I'm Ruth.
I've spent more than 20 years working across marketing, communications, brand, content and digital. I've worked with big organisations, small businesses, founders and teams trying to make sense of complicated things.
I've built brands. Written stories. Created websites. Worked on strategy. Got involved in the details. Asked too many questions. And usually found the most interesting answer was hiding behind the first one.
I don't think businesses need to become something they're not to be interesting. I think they need someone to look closely enough to see what's already there.
I don't have an agency full of people. I have something I think is better for the right kind of client: me. My questions. My experience. My curiosity. My ridiculous attention to detail. And my willingness to tell you when we're solving the wrong problem.
If we need other people, I'll find them. You won't have to explain your business five times to five different people.
I’ve never really had a conventional marketing career. And I’m pretty happy about that.
I started out in advertising and publishing in the 1990s, at GMW Advertising, Reed, Lonely Planet and Hinkler Books. I worked on books, advertising, production and publishing, and learned pretty quickly how an idea gets from a brief to something that is actually sitting in front of you. I trained as a finished artist too, so I know my way around artwork, printers and production. I know what happens when the artwork isn’t right, the deadline is tomorrow and everyone is waiting for someone else to fix it. I quite like that stuff. It means I understand the whole process, not just the shiny bit at the end.
Then I went and built a brand. At Terindah Estate on the Bellarine Peninsula, my title was Sales & Marketing Manager, but really I did a bit of everything. Brand, sales, marketing, events, PR, wine, food, staff, suppliers, customers and the occasional crisis.
I established the McAdams Lane label, relaunched it under the Terindah brand, opened the business seven days a week and sold more than 70 events a year, including around 50 weddings.
It was busy. It was creative. It was commercial. And I loved it.
Then came sQUASHEDpEAS. I started sQUASHEDpEAS because I liked the idea of being the marketing and communications team for businesses that didn’t have one. Yumi’s Quality Foods became a major client. What started as a rebrand turned into three years of work across retail, foodservice and export. Brand, packaging, website, advertising, POS, social, photography, recipes, NPD, range reviews and GS1 submissions. I got to see the work right through from an idea to something sitting on a supermarket shelf.
I also worked on wine labels, food packaging, websites, events and campaigns for all sorts of businesses. I like variety. I always have. I’ve sold weddings, conferences, corporate events and parties. I like the energy of it. I like people. And I’m pretty good at having a lot of balls in the air.
Speaking of balls...
I spent the 2023/24 season marketing the WNBL for Basketball Australia. Content, media, newsletters and everything else that comes with a national sporting competition. I launched the league’s first weekly newsletter and grew subscribers by 60%. It was fast, busy and a lot of fun.
Most recently, I spent two years at Castalia Group working across aged care and retirement living. Different industry, same challenge. Understand the customer, work out what matters, find the story and then figure out how to get people to notice. I worked across brand strategy, campaigns, websites, SEO, digital advertising, content, email and social.
I’m a generalist. I’ve always been one. I like understanding the whole business rather than being responsible for one little piece of it. I like having an idea, working out whether it’s any good, figuring out how to make it happen and then getting on with it. I can write the strategy. Write the copy. Write the brief. Design the creative. Finish the artwork. Build the website. Set up the campaign. Talk to the printer. Deal with the supplier. Send the EDM. Look at the numbers. And if I don’t know how to do something, I’ll work it out.
I’ve been doing this for a long time. The tools have changed and the channels have changed, but the bit I love hasn’t really changed.
Find the good stuff.
Work out what makes it interesting.
And make it happen.
