Background
Begin Distilling and Strategy Collective have been working together since their inception in 2017 with their award winning Extra Fine Juno Gin. Dave and Jo James, founders and distillers have been on a whirlwind journey since launching, and the brand and their product ranges have continued going from strength to strength with seasonal gins added to the mix. The burgeoning New Zealand gin industry has meant demand for New Zealand gins continues to grow.
Strategy Collective is engaged to assist with all brand and marketing facets of this business, and provides the creative direction, design and brand elements, marketing strategies, content creation, and digital facilitation.
Begin Distilling recently received a loan from the Provincial Growth Fund in order to expand its operations, allowing them to increase production and meet the growing demand for its products both here and overseas. This expansion creates new distillery jobs and offers local farmers new opportunities to grow ingredients for gin such as juniper and orris root.
Project/s
With our Strategy Collective Brand and Marketing team working alongside Begin Distilling for all of their business and communication needs, it was the right time to pull in our People and Culture team also to undergo recruitment and to source the next member of the Begin Distilling team – Brand Ambassador.
Strategy Collective’s People and Culture team worked closely with the Brand and Marketing team, and Dave and Jo to understand their dreams and aspirations, where they have come from, and what they hope to achieve in the future. Allowing the People and Culture team insight into their company vision allowed the team to script an advert that would capture the hearts and minds of a large pool of what was to be exceptional talent. An online campaign was run to build further excitement around the new role and provide a value added service for promotion on Begin Distilling’s media channels. The People and Culture team screened and shortlisted candidates, and lead the interview process alongside Dave and Jo. Being an objective third party with extensive interview skills, Strategy Collective can explore the behaviours of each candidate across a number of different scenarios. To complete this full suite service, we conducted the relevant reference checks, negotiated the terms and conditions of employment, and prepared the individual employment agreement for Begin Distilling to present to their new employee.
Result
Brand Ambassador, Tessa Kerslake has started and she has slotted into the Juno Team exceptionally. Her role allows Dave and Jo time to focus on other areas of the business as they now have the support to help with nationwide events and distillery tasks, in preparation for when the new distillery opens in November 2021.
“Strategy Collective’s Brand and Marketing team have been part of the Juno Gin story right from the get go. They continue to support us and are an essential part of our business. Having the HR team to recently help us recruit and appoint our first full-time employee shows the multi-facets that Strategy Collective bring. It has been great to be able to rely on their knowledge of the legal and process requirements around HR and to have their support with that most important thing – payroll!”
Dave and Jo James
Begin Distilling
