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UNICEF Aotearoa campaign still translating a shift from institutional messaging to lived human reality, showing a child with a shovel silhouetted against the sun on a mound of earth.
UNICEF Aotearoa campaign still translating a shift from institutional messaging to lived human reality, showing a child with a shovel silhouetted against the sun on a mound of earth.

MOST BRANDS WANNA BE SEEN.

The ones that matter are‍‍ felt.

Youthline campaign image interpreting a strategy of trust and emotional safety into a close-up of an ear marked “24/7”, making always-available support feel immediate and human.

drew pollock

CREATIVE DIRECTOR + brand Strategist

I’ve always been interested in the bit that doesn’t quite add up.

What an organisation says about itself. What it actually does. What people experience. The distance between those things.

It’s something I’ve come across again and again in my work with brands like UNICEF Aotearoa, Les Mills, Youthline, TVNZ, Spark, MediaWorks and Lotto NZ. Different organisations. Different audiences. Often the same problem: inside, everything makes sense. Outside, it doesn’t quite land.

The usual response is more. More messaging. More content. More campaigns. More noise.

I’ve never been particularly keen on making more noise. I get jazzed finding the thing underneath. The reason something matters. The idea people recognise before it needs explaining.

Drew Pollock standing on a beach, during a break in a film shoot.
Drew Pollock standing on a beach, during a break in a film shoot.

Most brands don’t have a visibility problem. They have a meaning problem.

They’ve lost the thread between what they believe, what they say and what they do.

Drew Pollock standing outdoors next to a clothes rack with colourful towels hanging, with two chairs nearby, against a textured beige wall. A metaphor for finding the brand truth underneath organisational baggage.
Drew Pollock standing outdoors next to a clothes rack with colourful towels hanging, with two chairs nearby, against a textured beige wall. A metaphor for finding the brand truth underneath organisational baggage.

Sometimes that means strategy. Sometimes a new identity, a film, a website, a campaign or a piece of content. Often, all of them.

I work across the whole thing - leading teams, bringing people with me, directing the work and staying close enough to the making to know if the idea survives contact with the real world.

The thinking isn’t finished when it’s written down. It gets tested in the making. The strategy sharpens the work. The work sharpens the strategy. And eventually, someone has to feel what you meant.

That’s when brands really connect. Not when people repeat what you say about yourself, but when they recognise something of themselves in it.

For me, a brand’s truth only becomes meaningful when people can experience it as true to them.

PAST PROJECTS

select work experience

Freelance - Brand Strategist + Creative Director

I work with organisations across brand, campaigns and digital, bringing strategic thinking and creative direction together from the outset. From positioning and audience understanding through to content, websites and production, I help find the right problem to solve, shape the idea and carry it through into the work.

Youthline - Brand Strategist + Creative Director

Reframed Youthline around sincerity and emotional safety, translating audience insight into a more intimate, human brand experience. Worked across positioning, messaging, voice and visual expression to make safety, trust and anonymity tangible throughout the brand - not just in what it said, but in how it felt.

UNICEF Aotearoa - Creative Director + Strategist

Led an organisation-wide brand transformation, connecting positioning and identity with storytelling, digital XP and campaigns. Later led a major website and supporter-journey transformation, bringing content, UX and fundraising together to make it easier for people to understand UNICEF’s impact and act on it. Following launch, UNICEF reported a 476% increase in online donations, a 446% increase in donation revenue and a 560% increase in conversion.

TVNZ Blacksand — Senior Campaign Producer

Directed and produced integrated campaigns across broadcast, OOH, print and digital, working from creative development through to production and launch. Brought strategic intent to life through the details of the work - from scripts and visual direction to performance, pace and final execution.

MediaWorks - Senior Creative Producer

Led integrated B2B campaigns across broadcast and digital, translating commercial objectives and audience insight into creative work. Managed the process from brief and creative development through production and rollout, balancing the ambition of the idea with the realities of delivery.

awards

  • UNICEF Aotearoa digital experience translating a clarity- led communications strategy into connected storytelling, UX and donation journeys across desktop and mobile.

    Designers Institute NZ - Best Awards

    MULTIPLE FINALIST

    Recognising excellence in brand and communication design.

  • Stills from Shortland Street’s The Living Moment campaign, translating its audience- engagement idea into cinematic and interactive storytelling.

    Promax BDA World

    GOLD

    Awarded for creative excellence in media and integrated marketing.

  • TVNZ 2 rebrand montage carrying a distinct channel personality through performance, motion and screen identity.

    Promax BDA Australia

    MULTIPLE GOLD

    Recognising standout achievement in multi-media campaigns and broadcast content.

  • TVNZ Duke identity shown across digital, verbal and motion applications, carrying a distinct channel character consistently through the places audiences encounter the brand.

    Promax BDA NZ

    MULTIPLE GOLD

    Awarded for creative execution in broadcast production and marketing creative.

let’s talk.

Good work usually starts with a conversation.

For projects, collaborations, or something still forming.