Thirty years in brand and marketing. Every shift in the industry.
Background
Andrew McLeod came to brand and advertising in 1996, when the internet was still new and brand was what you owned, not what you managed. Twenty years at senior strategic level in New Zealand's largest brand and advertising agencies took him through every major shift the industry has had: broadcast, web, digital, social, and now AI and AEO.
From 1996 to 2022, the thread was always the same: brand as the foundation. That's where a business's goals meet an audience's needs. Everything else — campaign, channel, content, AI, automation — is expression of that relationship. Without brand at the centre, marketing becomes activity. With it, every dollar compounds.
In July 2022, he stepped out of agency to lead GreaterThan as an independent practice.
Why independent consulting
At agency, you're solving for what the agency can sell. As an independent, you're solving for what the business actually needs. The difference is everything.
Independence means no inventory to sell, no account team to bill, no pressure to add scope. It means looking at the business honestly and recommending what it actually needs, whether that's a big project or a simple strategic conversation.
Approach
Every engagement begins by reading the business. Where it's heading, who the customers actually are, what the marketing currently delivers against what's needed. The work that follows is shaped by what you find, not by what was expected when you walked in.
What doesn't change is the principle: your marketing should serve your business strategy. Not be its own discipline. Not win awards or look modern. Serve what your business is trying to achieve. Everything flows from that.