CHARLOTTE STEVENS
Creative Direction + Cultural Strategy
I'm interested in culture, emerging trends and changing behaviour.
Spotting what's coming, understanding what it means for brands and finding opportunities before the brief.
I shape ideas, sharpen the message and get the work made.
With 15 years' experience across agencies, brands and independent businesses, I work from positioning and concepts through to copy, creative direction and production.
I’ll happily make the work myself, or bring in and guide the right people when it needs specialist hands.
get in touch
char.stevens@gmail.com
Social Copy & Creative Development | Fuse OMD
One line. 15.7 million people reached.
THE THINKING
Rick and Morty had turned a discontinued McDonald's sauce into a pop-culture obsession. We joined the conversation rather than interrupting it.
ON THE TOOLS
Social copy and creative development. Helped shape the pitch deck and wrote the teaser line: “Coming soon, the best sauce in the universe.”
THE RESULT
15.7 million people reached. 3.2 million engagements. 128,000 shares.
Possibly NZ's most popular Facebook post ever ↗
Concepts & Copy | Fuse OMD
Taking the weird beyond the screen.
THE THINKING
New Year's resolutions are easy to make. Harder to keep. We turned the moment people give up into a reason to Make It Happen.
ON THE TOOLS
Shopper concepts, social strategy, scripts and copy. Giving Bongo Cat a cheeky, culturally reactive voice.
THE RESULT
One trans-Tasman campaign. Two markets. A $2,000 travel prize. A whole lot of broken resolutions turned into reasons to Make It Happen.
Co-founder / Creative Lead
It turns out old T-shirts can draw some of the biggest retail crowds in Aotearoa.
THE THINKING
We watched our sister brand compete in an increasingly crowded vintage market, so we changed the format. KILO turned shopping second-hand into something closer to an event.
ON THE TOOLS
Brand positioning, concepts, copy, campaigns, shoots, social, event design and production. I’ll shoot something on my phone, write the copy, voice it, edit it and upload it.
THE RESULT
50+ pop-ups across 18+ cities, queues over 1,000 people long, viral videos and more than 100,000kg of clothing moved.
Concept & Creative Direction
Making finance a little less boring.
THE THINKING
The brief called for static graphics explaining a fairly dry financial product. I saw an opportunity to make something more engaging: a short-form video with humour and personality.
ON THE TOOLS
Conceived and pitched the idea beyond the original brief. Led the creative direction from concept to execution, including scripting, location scouting and production.
THE RESULT
Buffer In A Minute. An original short-form video, created from scratch, brought to life and enthusiastically received by the client.
Co-owner & Creative Lead
Before KILO, there was magichollow.
THE THINKING
We brought American vintage culture to a new generation of young Kiwis, one carefully sourced piece at a time.
ON THE TOOLS
Buying trips to LA, brand direction, storytelling, shoots, social, campaigns and retail. From digging through rag houses to building a brand people wanted to follow.
THE RESULT
A cult following, queues for new drops and a community that followed our buying adventures and built wardrobes around the pieces we found.
THE WAREHOUSE GROUP
In-House Copywriter / TV, Radio & Retail
Three brands. Every channel. Every week.
THE THINKING
Retail moves fast. The challenge was making big campaign ideas work across different brands, audiences and formats, without losing their impact.
ON THE TOOLS
Scripting, copywriting, campaign adaptation and voice-over direction across TV, radio, Spotify, digital and in-store.
THE RESULT
A constant stream of national advertising for The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery and Noel Leeming. Delivered week in, week out.
GLOW LAB / BRAND STRATEGY
Independent Strategy & Creative Direction
Beyond the product shot.
THE THINKING
We gave Glow Lab a stronger point of view, grounded in culture rather than category conventions..
ON THE TOOLS
Cultural research, brand positioning, strategy and creative direction. An independently developed proposal exploring the brand's next chapter.
THE RESULT
A strategic pitch presented to an agency, sparking a conversation about future opportunities.
View the full strategy deck ↗