Glass Tower has been helping New Zealand businesses of all types and sizes to connect and engage with customers, staff, stakeholders, the media, and communities of all kinds since 1997.
We’ve seen communications trends come and go, new channels emerge and disappear again and communications and marketing disciplines evolve and mature to meet the needs of the times.
Over the years, we’ve embraced the tools and technology that enable communicators to reach more of the right people more directly, and with messages that resonate more deeply, along with the magic of measurement made possible by the digital age.
In the decades since we started, the way the world gets information and engages has changed beyond recognition, but some things remain the same: people are still people, driven by the same needs, desires, wants and fears they have been for a millennia, effective communication still requires strong strategy and stand-out creative, and trust drives everything.
As a new generation add their skills to Glass Tower, they bring the same commitment to taking good care of our clients, help them navigate a constantly changing, confusing communications and marketing landscape, and continue to produce fresh, exciting work that connects, inspires, and gets the job done.
She started out as an ad agency copywriting in 1986, working on FMCG, professional services and consumer brands before getting the break she’d been waiting for in the radio industry. After doing the rounds of the regions in a variety of roles including promotions management, news-gathering and subediting, she leapt at the opportunity to work with the legendary Blackie at Radio Hauraki – even if it was as a part-time traffic reporter. Within a year she was a newsreader and co-host in a Hauraki new breakfast team, The Morning Pirates, which quickly climbed to second place in the intensely competitive Auckland radio market, and won three prestigious Mobil Radio Awards.
Susi moved to Christchurch in 1990 to form a new breakfast radio team with Phil Gifford and Simon Barnett, two years later leaving to start the next chapter of her communications career doing freelance promotions, PR and events management. As the client list grew, so did the need for staff, and within three years Glass Tower had been formed and grown into one of New Zealand’s largest public relations companies, launching a Casino, an airline and a town and working with organisations of all sizes to deliver targeted and effective public relations services and crisis management.
Susi and Douglas married in 1995, and found themselves working together often on the same clients and as new digital channels emerged, began to see the huge benefits that a truly integrated marketing service could bring to clients. It wasn’t until 2000 that Douglas joined the company as Creative Director, enabling Glass Tower to offer clients truly holistic solutions based on what was best for the client, rather than being driven by the narrow focus of a consultancy or agency with a narrow and limited skill set.
Over the years, Susi returned to radio for stints as a morning talkback host for Newstalk ZB, and today is bringing together all that experience together into the world of podcasting.
Susi works with clients to help them set strategy, plan campaigns and projects, navigate difficult communications situations, develop values and engagement programmes and become better communicators. She is in demand as a speaker and coach, has been an Australiasian evaluator for the international IABC Gold Quill Awards for a number of years, and is an engaging and skilled group trainer.
Douglas has worked in the advertising industry since the mid 1970s, with stints at several major agencies (including McCanns, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB and Ilotts) and has numerous awards to his name. His most recent role prior to joining Glass Tower was 15 years or so as Creative Director at Strategy Advertising and Design. He was listed in Campaign Brief’s 2006/7 Hot 200 Australasian Creative Directors list.
In 2007 he won the only Silver Clio in Australasia for his work on the Giacommetti campaign for the Christchurch Art Gallery. He’s been a Senior Judge at both the Axis and NZ BeST Design Award events and set up the SIAA for the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies.
Douglas has won a number of key industry awards, including:
Silver & Bronze Clio
A.W.A.R.D Silver Pencil (Australia)
New York Type Directors’ Club
ADC (Art Directors Club of America) awards
Axis awards
The One Show
M.A.P.D.A (Museums of Australia)
S.I.A.A
NZ Best Design Awards
Bramley joined Glass Tower in 2015, after studying design and technology, and brings enthusiasm and fresh thinking, alongside his measured and careful approach. He enjoys working with clients to bring campaigns to life, particularly in the digital sphere.
In true Maclean tradition, Bramley is an all-rounder, with equal-parts strategic and creative smarts and an ongoing drive towards ongoing learning and development. He’s passionate about forging new approaches to solving client needs as he helps redefine the business for a quickly evolving world.
Joining us after University, Will adds another perspective to the core team. Especially interested in telling people’s stories via social media, he’s immersed in the creation of organic content for Glass Tower for the many channels we work with on behalf of our clients.
Glass Tower Communications
Contact: susi@glasstower.co.nz
Areas of Expertise
Brand Development and Refresh
Content, Creative and Campaigns
Email Marketing and Database Management
Internal and Stakeholder Engagement
PR and Media Training
Social Media Services
Strategy Planning
Training and Coaching