‘Wingmaven is a game changer’: The rise of the ‘coach-sultancy’
Are ‘coach-sultancies’ the next big thing? These seasoned ex-marketers sure think so.
For businesses in Australia and New Zealand, Wingmaven says their ‘coach-sultancy’ acts as an extension of marketing teams – providing support in a unique way.
Founded by marketing leaders Jenn ten Seldam and Laura Wilson – whose combined experience spans NAB, Seek, Xero, and RACV – Wingmaven was created to solve a perennial marketing need: doing more, with less.
“There’s always been a need to make forced choices and trade offs about what capability and seniority you have to do without in marketing; with little relief on the results that are expected,” ten Seldam told Mumbrella.
“That pressure is now more acute than ever.”
Wingmaven’s Laura Wilson and Jenn ten Seldam
She said in those moments, finding creative solutions to extend capacities and skillsets is “top of the to-do list”.
However, many outsourced options that marketers typically turn to don’t “fit the bill” – despite being promised answers to their challenges, what often results is wasted time, effort, and budget, and little progress is actually made on goals.
“We saw a glaring gap in how companies approached marketing outsourcing. Most models either addressed strategy or execution, but they didn’t connect the dots between the two – and they didn’t focus on the people who had to make it all happen,” ten Seldam continued.
“Businesses don’t need another 100-page PowerPoint deck – they need a plan they can act on today.
“When you’ve led marketing for big brands, you see what’s possible when a business has a clear plan and a marketing function that’s truly match-fit to deliver it. But most businesses, particularly in small to medium business, don’t need – or can’t afford – a permanent CMO.
“What they need is a trusted partner who can quickly diagnose what’s working, and what’s not, design a plan and make sure it works! They need tangible impact that sticks and they need it fast. We set out to prove that we can get an exceptional result in a 1/3 of the time and two years on, we’re happy to say it’s often far less than that,” she added.
While we’ve seen the rise of the fractional CMO in recent times, Wilson said that comes with its own drawbacks. When you boil it down, an “outsourced part-timer” trying to tackle the remit of a CMO is a “huge ask”.
“The feedback we receive from fractional marketers in our network is that their attention and time can be oversubscribed and progress is much slower,” she explained to Mumbrella.
Unlike a fractional CMO, Wingmaven blends strategic and people consultancy with backgrounds in organisational coaching – coining the ‘coach-sultancy’ term.
It is described to bring the experience, perspective, and headspace to lead the work – but do so pragmatically without the ‘smoke and mirrors’ – as ten Seldam explained: “[We’re] quick to action and gain traction because everyone that needs to be engaged, has been engaged openly and thoroughly from the get-go.”
Wingmaven’s clients span industries, business sizes, and geographies, but according to Wilson and ten Seldam, they share a common trait: bold ambition.
The pair described their clients are “businesses with big plans” – scaling up, entering new markets, or repositioning for growth, for example. While the opportunities and context may vary, the strategic marketing process remains consistent.
And so far, client are loving this new approach to consultancy.
Alinta Energy’s GM of product and commercial, Nicole Brolan, described Wingmaven’s offering as “something unique in a market filled with consultancies wanting our business”.
She said the model helps the business achieve outcomes with a fit-for-purpose approach.
“It’s a game changer,” she continued. “The best part is they are not afraid to tell you the difficult truths of your organisation, team and approach, which all of us need more of to be truly successful.”
Nik Scotcher, chief sales and marketing officer at Levande, added that Wingmaven’s “real-world experience” is what has set them apart.
“Their ability to create the conditions for the right solutions to surface and be actioned is second to none – from deftly engaging everyone from the board to the frontline, to crafting and helping deliver the change narrative – means that strategy is able to be quickly developed, signed off and operationalised,” he said.
“It was refreshing to have an external partner that truly worked with us to develop a brand strategy that best serves the future of our business, rather than just disappearing with the brief and then re-surfacing with an answer. It meant we were able to develop and receive board endorsement in just 14 weeks, which is lightning speed for work of this calibre.”
Finally, Simon Hofmann, GM of brand and marketing at Kiwibank, said unlike hiring a generalist partner to help work through challenges, the Wingmaven team have brought knowledge and support that one can only curate through deep, hands-on experience.
“Combined with a view from other marketing teams they work with who have faced and overcome similar hurdles, it’s a really unique offering,” he explained.
“Their facilitation skill and intuitive frameworks mean we have been able to work through our challenges with both objectivity and insight, freeing me up to be fully present with my team to create solutions and step-change the way the team works together and adds value in the business.”
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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alinta energy
CMO
coaching
Consultancy
Jenn ten Seldam
Jennifer ten Seldam
Kiwibank
Laura Wilson
Levande
Marketing
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Wingmaven
Laura Wilson… best in the biz!
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