#FFS CHOOSE: SAYING NO TO THE ESTABLISHED
A government ministry needed young Māori to vote. The temptation is always to go educational. Serious. Worthy. We said no to all of that and built a campaign around what actually motivates young people — authenticity, cultural pride, and Stan Walker.
AND IT’S NOT ALL SERIOUS:
Winning the internet for THE day
WITH 2 MILLION UNIQUE
VIEWS ON AN ORGANIC POST
“I worked with Mitch when he was the Creative Director at Red Engine. Mitch had a straight up approach I really appreciated. His work was always strategically sound and his creative direction ensured some of our work literally ‘broke the internet’. For example, his work on a simple April Fools post got over 2 million unique reach.”
— Renaud Frise
I don't just use AI. I was on the GOOGLE team that built it.
I was QA Lead on Bard at Google — the precursor to Gemini. My job was binary: yes or no. Is this response good enough? Does it meet the standard? That same rigour applies to everything I do. If a platform, a feature, or an idea doesn't earn its place, it gets cut. I use AI to work faster and sharper — but the thinking is human, senior, and mine.
