Welcome to Māia.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s home of kaupapa communications
About Māia
Our mission is to improve social outcomes by providing accessible expert marketing communications strategies and campaigns. We are also on a mission to bring more diversity to the communications industry.
Working across the country and internationally, we go 1:1 to get communications foundations right and we are there for campaigns that require impact and influence.
The Māia whānau comprises a tight-knit group of talented communicators who share a passion for purpose-led business. We have offices in Kāpiti/Pōneke and Tāmaki Makaurau.
Our Values
Māia
Māia is bravery, grounded in knowledge. Tangata whenua crossed the Pacific Ocean with māia because they weren’t just brave, they read the stars. And we empower clients with knowledge so they can be brave too.
Kaupapa Māori
We’re deeply connected to Aotearoa and its people, so Te Ao Māori, and the principles of kaupapa Māori, are essential to what we do.
Embrace discomfort
We challenge everything, and help our clients do the same. We can only change the status-quo by asking uncomfortable questions.
Diversity
We believe in diversity of culture, and diversity of thought. Because there’s strength in difference.
Go with your gut
We believe in energy and following your gut. If we’re getting vibes, they mean something.
Craft
We believe everything can be crafted, carved, and chiselled to reveal a richer story, or a stronger purpose. We are masters of our craft and we are always learning.
Our Mahi - Pou
The walls of our business stay strong supported by our four pou:
Kaupapa Māori – We provide communications strategies and campaigns for iwi, kaupapa Māori businesses, and organisations who are on a journey of cultural and diversity strengthening.
Causes – We amplify the voice of charities, Government organisations, and not-for-profits who are single minded in their pursuit of the greater good.
Music and entertainment – We support a range of independent artists, entertainment brands and events that add to the cultural tapestry of Aotearoa. We are currently developing Māia Music – an education platform and community to support independent artists at scale.
Conscious commerce – We help established businesses articulate their purpose and bring more impact to their operations.
How we work
The way we work is like weaving a tukutuku: the intricately woven walls of a meeting house. But to create a tukutuku, you need a plan, a purpose. So that’s the first thing we ask: “He aha tō kaupapa? What’s your purpose?”
Once we know your purpose, we can weave together our knowledge and perspectives, to create something uniquely beautiful. And tell your story to those who matter most.
This process is brought to life via our two key communications products:
- The Māia Conscious Communications Framework – our 5-step pathway to produce a strategic communications plan and brand strategy.
- Impact with Intention – our campaign management programme.
Communications Products
Conscious Communication Framework
Strategic Communications Plan & Brand Strategy
We developed The Conscious Communication Framework for changemakers in Aotearoa who want a solid cause-led plan that will deliver the goods.
Ours is a proven model that has helped kaupapa across Aotearoa develop integrated communications and brand strategies that honour Te Tiriti and springboard to impact. It is a framework based on insights, intentional tactics and with purpose at its heart.
Everything starts with kaupapa. Our process follows the principles of conscious marketing including the 5 P’s – Personal, Purpose, Product, People and Planet, and Promotion. It helps your team agree the magic of your ‘why’, bring it to life, and then share it with the world.
Our framework has five steps:
1. Workshop
A fun and creative experience for you and your team where we draw out insights about your team, the people you want to serve and the environment you’re operating in. We ask you about your perfect day and the legacy you want to leave.
2. Insights
We then take our insights from the workshop along with any other data, reports or business plans you have and we hold internal creative sessions at our studio.
3. Ideate
Part science, part art, together we come up with a memorable creative strategy, with pou (pillars) of activity that can achieve impact, speak to your people and champion your kaupapa. The strategy includes a 12-month calendar of activity across owned, earned and paid channels, as well as campaigns.
4. Articulate
Then we take what you’ve told us about your audience, your values and your muses and we create a brand strategy. This strategy forms a book that includes a messaging framework, tone of voice description and instructions, a whare kōrero and a master narrative. This will be used for briefing and creating all written and visual content for your brand or kaupapa in the future.
