Berlin based writer and storyteller
I help teams and individuals find and use their unique story, crafting communications and campaigns that hit home and deliver strategic objectives.
Often in dialogue with emerging technologies, always with a critical ear to the zietgeist, I refine and enhance authentic community stories to create shared values, new language and common understanding.
In a career spanning more than 20 years and three European cities, my narrative interventions have helped build businesses, platforms, organisations and culture, and have appeared at major shows including Cannes Festival of Creativity, Drapers Awards, and the EMEAs.
Work with me
Established in 2018, my writing studio in Berlin Kreuzberg is a base for working with clients, teams and co-conspirators.
Our approach fuses storytelling, craft and system design to deliver tangible audience engagement and real brand equity fast and fuss-free.
In a world of wily storytellers, trickery and bots, I help you identify your authentic voice and find a language that enables your people to own a story that cuts through the noise.
I am always open to working with new and returning clients and project teams, whether you’re a large organisation, network, small business, independent artist or boutique studio.
For rates and services drop me a line: stef.macbeth@gmail.com
You’ll find me on various platforms if you search “Stef Macbeth”.
A Tale of Three Cities
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I studied Philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow where I received the Edward Caird Medal in 2005. On graduating with a Masters, I got a dream job at Sub Club︎︎︎ coming on board a week after my last exam in a freewheeling role as writer and promoter mostly working on Subculture, the club’s flagship weekly resident-led Saturday night.
Working with a tight-knit group of artists and staff (including a young Hudson Mohawke and several founding members of LuckyMe), I helped steer one of the UK’s most influential independent venues through a complex period of transition, helping to secure both commercial futureproofing, robust artistic integrity and an incredible sense of community (that, 20 years on, still shines bright today).
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A move to London in 2006 led to a ‘proper job’ at JWT︎︎︎where I wrote copy and created integrated campaigns for household names such as Rolls-Royce, Visit Ireland, Deutsche Bank, Kraft Foods, Starbucks and others.
As a side hustle, and to keep me connected to the artists and underground culture I love, I found a creative outlet with Global Soundtracks, a project I worked on with friends. Presented by Tom Ravenscroft shortly before he joined the BBC 6 Music team, the biweekly podcast ran for 26 episodes.
In 2010 I joined Story Worldwide, an independent agency led by the singer from Gang Of Four︎︎︎ where as a senior member of the creative department I learned to lead pitches, (re)write briefs, manage teams and make workshops more interesting.
A speculative project I initiated, and ran, on story modelling︎︎︎ for brands in the digital age was the centrepiece of an Internet Week︎︎︎ session hosted by Story and attended by Fortune 500 company executives and several key figures in the tech industry.
Another lighthouse project I worked on at Story was a landmark digital campaign for The Havens︎︎︎. Made on a shoestring budget using footage shot at a real warehouse party, the native YouTube campaign (one of the first examples of interactive video) helped kickstart a long-overdue conversation about consent that would only finally enter the mainstream a few years later with #metoo.
In 2012 I co-authored the copywriting syllabus for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
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Since moving to Berlin in 2013 I have split my time between commercial, artistic and grassroots projects. This includes a period working with the artist Douglas Gordon, a commission for Borealis Festival, and my prize nominated debut novel.
Partners over the years include VICE Media agency Virtue and their client Carlsberg, Berlin startups such as Kontist, CoMatch and Blink Labs, and high-end whisky maker Royal Salute︎︎︎with whom I worked on a micro-limited edition batch that was sent out in hand-labeled bottles from the master distiller to prestige customers around the world.
From 2015 to 2018 I worked at Zalando, where I was a senior creative in the in-house agency, delivering several brand activations and contributing to lighthouse projects such as Project Muze︎︎︎ (with Google). Off the back of a well-received employer brand refresh and campaign, I was asked to head up the employer branding department at Zalando’s Berlin HQ, co-leading a team of 12 HR professionals and helping to establish core competencies, process and best practices.
In 2018 I set up my freelance business. Since 2021 I have been working with Beckers Group as an editorial director and senior creative creative strategist. Other key clients include Comprend (part of H&H Group), SEGRO and (most recently) Utility Aid, whose new website︎︎︎ and total rebrand I delivered with independent design studio Siren in less than three months from first briefing to go live.
Our approach fuses storytelling, craft and system design to deliver tangible audience engagement and real brand equity fast and fuss-free.
In a world of wily storytellers, trickery and bots, I help you identify your authentic voice and find a language that enables your people to own a story that cuts through the noise.
