Marketing Consultant | Kay Spencer
Experience, inspiration & problem-solving
I’m Kay - your marketing strategist. A marketing powerhouse, brand visionary, and change agent.
With a career spanning diverse industries, countries and brands, I’ve mastered the art of what works – and what doesn’t. I’ve been in the trenches, navigating challenges, seizing opportunities, and crafting strategies that drive real results.
Here’s the win for you: I deliver impactful solutions, fast. No fluff, no fuss – just results that elevate your brand and accelerate your success.
“Kay soon distinguished herself with her excellent strategic ability and sound creative judgement. She forged strong partnerships with both Unilever and McCain and her clients regarded her as an essential part of their respective teams”.
Judy van Dam, Business Unit Director, J Walter Thompson Johannesburg
"Blue Chilli has been with us since 2018, through the largest growth phase our company has seen. Kay and her team have been a key part of that. I put a huge amount of value in being able to discuss strategy with Kay and getting the benefit of her experience."
Allan Fullerton, Founder & Design Engineer, Powerglide Elevators
“Kay’s clarity of thought in identifying a solution, developing a concept, then using personal discipline and judgement to ensure a successful campaign execution has made a not insignificant contribution to Toyota’s leadership of the NZ vehicle market."
Gary McIver - Marketing Manager, Toyota New Zealand
“Kay had overall responsibility for the development of the Gary Player brand, and was charged with creating an entity that would outlive Gary Player the man. Under her guidance, the Gary Player ‘Black Knight’ logo has taken on a life of its own”.
Gary Player - International Golf Legend / Founder of the Gary Player Group
“Kay facilitated a workshop with our key staff and stakeholders and developed a strategic plan with us to guide our communications and public face. She has ensured that she understands what makes us tick..."
Janet Keys - General Manager, Grace Hospital
“Adjectives to describe Kay - astute, thorough, honest and forthright - and an excellent strategic mind and listener. She always took on first-person responsibility, and is an exceptionally good motivator - both within the Agency and with our communication partners."
Alan Bolon - Managing Director, J Walter Thompson Johannesburg
“Kay was recruited specifically for her skills and experience at handling major sporting events. Her strengths are many, enabling her to quickly become a valuable part of our project team and a central role player in the success of the Rugby World Cup sponsorship. She would be an asset in any challenging environment."
Anton Falck - National Promotions Manager, Toyota South Africa
“When Kay came on board in 2012 we were in the throes of some significant changes with our business structure. With Kay’s strategic guidance we reset our branding and that piece of work still holds relevance today and into the future. The program that Kay took us through was clear and relevant. It got us to thinking about what we wanted and what we needed, and the output provided a strong basis for us to develop the business to a wider base for better and bright things”.
Lance Ewens, Director, Bennetts Proactive Chartered Accountants
How we can collaborate
I don’t believe in rigid labels or cookie-cutter solutions, but a little structure helps us get aligned and sets the stage for what’s possible. Here are a few ways we can team up.
Not sure which option suits you best? Let’s chat! Book a FREE 30-minute consultation, and we’ll find the perfect fit together.
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Consulting
Consulting looks different for everyone and often evolves over time. It can include visioning, planning or implementation - or a mixture of all three. We'll start by having a chat and figure out what will work best for you.
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Projects
Need someone with the experience to plan and implement a new marketing initiative? I can then step back and leave the day-to-day with your inhouse team, or connect you with a suitable contractor.
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Mentoring
Want an expert to bounce ideas off, have your back, and help you stay focused? Mentoring packages are also a great way to support and develop key people in your in-house marketing team.
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Workshops
Ramp up your marketing with a focused workshop. A great way to clarify direction and spark new ideas. A range of topics area available so you can tackle whatever is most relevant for your business.
More About Me? Scroll down to browse, or click below to go straight to what’s most relevant to you:
What I can help with | Why I’m great value | Why I can see things you can’t | My consulting style | Background & CV
What I can help you with
Consulting looks different for everyone, and I can generally tailor my services to suit you. Here’s a few examples to give you an idea of where I work best:
You need top-level marketing expertise to drive a significant project, but don’t need a full-time marketing manager.
You need extra marketing resource for a short-term project or when business ramps up quickly. This could involve seconding onto your team to achieve a specific project or outcome, then ‘bedding in’ a new team to handle ongoing implementation.
Your business has grown or evolved, and your brand doesn’t accurately reflect the new direction.
You’re developing new products or services and you’re not sure where they fit within your current product hierarchy.
You need a better understanding of your customer, their needs and what drives them.
A product or service needs to evolve to better serve the changing needs to of your customers.
Business growth means you’ve reached a critical mass that needs more structure and a more considered public face.
You have big growth ambitions and need guidance on the best platforms, techniques or approach to get you there.
You need a better understanding of your customer journey and the impact this has on the way you sell.
You want a fresh set of eyes across your current marketing activities and customer touch-points to identify any inconsistencies or leaks.
You need a fresh perspective to spark some new ideas and directions.
You need someone to develop your key messaging pillars that can then drive content development for your website, collateral and social.
Why I’m great value…
Consulting rates might seem pricey, but the fresh perspective that comes from having a different set of eyes across your business is often a game-changer. Plus…
You don’t have to pay for my holidays or sick days for my dog.
You’re not stuck with me if I don’t deliver on what I promised, you don’t like my work, or I have bad taste in donuts.
I turn up with absolute focus on the task at hand, which you probably can’t do when you’re caught up in the day-to-day. This focus means I can often do things in a few weeks that would take you months, if not years.
You get access to my international, corporate and SME experience, plus the connections, street-smarts and well-honed instincts that comes with it.
You don’t have to pay top dollar for someone who’s probably over-qualified to be on your team permanently.
I won’t get bored and leave, taking all your brand knowledge and continuity with me.
Why I can see things you can’t
As an outsider I’m removed enough to see things from a different perspective. I’m also free to ask the questions that nobody on your team would ever ask. These often uncover surprising leaks or opportunities that nobody knew were there.
I don’t pretend to be an industry expert, drawing on you and your team for the necessary domain expertise, then running this through a marketing lens to get the results you need. That said, I have worked across a vast range of industries, so I do often bring useful industry knowledge and insights.
I’m not caught up in any inhouse politics, so I simply tell it like it is.
My consulting style
I’m direct, thorough, insightful and pragmatic. I’m also an extremely good listener.
I break things down to tease out their relative importance in the big picture and rebuild them into more meaningful patterns, so they make more sense, both internally and in the mind of your target market.
I ask questions that range from simple through to insightful, and at times may seem a little random. This process often leads to some kind of ‘aha’ moment that informs everything else that we do.
I keep you relentlessly focused on what your market wants / needs, rather than falling into the common trap of creating a wonderful widget that nobody will buy. Unless of course, it really is an astonishingly good widget with the potential to disrupt markets, in which case we look at ways to reframe it in the eyes of the consumer.
I don’t sweat the small stuff - we save the details for a much later stage of the process.
I don’t waste your time with long and complex documents or hide behind fluffy words and pretty pictures. My ideas are presented in a way that’s concise and easy to share with your team - often in the form of mind-maps or similar info-graphics. These become a powerful communication tool and are typically used as an easy reference to keep future discussions on track.
Unlike many consultants or agencies, I won’t shoe-horn your unique situation into a predetermined process. There’s a good chance that you’ll get an entirely different process than the last client I worked with. Likewise your outputs won’t follow a set pattern. I’ll give you what I think you need.