5. Write the Book
We take on your feedback, refine and deliver the goods – a printed Strategic Communications Plan, 12 month calendar for the wall and your Brand Strategy Guide Book
Your team – and/or suppliers we trust – will be able to deliver many of the tactics in the strategy, and we will be there to take the lead on campaigns.
Key Outputs
- Creative Workshop
- Strategic Communications Plan
- Communications 12-month Calendar
- Brand Strategy and guide book
Strategic Communications Plan and Brand Strategy
Investment $20,000+GST. Delivered within 4 weeks.
Payment terms – 50% Upfront. 50% on delivery of Strategies.
*The Conscious Communications Framework was developed by Māia and its methodology is the property of Māia
Impact with Intention
Campaign Management Programme
We developed the Impact with Intention Campaign Management Programme for changemakers in Aotearoa who need to raise the roof on a cause or kaupapa. Once we’ve laid the foundation through the Conscious Communications Framework, we are there to reconnect on campaigns that require impact and influence.
Our campaigns have been recognised in the Marketing Awards and the Comms Council prestigious Effies and Pressies awards.
We follow a proven model that has helped brands and rōpū across Aotearoa scale up their impact and connect with communities who ‘need to know’.
Our Impact with Intention process includes an establishment phase that we’ve honed to a fine art. It’s followed by an outcome-measured monthly delivery programme, with most campaigns going for 3-12 months.
Our fixed fees allow you to budget and plan with confidence – and intention.
Outputs include:
Master Campaign Planner – detailed calendar capturing all campaign tasks and milestones
Key docs:
- Design, supplier, partner and media spokespeople briefing docs
- Campaign messaging framework
- Social media pillars, templates and calendar
- Media list, media angle matrix, media kit and media release
- Resource development
Impact report
Monthly delivery includes:
- Social media post development, design and engagement 3 posts/week x 4 weeks
- Researching, crafting, pitching and securing media pieces x 3+ per month
- Resource copywriting, management of resource production
- Client, spokespeople liaison and campaign WIPs
Additional costs
Photography, videography, logo design, printing, merchandise unit costs
Impact with Intention - Campaign Management Programme
Investment $10,000 set up. Delivery $10,000 / per month for 1-3 months
Increase Your Impact
Optional extra to boost your campaign’s impact by adding a paid media element
Consisting of traditional / digital / social media depending on audience target and campaign relevance
Investment $5,000 + GST per month
Our Strengths
OWNED / EARNED / SHARED / PAID
Conscious communications is all about attraction rather than push marketing. Our roots are in PR, and our preference is to run campaigns that are led by the owned, earned and shared categories. While this is more cost-effective, in our experience this approach has been especially effective for social change campaigns.
We geek out on tone of voice and messaging frameworks and then get to work on seeing those messages cut-through to captivate those you are serving and who ‘need to know’.
We have close relationships with all national, industry, Māori and ethnic media. We develop and implement organic social and earned media matrixes daily. We activate small and large-scale events.
Our in-house creative team develop campaign strategy, script and brief in campaign iterations. We contract Luke and Jah for design, digital media design, photography and video production. 10XL are our digital and data partners.
Our co-founder Mihi Blake spent 15 years in the commercial arms of the largest media organisations in Aotearoa including NZME and MediaWorks before moving into digital agencies – working with commercial clients to develop integrated marketing campaigns across TV, radio, print and digital. At Māia, she leads our team in media buying and planning and has preferential status with commercial media teams, which allows us to plan and purchase paid media strategies at incredibly cost efficient rates. We work closely with media organisations across Aotearoa to get best bang for buck for our whānau of clients.
All campaigns include comprehensive impact reporting, using subscriptions and technologies such as iSentia, Muckrack, and Telum. We are also proficient in using the Google Journalism Studio, which helps us to look at old media sites, observe search trends, fact-check, and analyse large documents.
Recent mahi
Nau Mai Rā
Nau Mai Rā is the first kaupapa Māori power company and has a vision to make power equality a reality in Aotearoa.
We started working with this tech startup team on a pro bono basis in early 2021, and secured and worked on an in depth investigative story on power poverty with Jehan Casinader for Stuff. This piece catapulted the business and multiple news pieces and primetime stories followed, which all helped to call Government and generators to the table.
