Making sense of
marketing chaos.
Growth through clarity.
Marketers
Who are you and what’s your problem?
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Most executives struggle to express their brand simply. And if you can’t do it, your chance with the consumer is nil.
Distinctive and relevant brands drive 70% higher NPS, 2.5x the sales growth and 2x the EBIT growth than those that are poorly defined*
Developing a brand stance - the north star of the brand - will unlock efficiency and success.
That’s Sense.Maker’s north star.
* BAV analytics and modeling; BERA.ai
Agencies
Who are you and where do you win?
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Agencies preach differentiation to their clients, but few deliver it for themselves. Clients can tell what agencies don’t do well, but often struggle to understand your sweet spot.
Successful agencies clearly communicate how they solve problems. Where can you win?
Let’s sharpen your focus.
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With a defined process, enviable skill sets such as behavioural science, consumer and business insight and CX and over 30 years experience, Sense.Maker will help you define a resonant brand stance and platform.
Quickly.
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…well, you know. But as Einstein pointed out, you cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that caused it. Sense.Maker takes an objective approach using data, design-thinking and collaboration to reframe the problem at hand.
From clearly defined problems we can develop effective and compelling solutions.
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Pivoting to growth - and sustaining it -is a team effort. Does your team have the skills, tools and structure to deliver?
Our executive coaches and leadership consultants help align business strategy with human resource capital to reignite growth.
We’ll start with a discovery to help your leaders see themselves clearly and objectively through 360-degree input, reflection and introspection. Through a three-pillared approach and supportive coaching, we’ve helped global teams pivot to sustainable personal, professional and business growth.
Meet Arthur
Arthur has 30 years of marketing, advertising and business leadership expertise. He co-founded and grew john st. into one of Canada’s premier agencies, ultimately joining WPP in 2013. Arthur went on to serve as Group CEO and Country Manager, creating integration in complex, multi-service environments. Having worked with more than 70 client organizations across numerous categories, he brings his strategy, operations, business-development and talent-optimization skills to leaders of agencies and businesses in an advisory capacity. Arthur identifies as optimistic, intuitive and a little impatient. The ideal qualities of a sense maker.
The SenseMakers
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Tom St John is a technologist, growth strategist, and leader who’s spent the last 20 years building and scaling high-performing SaaS, eCommerce, and digital media companies. From founding startups with successful exits (and one spectacular crash) to leading marketing at VC-backed ventures, he brings a rare blend of entrepreneurial grit and enterprise precision.
Tom's perspective is shaped by hands-on leadership across three worlds: agencies, high-growth B2B SaaS, and consumer-focused D2C brands. He’s built national digital agency teams, led enterprise demand gen, and executed full-funnel marketing across paid search, social, email, SEO, TV, and more. This cross-industry fluency allows him to connect brand, product, and performance ensuring strategy doesn’t just sound good, it lands.
What sets Tom apart isn’t just execution—it’s his curiosity and how he applies it. He’s deeply engaged in the evolving world of AI, building practical tools and advising leaders on how to integrate AI into strategy, workflow, and culture. Equal parts builder and translator, Tom makes complex technologies feel accessible and actionable. He’s as comfortable architecting AI-powered systems as he is guiding executives through what it all means. With a calm, collaborative approach and a sharp eye for what matters, Tom helps teams turn emerging tech into real momentum.
Tom’s core values are simple: thoughtful action, purposeful work, and impact without ego. He partners best with leaders who value sustainable growth, teams driven by curiosity, and people who don’t take themselves too seriously (bonus points for well-timed roasting).
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Mat is an award-winning brand strategist and certified qualitative researcher with nearly two decades of experience across network and independent creative agencies in the UK and Canada. He blends data and creative intuition to help brands break through in meaningful ways.
He has collaborated with global and national brands across sectors, including CPG leaders like Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Grupo Bimbo, retail giants such as Signet Jewellers, Sobeys, and Lululemon, financial institutions like RBC, CIBC, Meridian, and Square Payments, and automotive icons such as BMW, Honda, and Nissan.
As a partial-load college professor, Mat also inspires and mentors the next generation of Canadian advertising talent.
Don’t let his pleasant demeanor fool you. Mat asks direct questions, synthesizes information and delivers a clear POV like the true Brit that he is.
