While the brass neck team might be small but (we like to think) pretty mighty, for those who might not have come across our co-founder and director of communications, Kirsten, before we thought you should get to know her a little better.
Here, she answers 10 killer questions.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get into working with tech brands?
A: I have been working with tech brands since I graduated from uni. I was invited to join a graduate scheme at an award-winning international PR agency in London to join the tech team and I haven’t looked back.
I worked my way through the ranks at the agency over 11 years, leading a mix of UK and global campaigns for the likes of EMC, Infosys, Adobe, Worldpay and Avanade. It gave me the best possible start in my career and allowed me to cut my teeth in the tech sector.
After having my children, I relocated to Edinburgh in 2018 and got close to the Scottish tech ecosystem. The rest, as they say, is history!
Q: What have you found to be the main difference between working in London and Scotland?
A: While incredible companies are choosing to call either London or Scotland home, I love being in the heart of the ecosystem up here (maybe it's the bias of being Scottish).
Being able to directly help shape and launch new thinking and products or services or give an authentic voice to brands through thought leadership content gives me all the good feels.
Q: Where did the idea for brass neck come from?
A: It started with a chat with Ray Bugg (the founder and director of DIGIT). Having worked with Ray since returning to Scotland, we saw a gap in the market for a specialist content firm with a team born and bred in the tech scene.
As I work towards two decades in the sector (I know, I don’t look old enough), it felt like a no-brainer that we create a new partnership to fill that gap and reposition content emerging from the magnificent tech startups and scaleups in Scotland that will work for them, their audiences and the media.
Q: What excites you most about the tech ecosystem in Scotland?
A: Seeing organisations come to market and thrive first-hand is thrilling. While there are business / financial challenges to being based in Scotland, we are swimming in innovative thinking, approaches and services.
The university network here is incubating groundbreaking spinouts and scaleups, not forgetting programmes like Techscaler, EIE and Scottish EDGE providing a foundation for new entrants to the market to thrive.
Q: When are you truly proud of the work that you do?
A: In a true cop-out moment, there are a couple of scenarios – but for different reasons.
Working with clients to achieve their objectives by trying something different from before is exciting. Changing the style of content produced to an eBook or report can make a world of difference to an organisation’s sales cycle. It makes me so happy to see how moving that needle even a little can allow an organisation to tell its story in a new and fresh way that engages new and old audiences alike.
Running workshops and seeing delegates leave the room motivated to take their learning into their every day gives me one of the biggest boosts.
Q: What makes you tick?
A: If I had a Room 101 box…. Jargon and marketing spiel would be straight in there!
Getting tangled up in jargon or marketing spiel that is so complicated you require three degrees to understand or words that say absolutely nothing infuriates me.
At brass neck, I promise from the get-go that if we see rogue “solutions” or “leverage” trying to sneak into any content we produce, we’ll have an honest chat about how we can refine the meaning behind their use.
Q: What gets you out of bed in the morning?
A: Well, if it isn’t the kids waking me at the crack of 5 am; coffee and a passion for creating something that makes a difference for the organisations I work with will just about do it.
Q: And outside of work… what does that look like?
A: I love to eat out when I can, but I am also fortunate to have a partner who is such a brilliant chef that even eating at home can feel like going out!
I am also a bit of a gym bunny and love nothing more than slamming a medicine ball of an evening after work (IYKYK) or being outside on the paddleboard when the weather is a little brighter and less breezy. I have also become fond of exploring the east coast of Scotland – give me a takeaway coffee, a slice of lemon drizzle and a beach any day and you’ll have a very happy Kirsten.
Q: What kind of a difference would you like to make with brass neck?
A: While content will be a big part of what we do, I want to ensure that we can coach those working within Scottish tech brands to be more confident in their approach to conversations relating to comms and content internally.
Equally, the dream is to ensure tech startups and scaleups completely remove unnecessary jargon from all their comms – be it part of investment or marketing activity – to ensure they can appeal to the broadest audience possible. Baby steps though.
Q: Finally, how can people get in touch with you to learn more about brass neck?
A: Oh, that’s the easiest question of all! Anyone interested in learning more about brass neck and how we can help them can drop me a line at hello@brassneckhq.com or visit the brass neck website.
Comments