We then built a long-term communications strategy Step Into Your Power and developed a digital strategy for the team.
In 2022, we ideated, scripted and produced the viral Kia Tuakana campaign, which called on Aotearoa to #KiaTuakana across social media channels. The hero video gained over 360k views on Facebook alone.
We then became part of the core Nau Mai Rā team driving their growth strategy to welcome 10,000 whānau onto their waka. Nau Mai Rā co-founder Ezra Hirawani was named the Kiwibank Young New Zealander of the Year in 2022.
Recent mahi
Ngāti Kuri
Māia is communications partner of far north iwi Ngāti Kuri. We are building a comprehensive communications strategy across its varied work streams. With priorities that span whenua, moana and biodiversity, we have been on a deep dive with the Trust Board over two years.
Our first kaupapa was to support their mahi to increase iwi resilience – where we delivered an award-winning COVID-19 communications campaign #HīkoiTo100 that culminated in the first music festival in Aotearoa since the Omicron outbreak. The multi channel campaign included brand design, organic and paid social media content, earned media, a key media partnership and on the ground communications directly into the community. It culminated in a music festival that we produced to reward collective iwi efforts – the largest ever in the Far North and the first in Aotearoa since Omicron. This sustained messaging helped to increase vaccination rates and ultimately protect Ngāti Kuri whakapapa.
This communications campaign successfully spoke to rangatahi and kaumatua in remote locations who were showing significant reluctance to vaccinating. It was named finalist for the TVNZ Marketing Awards, and was awarded a Silver Effie and SIlver Pressie at The Communications Council Effectiveness and Pressie Awards.
HīkoiTo100 has become a resilience campaign for Ngāti Kuri, which we roll out when the uri needs to rally together. It’s second iteration was a booster campaign where we had local band Papa’s Pack record and release the Far North anthem Muriwhenua along with a music video celebrating their collective efforts of the rohe through COVID19. Launching in Waiata Anthems, it has had 300,000+ streams and has been in the top 10 te reo singles since September 2022.
In 2023, we are set to activate HīkoiTo100 through a resilience campaign for emergency preparedness.
Current mahi
Wai 262
In our mahi with Wai 262 we are rolling out a kanohi ki te kanohi engagement process with all iwi across the motu – laying the path toward constitutional change.
Wai 262 is known as the Flora, Fauna and Intellectual Property claim, laid by six visionaries over 31 years ago. The kaupapa is now carried by Te Taumata Whakapūmau – the roopu of descendants of original claimants, tōhunga and expert technicians – and managed through their kaupapa management office, Te Pae Roa. Te Pae Roa approached Māia to deliver a communications strategy that unites and guides the many parties involved in the complex claim.
We took Wai 262 through our Conscious Communications Framework process and developed a strategy for activating the Kanohi Ora process through communications for 2023 and beyond, including internal and external communications activities, social media strategy and content creation, media relations to secure Māori and mainstream media coverage for the kaupapa, and key event activations around the motu.
We will continue to foster opportunities for Wai 262 to be shared with all Māori and key stakeholders to uphold the mana of the claim and support iwi who share similar aspirations for their respective iwi taonga.
Recent mahi
M9
Māia became communications partners with events company Janda in 2022. We supported them in the installment of their third year of the M9 Production with a communications strategy Beyond the Curtain that allowed for their audience to interact with the kaikōrero on stage and behind the scenes.
The first kaupapa for M9 2023 was Taku Ihi, Taku Wehi, Taku Wana – Kapa Haka: A performers perspective. The nine kaikōrero of the night included Rawiri Waititi, Kiri Tamihere, Kura Te Ua, Cilla Ruha, Matai Smith, Peata Melbourne, Bailey Mackey, Kahurangi Milne and Troy Kingi, telling their stories of kapa haka, in celebration ofTe Matatini.
Communications for M9 activated a multi platform approach with the goal of building M9 social media presence and following as well as driving M9 event ticket sales.
