What connects us.

Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. To some, the vast Pacific Ocean is what separates our island nations. But our ancestors saw it differently. The ocean is what connects us. It’s what moves us.

Moana is a creative studio built on the same idea. Whether it’s storytelling, brand building or social marketing and behaviour change, the work usually starts in the same place. To seek out what connects us to each other, to place, to identity, to culture. The aim is usually the same too. To try and move people. To feel, laugh or think. To move away from gambling harm, or towards Te Matatini. Or sometimes it’s about how we connect and collaborate, and move forward together on a project.

Moving People

The same process whether it’s social marketing or brand building, the focus just shifts. The five blocks are modular, we can run them all, or just one. And each block contains modules which you can keep or remove.

A modular process

Who are we trying to move, and where to? Who are the people we’re talking to? Who else is listening that could help, or become a problem? Who has a say over the work? What does success look like, and how will we measure it? Are we set up to succeed, and uphold everyone’s mana on the project? Are we willing to meet people where they are? This block helps us understand what you think the challenge is, what success is, and where the boundaries of the playing field we’re on are.
Empathy, understanding, relationships. What do people care about? What actually moves them? Which relationships do we need to start building now. Desk research, quant survey or talking to people. Wānanga with the people the idea needs to speak to, and the people who can help drive it.
Two types of idea. By this point we’ll already know which one is needed.
1) An idea that brand needs to own, that feels specific to the brand’s story and identity but also connects with people and culture. This is usually the case if we're selling sneakers, holidays or mobile plans.
2) An idea ‘the people’ own. When we’re in the business of social change, this tends to be what is needed. And there's a craft to getting it. The voices who can carry it, and grassroots activation and national movement working as a two-way engine. Our process puts a strong emphasis on social media in most social marketing.
Content. Design. Playbooks. Toolkits. Activations. A phased plan for delivery, with paid media experts connected in when the job calls for it. And the work goes into the world with partners and community on board.
Measure success, report it, optimise. And in the case of social change platforms we can work with you to build structures that give grassroots autonomy while everything keeps moving toward a shared national idea.

+STORY

In a content-driven world, the process itself can be a compelling story. Parts of the journey can be captured as it happens and shared to connect with audiences along the way.