Read our customer testimonials
“I recently attended Steve’s workshop on digital storytelling and really enjoyed the experience. One of the main takeaways were that according to Ernest Hemingway, a great story doesn’t need many words, it only needs six - so here it goes:
Kristin De SouzaMA Digital Storytelling Workshop
Steve Ballantyne. Storyteller extraordinaire. Pay attention.
“Steve ran two brand positioning workshops with a small cohort of Agritech companies who where launching their products into new markets. These Agritech businesses have created commercial success in New Zealand and new to expanding internationally. In the workshops, Steve really challenged the cohort to think about the importance of having a clearly defined brand position and messaging and showed them a strategic process to develop that. Steve then worked directly with two of the companies to help them develop their brand position and story for the international market and help them to look at ways they can stand out from their global competitors.
Nicky Molloy, CallaghanBrand Strategy Workshops
“Our team has very much enjoyed working with Steve at Brand IQ to refresh our brand story. Defining our brand identity has been a challenging exercise for our team - in a good way - and Steve keeps the work fun and rewarding. His personality and professionalism make all the difference. Thank you, thank you for a great collaborative experience!
Ryann Calder, LandkindBrand Story
“Thanks Steve for joining us for the day to teach us about how to craft our personal brand and storytelling strategies. It was great for the team to learn how storytelling can be applied to many disciplines across our business as a powerful tool for communication that can be used to influence and persuade others in many different contexts, not just marketing. Your presentation was fun and engaging. I am working on my Treasure Chest and ABT’s.
Richelle Ashman, FirstgasPersonal Branding and Storytelling Workshop
“I'm not actually in marketing but attended the course anyway and was very pleased I did. Steve and the crew gave me a lot of valuable concepts to take forth and apply, not only into my role within radio, but also life in general. A fine example is the "And. But. Therefore" concept which I now apply whenever I have to tell a story (even at the pub!) or edit an interview for radio. Even now, I have written this email with that concept and structure in mind. If you're reading this, take the gamble on Steve and the team, it'll pay off, it did for me.
Slaine Marshall, MediaworksStorytelling Workshop
“After a number of successful business acquisitions over the past five years we tasked Brand IQ with developing a brand strategy and story that would unite them all under the Kordia umbrella. Brand IQ's research-based approach ensured that we got a really deep understanding of not only how customers felt about the acquisitions, but how staff viewed the hierarchy and branding of the individual business units. Steve and the Brand IQ team helped us get the brand architecture right and developed a powerful brand story that everyone in the business could align with. Having worked with Steve previously he was the obvious choice for this challenge, and I would have no hesitation in recommending him for any B2B brand project.
Craig Williams, KordiaResearch and Brand Architecture Strategy
“Steve is, naturally, a great storyteller, and as a result his storytelling training workshops are extremely engaging and thought-provoking. Steve tailored the content to suit our requirements, and the feedback we received from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, the storytelling workshop was so popular that we had to run a second one so that more staff could attend! The workshops are just the right balance of informative and interactive. The information is very practical and our people have been easily able to incorporate what they learned into their everyday work. Highly recommend!
Sonja Webb, OfficeMaxStorytelling Training Workshops
“Steve and his team worked with Canon Australia for over 5 years. They really hit the sweet spot between a large advertising agency and smaller design company. They have the strategic and creative firepower of a larger ad agency combined with the responsiveness, high quality design and affordability of a smaller design firm. They’re also incredibly easy to work with and committed to adding value to our business.
Nitya Padman, Canon AustraliaStrategy, Branding and Brochure Design
“We’ve had a really successful partnership with Steve, Nicqui and the team over the last four years. They have worked with us on a significant brand transformation project that has touched every aspect of our business from product naming strategies, through to new print collateral, trade stands, website, and digital advertising. The results have been phenomenal. Significant growth in market share, record sales month after month and the Marketing Leadership award at the 2016 Marketing Awards.
Steve Haines, ColorCoteRebranding, Website Design and Content Creation
“Steve has been a valued brand strategist for OfficeMax over the last 5 years and spearheaded the strategic thinking behind the re-positioning of our OfficeMax brand a number of years ago. He has a deep knowledge of business storytelling narratives and the ability to see where the perceptual white space is in the market and create a brand positioning strategy to successfully fill it.
Sonja Webb, OfficeMaxStrategy, TV Creative & Production, Storytelling
“I had first approached Steve when I first got started on the New Zealand Marketing Summit 2018. He was very helpful in the process and provided valuable insight into the importance of storytelling. Steve then went on to chair a stream at the event and in addition delivered a session on the same. His session was very well received by the audience. Steve has spoken at several Conferenz events and always leaves the audience wanting more. He is a great speaker and easy to work with
Mili Goswami, ConferenzSpeaking Engagements (Storytelling)
“I can highly recommend speaking with Steve regarding Story Driven Marketing. His presentation to the marketing team at Villa Maria was educational, informative and gave plenty of food for thought on how to apply it within our business.
Nadia Clews, Villa MariaStorytelling in Marketing
“As a product designer, I always thought that building the best product was the only real priority at an early-stage company. I've come to understand that's only half the equation – an inspiring and effective brand story about the world’s first autonomous multi-functional tractor is the other part. Steve and his team developed a story for the Oxin that began with two kids growing up in New Zealand, studying product design, designing overseas – and coming back to put kiwi ingenuity into practice with Smart Machine.
Andrew Kersley, Smart MachineBrand Story
“Being a start-up we don’t have the luxury of wasting money on ineffective marketing strategies.