Combined, the activity of social media strategy, copywriting and content creation for organic and paid social media campaigns, media relations and engagement, speaker relations including speaker packs, briefing docs and key messages. This communications campaign was built around the build up to the highly anticipated Te Matatini – the biggest Māori Performing Arts Festival in Aotearoa.
The second installment of M9 2023 will take place on July 1st.
Recent mahi
Rare Disorders Month
Māia developed a strategy for Rare Disorders pro-bono, and was then engaged to implement the first Rare Disorders Month in March 2023. We developed the #GlowUpShowUp campaign to bring this population out of the dark.
For the public, strategic messaging aimed to encourage Aotearoa to ‘glow up and show up’ for the 300,000 New Zealanders who live with a rare disorder. Meanwhile, the Government was called to ‘do right by rare’ and follow through on their promise to deliver a national rare disorder strategy.
To ensure public engagement, Māia developed detailed ‘packs’ for schools, support groups, workplaces, and community groups with guides on how to #GlowUpShowUp. Guides taught volunteers how to run events, social media and digital content, using free temporary tattoos, printable resources, and donations.
Rare Disorders Month gained sustained media presence throughout March with over 50 pieces of coverage across major broadcast, print, and online news media – reaching hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.
On social media, dozens of community groups, support groups, individuals and workplaces showed their support. Highlights included a glow up accessory day at Rowing NZ, a bespoke Glow Up cocktail at Carousel Bar, and a themed Paint and Sip event from IDFNZ. A Rare Beer brewing event by Fortune Favours attracted brewers and beer enthusiasts from across the country and amplified #GlowUpShowUp.
Māia owned social media content creation, copywriting, posting, and engagement throughout March. This saw an 87% increase in reach on Facebook to 14,897 users. On Instagram, Māia built a new Rare Disorders NZ profile which over the four week period, reached 1.2k users.
Recent mahi
Endeavour Live
Endeavour Live has been the entertainment industry leader in the creation and production of pre-eminent live concert and events experiences across New Zealand for the past 20 years.
Māia has been working with Endeavour since October 2022, in partnership with our digital and social media experts 10XL, to drive awareness and sales for the priority events Rhythm and Vines, Golden Run Series Basement Jaxx and Wilkinson through digital and social media marketing strategies and campaigns.
We designed integrated social and digital campaigns using key audience research and data via analytics audits, custom website tracking into ticketing sites and utilizing analytics dashboards. Alongside data research, key messaging to reach target audiences was developed for each campaign – supported by testing and learning strategies and conversion optimisation to ensure efficiencies and impact.
All campaigns are executed on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube and include content and advertising -and have delivered in excess of 800,000 reach, 2,500,000 impressions, average cost per acquisition of $6 and average ROAS of 1,450%.
Each campaign included in-depth reporting dashboards, allowing Endeavour Live to keep up to date with campaign progress and have visibility throughout the process and campaigns.
We continue to work with Endeavour Live as a key marketing partner specialising in digital and social media strategy, campaign development and execution.
Recent mahi
Jackson Owens
Jackson Owens is an emerging R&B artist who engaged Māia to support the release of his debut EP Better With You on May 13th, 2022, and its second single Can’t Make It Right.
Māia secured a total of 49 pieces of media coverage across mainstream, national, music, iwi, print, online, and social media. This included primetime spots on Tv1 Breakfast, Mai FM, Te Karere, Te Ao Māori News and Flava.
This impact was seen in the Charts, where Can’t Make It Right spent 10 weeks in the Hot NZ Singles Charts, 4 months in the Shazam Top 200, 16 weeks in the Radioscope NZ Airplay Chart – with 7 weeks in the top 5, 16 weeks in the RadioScope100, and 16 weeks in the R&B Beats Airplay chart – with 10 consecutive weeks in the top 3.
Jackson has since re-entered the charts with the EP’s third single, Mind Control, and his Waiata Anthems single Tē Tika Mai Ai.
Jackson was a finalist for the Aotearoa Music Awards in the Te Kaipuoro Awe Toa | Best Soul/RnB Artist category for the Better With You EP. Without a debut album, Jackson was the only emerging artist nominated in the category.
