Berlin-British author, copy director and story consultant

I craft narrative, usually involving words or their creative removal.

Often in dialogue with emerging technologies, always with a critical ear to the zietgeist, I tell stories inspired by community experiences. In a career spanning more than 20 years and three European cities, my mixed media narrative work has appeared at multiple international awards shows including Cannes Festival of Creativity, Drapers Awards, EMEA and the Clios. 

My debut novel, FOLK, which comes out on Velocity Press in summer 2025, was longlisted for the Mckitterick Prize. Other recent nominees for the prize (awarded by the British Society of Authors to a first novel by a writer aged 40 or over) include Douglas Stuart and Louise Kennedy.

Studio

Established in 2018, my studio in Berlin Kreuzberg is where I work with international partners including Beckers Group, SEGRO, Newmark, Macenta Beans, H&H Group and Saab.

Our approach fuses storytelling, craft and system design to deliver tangible audience engagement and long-term brand equity fast and fuss-free.   

I am always open to working with new and returning clients and project teams, both large and boutique.

For rates and services drop me a line: stef.macbeth@gmail.com

You can also find me on social media if you search “Stef Macbeth”.   

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A Tale of Three Cities

GLASGOW
2000-2006

I studied Philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow, where I was awarded the Edward Caird Medal in 2005 and was editor-in-chief of the uni newspaper from 2003-04.

On graduating, I joined the team at Sub Club︎︎︎ coming on board as in-house writer as well as co-promoter of the flagship weekly party ‘Subculture’. Working closely with a tight-knit group of artists and staff at the club, I helped steer one of the UK’s most influential independent venues through a period of transition. Guests during my tenure include key figures in the history of dance music, notably long-time friends of the club Andrew Weatherall︎︎︎, Terrence Parker, Kerri Chandler, Larry Heard, DJ Heather, Derrick Carter, and Honey Dijon︎︎︎, as well as breakthrough sets from Âme, Dixon, Detroit Beatdown, and Freaks (Luke Solomon and Justin Harris).   


LONDON
2006-2013

A move to London in 2006 led me to the creative department at JWT︎︎︎ where I developed copy and integrated campaign concepts for (among others) Rolls-Royce, Visit Ireland, Deutsche Bank, Kraft and Starbucks. On the side, my love of emerging sounds found an outlet with the Global Soundtracks podcast hosted by Tom Ravenscroft (BBC 6 Music)︎︎︎. 

In 2010 I joined Story Worldwide, an independent agency led by the singer from Gang Of Four︎︎︎. There I learned to lead pitches, (re)write briefs, manage teams and make workshops more lively.

A speculative project I initiated and ran on the Hero’s Journey (what I would later dub story mapping︎︎︎) was the centrepiece of an Internet Week︎︎︎ session hosted by Story and attended by Fortune 500 company execs and key figures in the tech industry.

Around the same time I worked on a landmark digital campaign for The Havens︎︎︎. Made on a shoestring budget using sequences shot at a real warehouse party, the native YouTube campaign (one of the first examples of interactive video) raised awareness around themes of consent that would later inform contemporary #metoo︎︎︎ discussions.

In 2012 I co-authored the copywriting syllabus for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.


BERLIN
2013-PRESENT

I have been in Berlin since 2013. During this time I have worked on a literary adaptation with Douglas Gordon, co-authored and produced a commission for Borealis Festival, and written for luxury whisky maker Royal Salute︎︎︎, as well as helping lots of startups, scale-ups, and already-ups, spanning multiple industries, find (and own) their brand stories.

Between 2015 and 2018 I was employed full-time at online fashion retailer Zalando, where I led several brand activations, launched an award-winning Employer Brand, built teams and competencies, and contributed to lighthouse projects such as Project Muze︎︎︎, a proto ai / machine learning tool that allows people to explore different colour palettes and styles, which we developed in partnership with a team at Google.

Since going freelance I have built up a solid international client base and a growing network of creatives, strategy people and commercially savvy connectors both in Berlin and internationally. Increasingly my focus is on how we can deploy story and other creative interventions to help drive corporate culture shifts and secure value chain transformation that benefits all stakeholders (including the planet and future generations).

If that means something to you then I would be delighted to talk about what that could look like for you and how we could make it work in your world.

Culture Fix

I continue to push myself, my teams and the disciplines in which we work, channeling what I learn from my twin passions of fiction and music into strategic brand transformation / transition projects (and vice versa). Meanwhile, I am a dedicated and habitual cultural magpie, devouring everything from Dickens to Detectorists, the novels of Ali Smith, anything by Claire Keegan or Percival Everett, back issues of The Face, Mark Fisher’s blogs and cultural theory, Steve McQueen’s films for the big and small screen, Jeremy Deller’s public performance pieces, Balenciaga shows, Raymond Briggs’s children’s books, the New Yorker Fiction Podcast... and no doubt a tonne of other things, you get the idea. 

Get in touch︎︎︎ 

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