Dave Murdoch, SimTutorStrategy, Messaging and Marketing Execution
The strategic workshop Steve ran for us has really helped to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing. We now have a greater clarity around our messaging, customer personas and the best channels to use to get our message to market
“In the early stages of setting up my business I became aware something was missing. I got in touch with Steve at Brand IQ to talk about developing a compelling brand story. I really liked their 3-stage process and our initial story strategy session was super valuable in defining my messaging. Brand IQ produced a brand story that was spot on, and then translated that into copy and visuals for our website.
Gareth Baker, ModernoBrand Story and Website Design
“Steve is an intuitive, creative marketer and has been a valuable strategic communications advisor to David Forman. His unique combination of business nouse, marketing expertise and brand narrative skills has really helped us to refine our messaging and brand positioning
Olivia Blaylock, David FormanStrategic Marketing Communications Advisor
“I have worked with Steve as a marketing advisor for over 15 years in leadership roles at Canon and most recently Manson & Co. He is one of the best marketers in the business and has always been a great strategic sounding board for me. Steve is an accomplished speaker and has a deep understanding of brand storytelling. I’m excited to see this play out in Brand IQ and to continue working with Steve and the team.
Craig Manson, Manson & CoMarketing Advisor
“Speedy Signs has experienced significant growth over the last 5 years, and Steve’s continuing strategic input and marketing mentorship has made a big contribution to that. Steve and his team have worked with us on a range of marketing projects from a nationwide brand refresh to television and radio campaigns and content marketing. This has helped us raise the profile of the brand, create deeper engagement with our franchisees and win more customers.
Grant Archibald, Speedy SignsStrategy, Creative, Production and Media
“We had the opportunity to work with Steve and team to develop a narrative for our brand story. We loved the enthusiasm, encouragement, and insights that Steve provided, and we were really happy with the story that was depicted. We think this will be invaluable to us as we grow as a brand!
Hannah Wood, Little LatoBrand Story
“Steve helped us get crystal clear about what is the unique value we deliver to parents, and how to structure that into a compelling narrative connecting with our staff and customers. He helped bring our mission, vision, and values to life in a unified way to describe what we do. This is having a very successful impact on our team’s engagement as we roll out the new story across the organisation.
Tony Ryall, Best StartMessaging Clarity
“Leftfield holds a unique position in our portfolio and required an equally unique approach. What made this project a special one for us is Steve’s refreshingly different approach to brand storytelling. Anyone can ‘talk the talk’ but Steve and his team were able to deliver a strategic direction and brand story that didn’t just talk at people - it invited them into the story.
Gabrielle Manu, Villa MariaStrategic Storytelling, Visual Concepting
“We can often find ourselves in the dilemma of knowing intuitively what our brand story is about but struggle to find the words to describe it clearly and succinctly. This was us at InnerFit, enter Steve and the team at Story-IQ. Steve took us through a discovery process that enabled the writing of the InnerFit story clearly articulating our purpose and point of difference. I highly recommend Steve and his motley crew of storytellers - they are truly gifted.
Ken Youngson, InnerFitBrand Story
“We can often find ourselves in the dilemma of knowing intuitively what our brand story is about but struggle to find the words to describe it clearly and succinctly. This was us at InnerFit, enter Steve and the team at Story-IQ. Steve took us through a discovery process that enabled the writing of the InnerFit story clearly articulating our purpose and point of difference. I highly recommend Steve and his motley crew of storytellers - they are truly gifted.
Ken Youngson, InnerFitBrand Story
“Trying to convince farmers that the reason their production is low is because they’ve been over fertilising for too many years is not an easy job. We needed a better way to educate farmers that what goes on in our soils affects the pasture, the animals, and ultimately our very existence. Story IQ nailed it with “Our future lies beneath our feet” brand story, resonating with them not just on a business level but a personal, emotional level as well.
Liz Davis, Uptake FertiliserBrand Story
“Try as we might, potential customers were having difficulty understanding just how our energy saving home automation system worked and what you could achieve with it. We luckily saw the Story IQ website and spoke with Steve of Story IQ who sat down with us and helped us identify the solution. He and the team presented us with a unique brand story that clearly defined the Ata Touch offering. They then produced an explainer video, refreshed our website to reflect our new brand story messaging, and took care of our digital marketing. It has been a pleasure working with Story IQ and they took the weight off our shoulders in trying to digitally connect with our customer markets.
Jain Tait, Ata TouchBrand Story, Video Concepting & Production, Brochure Design
“Our Kawerau Paper Mill has a truly unique sustainability story that differentiates us from our competitors. The key challenge was simplifying this story and how it could be told in an engaging manner. Story IQ helped framework this story by visiting our Mill, reviewing Purex, Sorbent and Handee brand positioning and how this could ladder up to an Asaleo Care manufacturing story. We have been delighted by the outcome, the structure and skill in story development has helped us with a clear direction to guide both our communication platforms and key brand strategies for many years to come.
Anne Lindsay, Marketing Manager Purex, Sorbent, Handee (Asaleo Care)Brand Story, Video Concepting
“Steve delivered a storytelling presentation at Hirepool’s recent sales conference.
Gary Richardson, Sales & Marketing Manager, Hirepooltorytelling Workshop
In our industry, where the intricacies of tools and machinery can often overshadow the essential human connection, Steve's insightful approach to storytelling was both refreshing and deeply resonant.
We pride ourselves on having some adept storytellers within our ranks. However, Steve demonstrated how much more effective you can be when you understand the structure of great stories. His arsenal of practical video and copy examples really brought his ideas to life in a simple way.
Thanks to Steve we are now better equipped to articulate the value we bring to our customers through powerful stories.