Recent mahi
Digital Boost
At the beginning of 2021, Māia was engaged by MBIE to drive awareness for and sign ups to the Digital Boost programme for small businesses, through PR and paid media campaigns.
We devised the multi channel strategy, including earned and paid media, across TV, print, digital and radio nationwide, to reach the audience of small business owners. Our approach led with earned PR and sponsored content achieving 88 pieces of media coverage over the course of 3 months with an EAV of $1.4 million.
After the initial period of earned media we implemented our paid marketing strategy to reach small business owners, using insights and data to determine key channels. Our large scale media buy included multi media campaigns across TVNZ, Three, Stuff, NZ Herald, Newstalk ZB, The Sound, The Rock and More FM, resulting in a cumulative reach of over 2.5 million and digital impressions of over 8 million in 3 months.
Following this, The Mind Lab engaged Māia for communication support for the introduction of the Te Reo Māori integration and the Digital Boost Live app.
Recent mahi
MindTheGap
MindTheGap NZ approached Māia for communication support in October 2021, with the courageous ambition to address pay gaps in Aotearoa through a campaign to convince big business in Aotearoa to commit to voluntary public pay gap reporting.
Required pay gap reporting has been effective in other OECD countries in reducing pay gaps and this group want to see that happen here for gender, Māori, and ethnicities.
Over just five months, we were able to develop and execute a marketing/communications strategy Line Up for Equal Pay that captured the attention of Government, media, alliance organisations, and the general public, and ultimately drove change.
Our small team crafted a narrative and worked to secure 106 pieces of media coverage along with targeted advertising which resulted in widespread public awareness. We worked with stakeholders across alliance organisations, large businesses, Government and people with lived experience. The result? 47 large businesses committed to pay gap reporting by International Women’s Day, and the Government moved publicly to prioritise pay gap transparency. Our efforts generated an Equivalent Advertising Spend of $5 million.
Our People
Co-Founder
Mihi Blake – Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngai Tūhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto
Mihi knows her way around NZ media landscape, having worked across all traditional and new media platforms. She spent 15 years in NZ’s largest media companies integrating campaigns across digital, TV, radio and print before moving to specialise in communications.
Mihi applies her media strategy know-how and long term connections in the industry to ensure maximum impact for our kaupapa.
Mihi has a passion for supporting and empowering businesses and enterprises who have bold aspirations and a genuine desire to change their world.
She specialises in advising companies to build diversity into the heart of their business and has a particular interest in helping to build cultural capability in organisations.
Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Mihi holds close connections in te ao Māori and alongside Noenoe guides Māori world view in the Māia team.
Co-Founder
Bee Stevenson
Bee brings two decades’ experience as a creative, publicist, brand strategist, marketer and writer. With qualifications in journalism, creative writing and creative advertising, Bee has led communications campaigns for a number of national and international brands.
Bee set up her own practice – Brave Bear Publicity – in 2013, with the goal to deliver brave ideas for brave clients driven by social impact.
Bee and Mihi partnered in 2020 over a shared value base and a desire to scale up their impact. Under Māia, Bee heads up our Māia cause and Māia conscious commerce pou. She works on creative strategy and brand positioning across all clients, while leading the writing team.
Based on the Kāpiti Coast, Bee is passionate about community, whānau and equipping the next generation with creative communication skills.
Recent campaigns Bee has penned include Kia Tuakana for kaupapa Māori electricity retailer Nau Mai Rā, and the award-winning HīkoiTo100 for Ngāti Kuri.
Communications Manager
Tilly van Eeden
Tilly works full time between Wellington and Kāpiti and has been with the team since the beginning of 2021. She joined after completing her Bachelor of Communication degree at Massey University and finishing up a six-month communication internship for a charitable trust.
Throughout her studies and work experience, Tilly learnt how to write both strategically and creatively, discovered the importance of curiosity and research, and explored the role of media and technology in a rapidly changing, globalised world.
After graduating, Tilly received a Massey Scholar Award, a Dean’s List Award, and the PRINZ Prize in Public Relations Management. During her study, she gained top student awards in seven different courses. She has quickly become a safe pair of hands, working across campaigns, managing timelines, helping to develop strategy, and outputting work efficiently and effectively.