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Graham spent 15 years as an Art Director/Creative Director at ad agencies in Toronto, Vancouver and Bermuda. He took that experience, along with a love and knowledge of the production side of the creative process, to his own venture in late 2014 – a creative services company capable of providing videography, photography, motion graphics, editing, and graphic design. A balanced understanding of the business side of advertising as well as what it takes to crack a great creative idea, makes Graham a valuable partner to clients and agencies alike. Calling on a vast, trusted network of fellow production partners, Graham / Tingle Creative can scale up or down to fit any project, keeping overhead costs low and managing budgets of all sizes. Graham helps Sense.Makers do the making. Check out some of his work here: http://www.tinglecreative.com/What good is sense making if you can’t execute simply, beautifully.
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Umar Ghumman and Maxine Abuyuan are CX experts who blend strategy and creativity to drive growth through customer experience (CX).
With three decades of combined experience, they have built websites, apps, loyalty programs, and digital ecosystems for global brands like TD, Microsoft, Mazda, and Coca-Cola. They have worked across categories including, finance, CPG, automotive, retail, hospitality, telco, beauty, and healthcare in Canada and the U.S.
Their brand-rooted CX approach ensures CX and brand work as one to drive business growth, creating experiences that engage, convert, and fuel profitability.
Formerly Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Experience Design Officer at WPP’s VML, they have led CX innovation at the highest levels. Beyond client work, they are board members, award-winning leaders, speakers, mentors, and awards judges shaping the future of CX.
At NewBrains, they help companies make CX a competitive advantage. Max and Umar can be reached here, or at New Brains.
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Suki and Nick are the co-founders of Mirrorbox Leadership Lab, a leadership development and executive coaching firm that works in partnership with Sense.Maker. Recognizing the demands on executives’ time, they created Mirrorbox to help clients prioritize their growth and development. This vision shaped Mirrorbox’s core philosophy: Commitment, Experimentation, and Reflection.
For busy executives to truly invest in their development, they first need to commit to their growth by understanding why it matters to them. Next, they must be open to experimenting with new ways of leading—embracing new mindsets, behaviors, and skills. Finally, reflection is key; by intentionally assessing their progress, leaders can identify areas for adjustment and continue evolving.
Suki and Nick have supported thousands of executives globally and across various industries. They see themselves as partners in a leader’s development journey, blending deep self-discovery with practical application. Their distinctive approach empowers clients to turn insights into tangible leadership impact.
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As CEO of Heads Up, Megan and her team bring Sense.Maker clients years of experience in qualitative research, innovation and strategy across a wide array of categories. They will match the right specialist with your project, and offer a single point of contact.Going beyond traditional research providers, Heads Up offers our clients new approaches to consumer research at scale. Their tools include in-depth interviewing, focus groups, ethnography and consumer profiling.
In addition to a fresh approach to uncovering insights, Heads Up provides innovation services, workshop leadership, training, brand planning and customer journey mapping.
You can engage Heads Up through Sense.Maker or by visiting Heads Up
Services
Advise
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You just have an uneasy sense that you or your organization are missing out on growth opportunities. But you’re not sure why. Let’s start with a clear definition of the situation. A combination of asking better questions, stakeholder interviews, listening, proprietary and client data review help us bring clarity.
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Sometimes the hurdles are close to home. We offer advisory to senior leaders and teams either 1:1 or through workshops to help change behaviour or process that’s holding you back. A trusted advisor provides both a sounding board and where needed, redirection.
If a more fundamental change is needed, our Sensemakers will develop leadership and team growth plans; process improvement; interpersonal development; communication skill development.
Do
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Strategy is only theory. Until it leads you to something great.
We start with an assessment or creation of a marcom and creative strategy. Unlike consultants, we carry through the action plan to make it happen. Clients engage us to augment existing partner or in-house resources, or plan, create and scale projects from end-to-end.
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If you have all the raw ingredients but just need to tweak the recipe, Sense.Maker will guide your team to unlock their potential.
Lead
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At times, it’s just simpler to bring the resource in-house. Bring us into the organization to improve leadership and set the team up for success on a part-time or interim basis.
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Let us build internal skills in strategy, agency and partner relations, commercial agreements, creative development and business development by stepping into the role on a fractional basis.
Brands we’ve helped.