I am always open to working with new and returning clients and project teams, whether you’re a large organisation, network, small business, independent artist or boutique studio.
For rates and services drop me a line: stef.macbeth@gmail.com
You’ll find me on various platforms if you search “Stef Macbeth”.
A Tale of Three Cities
Glasgow
I studied Philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow where I received the Edward Caird Medal in 2005. On graduating with a Masters, I got a dream job at Sub Club︎︎︎ coming on board a week after my last exam in a freewheeling role as writer and promoter mostly working on Subculture, the club’s flagship weekly resident-led Saturday night.
Working with a tight-knit group of artists and staff (including a young Hudson Mohawke and several founding members of LuckyMe), I helped steer one of the UK’s most influential independent venues through a complex period of transition, helping to secure both commercial futureproofing, robust artistic integrity and an incredible sense of community (that, 20 years on, still shines bright today).
London
A move to London in 2006 led to a ‘proper job’ at JWT︎︎︎where I wrote copy and created integrated campaigns for household names such as Rolls-Royce, Visit Ireland, Deutsche Bank, Kraft Foods, Starbucks and others.
As a side hustle, and to keep me connected to the artists and underground culture I love, I found a creative outlet with Global Soundtracks, a project I worked on with friends. Presented by Tom Ravenscroft shortly before he joined the BBC 6 Music team, the biweekly podcast ran for 26 episodes.
In 2010 I joined Story Worldwide, an independent agency led by the singer from Gang Of Four︎︎︎ where as a senior member of the creative department I learned to lead pitches, (re)write briefs, manage teams and make workshops more interesting.
A speculative project I initiated, and ran, on story modelling︎︎︎ for brands in the digital age was the centrepiece of an Internet Week︎︎︎ session hosted by Story and attended by Fortune 500 company executives and several key figures in the tech industry.
Another lighthouse project I worked on at Story was a landmark digital campaign for The Havens︎︎︎. Made on a shoestring budget using footage shot at a real warehouse party, the native YouTube campaign (one of the first examples of interactive video) helped kickstart a long-overdue conversation about consent that would only finally enter the mainstream a few years later with #metoo.
In 2012 I co-authored the copywriting syllabus for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Berlin
Since moving to Berlin in 2013 I have split my time between commercial, artistic and grassroots projects. This includes a period working with the artist Douglas Gordon, a commission for Borealis Festival, and my prize nominated debut novel.
Partners over the years include VICE Media agency Virtue and their client Carlsberg, Berlin startups such as Kontist, CoMatch and Blink Labs, and high-end whisky maker Royal Salute︎︎︎with whom I worked on a micro-limited edition batch that was sent out in hand-labeled bottles from the master distiller to prestige customers around the world.
From 2015 to 2018 I worked at Zalando, where I was a senior creative in the in-house agency, delivering several brand activations and contributing to lighthouse projects such as Project Muze︎︎︎ (with Google). Off the back of a well-received employer brand refresh and campaign, I was asked to head up the employer branding department at Zalando’s Berlin HQ, co-leading a team of 12 HR professionals and helping to establish core competencies, process and best practices.
In 2018 I set up my freelance business. Since 2021 I have been working with Beckers Group as an editorial director and senior creative creative strategist. Other key clients include Comprend (part of H&H Group), SEGRO and (most recently) Utility Aid, whose new website︎︎︎ and total rebrand I delivered with independent design studio Siren in less than three months from first briefing to go live.
Life Practice
I continue to push myself, my teams and the disciplines in which we work, channeling what I learn from one area into the next.
I am a dedicated and habitual reader and cultural magpie:
Dickens to Andrew O’Hagan, Ali Smith, Claire Keegan, Percival Everett, Zadie Smith, Rachel Cusk and too many others to name, everything Mark Fisher ever wrote, anything by Sally Wainwright or James Graham, Steve McQueen’s films for the big and small screen, Jeremy Deller’s public performance pieces, fashion blogger Bliss Foster, subversive children’s fiction from Raymond Briggs to Michael Rosen’s Uncle Gobb series, lots of podcasts including the New Yorker Fiction Podcast, Backlisted, Lost and Sound︎︎︎, Philosophize This!︎︎︎, The Rest Is Politics...Bandcamp.
I also try to get away from media as often as possible, whether taking my kids camping, bouldering with friends, meeting up with my Berlin English language writers’ group, playing chess or going for a walk. I also enjoy cooking classic British dishes, exhibitions, theatre, classical concerts, clubbing and new ideas, forms and creative expressions that challenge my preconceptions and remind me that there is so much more to discover and learn.