Tilly was behind the #GlowUpShowUp campaign for Rare Disorders and she spearheaded the 2021 launch of MindTheGap a pay equity campaign.
Communications Manager and Tikanga Advisor
Noenoe Barclay-Kerr – Waikato, Ngāti Māhuta, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Māhanga
Noe worked in the media industry before joining Māia, where she gained skills presenting, translating, directing, producing, in content development and consulting – with a focus on progressing kaupapa Māori in that space. Her path has seen her working with large organisations and smaller companies who aim to build the cultural capacity of their business.
She is deeply involved in her community, which is heavily influenced by te ao Māori. Raised fully immersed in te reo Māori she has a BA in Te Reo me ngā Tikanga Māori from the faculty of Indigenous Studies at Waikato University.
Media and communications have become a passion for Noe, and this passion led her to Māia. At Māia Noe leads te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, and marries her growing skills in traditional communications with her innate knowledge and wisdom of all things Te Ao Māori, to help clients create truly integrated communications strategies that consider both business and kaupapa. She is also our inhouse video editor, with skills in social media content development.
In her downtime, Noe sails waka hourua, and helps her whānau trust to educate rangatahi and tamariki on the importance of mātauranga Māori and the achievements of their tūpuna.Noe led the Te Hau Kōmaru national waka festival and campaign, she delivered the HīkoiTo100 vaccination campaign and she leads the delivery of the Wai262 campaign.
Campaign Manager
Phil Howling
Phil is our Campaign Manager at Māia and brings a massive punch to our music and entertainment pou.
A highly experienced senior music and entertainment industry consultant, Phil has over 25 years experience working within both the highly competitive domestic and international music markets. He most recently spent 12 successful years heading Warner Music New Zealand. Previously, Phil held long and successful senior level positions in sales, marketing, publicity and promotion with Universal Music, Sony Music and EMI.
At Māia, Phil helps to onboard new clients across all pou and project manages social media campaigns and activations. He also works on building strategies, especially for our whānau of recording artists. Phil is also involved in the building of Māia Music, our platform for independent artists in Aotearoa.
Visual Content Director and Producer
Luke Penney – Te Roroa
Luke Penney is a talented emerging visual content creator in Aotearoa design space, and we are lucky enough to have him as part of the Māia whānau.
Luke predominantly works as a director, and he also holds excellent skills in photography, videography, post-production editing, motion graphics, colour grading, graphic design and social-media strategy.
Over the years he’s used the music industry to really stretch his creative muscle, creating video and photography content for many acts such as Paige, Corrella, Lime Cordiale, William Singe, Wells* and Chaii to name a few.
Luke shares office space with our Tāmaki Makaurau team and has worked with Māia on a number of kaupapa including Ngāti Kuri, Wai 262, Nau Mai Rā, Waiata Anthems and with our independent recording artists.
Creative Director - Design
Jah Marsh – Ngāpuhi (Ngāti Toro) and Ngāti Maniapoto (Ngāti Rora)
Jah Marsh is an artist and designer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. His art career was influenced by his grandfather and father who were both Māori carvers and artists.
The sport industry is Jah’s main wheelhouse. Notable brands Jah has worked with include Basketball NZ (current rebrand, merch design, advertising, marketing, creative direction), NZ Tag Football inc (digital design, website design), Māori TV (Set design, graphic & digital design), Code Sports Show (Set design, graphic & digital design BEST Award finalist), Westpac Halberg Awards (music production 3 years), Sky TV (Sport graphics & design), PURE Athletic (Brand, social, marketing, advertising, Creative direction), and Oliver MMA (rebrand, marketing, advertising, brand management, creative direction).
Jah has a Bachelors in design and visual art, and has achieved candidature for his Masters of Design. Jah’s background is in graffiti and street art, brand, digital design, graphic design, textile, streetwear and fashion, and music production.
Jah shares office space with our Tāmaki Makaurau team and has worked with Māia on a number of kaupapa.
Jah’s work
Our clients, our whānau
Our clients, our whānau