About
One person, a long run-up.
I am Kieren Hoolihan. I have spent eighteen years running marketing and product design for brands you have heard of, mostly in Australia and New Zealand, mostly in categories where the retailer or the distributor holds the power. Yawn Marketing is that experience, made available directly.
Why a one person business
Because most of what large organisations pay an agency for is overhead. The account layer, the pitch process, the office, the people who sit in the meeting and say nothing. Strip that out and you are left with the two things that actually matter, which are judgement and time.
I keep the business small on purpose. Two projects at a time, a network of senior people I trust when a job needs more hands, and no incentive to sell you work you do not need.
Where I have been
- 2003 to 2008
Lion Nathan, Auckland
Retail, then sales. Liquor King as an assistant manager, then a sales representative ranging new lines into Foodstuffs customers across greater Auckland. Where I learned that a plan a sales team will not use is not a plan.
- 2008 to 2012
Samsung, Huawei
Consumer electronics and telco in New Zealand. Promotional strategy, in-store collateral, trade promotions and product training at Samsung, then Huawei's carrier partnerships with 2degrees, Spark and Vodafone.
- 2012 to 2013
Brother
Key account management on a portfolio in excess of $25M gross, and product management across label makers and accessories. The discipline of selling through a channel you do not control.
- 2013 to 2017
Canon
Product marketing in Auckland. New product development globally and locally, pricing the full range including promotions and incentives, and justifying all of it to senior leadership. The MAXIFY launch landed at 240% of target.
- 2017 to 2018
Directed Electronics
Product development in Melbourne. A small team sourcing and marketing new lines into the consumer electronics and automotive channels, across both distribution brands and in-house development.
- 2019 onwards
ECCO Safety Group
Head of marketing and director of product for the APAC region. A team of six, scope across Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and China, and the migration of Britax, Hazard, Xray Vision and PRECO into ECCO.
- 2023 onwards
Yawn Marketing, Suva
The same work, run directly for large organisations, government agencies and NGOs, without an agency structure sitting in the middle of it.
Working from Suva
I live and work in Suva. That matters for two reasons. Fiji sits one to three hours ahead of the Australian east coast depending on daylight saving, so a normal working day overlaps almost completely with Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland. And being here means I understand what things cost, who can print what, and how long a permit really takes.
For clients in Fiji that means someone local who has worked to international standards. For clients in Australia and New Zealand it means senior marketing at a sensible rate, in your time zone, from someone who spent a decade in your market.
I travel for the work that needs it. Workshops, launches and anything where being in the room changes the outcome.
Suva, Fiji · hello@yawn.marketing
Brands and organisations I have worked on
Next step
Tell me what you are trying to fix.
A 45 minute call, no charge and no pitch deck. If I am not the right person for it I will say so, and usually point you at someone who is.
The Monday note
One short email most Mondays. What I am seeing in the market, what worked, what did not. No sequences, no webinars. Two minutes to read, unsubscribe in one click.