What we do

We create, nurture and transform business, brand, customer, and employee experiences that make life better for millions of people, every day.

The world as we know it has changed beyond recognition in recent times. And with it, traditional ways of thinking have quickly become fossilised. The new landscape is one of tangible experiences and we are here to help realise your ambition.

That’s why we work with progressive businesses that seek a different kind of support, specifically built for the experience age. Whether navigating your brand and customer experience, sharpening up your marketing or innovation, or undertaking an entire business transformation, perhaps it’s time we talked?

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Our service offerings

Brand

D&Co creates brands relevant to the experience age. We're a blend of experienced individuals who combine logic, magic and relentless passion to build new brands, reposition existing ones, and ultimately deliver growth through an enduring business advantage. We've partnered with brands large and small to help them stand out and get their voices heard. From industry giants like Fonterra, SeaLink, and KiwiRail to innovative startups such as Skintel, Anue, and We.EV, our team essentially becomes a trusted part of your team.

Our service offerings

Experience

Whether it's aimed at customers, shareholders or employees, your brand is the experience. Truly meaningful experiences don't come easy, mind you. Yet with vision, insight, and experience we'll help you create something special using our own proprietary 'Experience Innovation System'. Companies like New World, Z, Caltex, Mitre 10, and Southern Cross have all benefited from our 'Customer Experience Moments that Matter' strategies—specifically designed to drive loyalty and growth. No two clients are ever the same, and neither are our solutions.

Our service offerings

Innovate

The best innovations are driven by simple, human insights – sometimes by solving problems people didn't even know they had. Using proven proprietary methods and fun, engaging processes, we have pioneered world-first innovations for Z Energy, resulting in the creation of FastLane (now Pay by Plate) and Sharetank. We developed the We.EV product suite for WEL Networks, addressing the complex challenges of electrification. By setting new industry standards and driving business success through innovative solutions, imagine what we could achieve for you.

Our service offerings

Transform

Our industry-leading business practitioners will often work across your strategy, programme leadership, portfolio, and programme management initiatives – carefully aligning our thinking with your commercial priorities to deliver truly impactful and enduring change. This robust strategic guidance has unlocked multi-million-dollar funding to launch major transformational programs. Companies like WEL Networks, Counties Energy, and Fonterra have all achieved significant innovation milestones by successfully navigating complex pathways with our collective team guidance and expertise.

Our Clients

What they say about us

  • “As part of introducing the new Innovation Refinery at Z, Russ and the team at D&Co designed and facilitated the first design sprint. This included an introduction to primary design thinking methods as we co-created a vision for the Future of Loyalty.

    We then partnered with D&Co to go out into the field with customers to validate the desirability of key concepts where they shared evaluative research methods resulting in concepts being green lit to exit the innovation process into commercialisation in the coming months.

    D&Co’s fresh thinking, collaborative and flexible nature combined with their creativity and storytelling has resulted in them being engaged across multiple areas of the business.”

    Scott Bishop
    Chief Innovation Officer
    Z Energy

  • “D&Co have been a breath of fresh air to work with bringing customer-centric thinking, creativity and pace to everything they touch.

    We recently faced a serious business challenge across our global bakery customer base due to the continued increases in global butter prices.

    Russ and his team responded to the challenge with urgency, created solutions, and delivered them across Asia and Middle East within 6 weeks of our initial conversation.

    Working with Russ across a number of Anchor Food Professionals projects has always been collaborative, transparent and refreshing, and I would recommend D&Co to anyone who is looking for this dynamic, fresh approach to delivering great work.”

    SUSAN CASSIDY
    GM GLOBAL MARKETING BRAND & COMMUNICATION
    ANCHOR FP

  • “I’ve worked with Russ since he first established D&Co and when I made the move to SeaLink I reached out to D&Co when I needed a safe pair of hands for our brand strategy, story and design system refresh.

    The SeaLink brand had become tired and Russ and his team have injected an energy, passion and creativity that’s got the whole business buzzing. It also helps that he’s a genuinely decent bloke and fun to work with.”

    Teresa Smyth
    Sales and Marketing Manager
    SeaLink

  • “D&Co's broad offering not only helped us with strategy positioning and storytelling, and facilitating an innovation design sprint but also extended to service design and a draft MVP for our new We.EV product. On top of that they then ran a rapid CX programme concluding in customer validation of our new We.EV service offering. They then went on to develop the brand strategy, visual identity and go-to-market!

    We're delighted with the level of engagement, creativity and programme support from D&Co. They've been an incredible partner and we continue our relationship as we explore and develop new energy service innovations.”

    Kerry Green
    GM Energy Services
    WEL Networks

  • “We’re delighted to be working with Russ and the team at D&Co as we build towards our ‘Moments that Matter’ CX strategy and in defining our future state for the Southern Cross customer experience.

    D&Co have demonstrated deep CX capability and it’s a fantastic collaboration as we work through their CX framework. Russ has also shared his own insights and knowledge with our wider team and these have been extremely well received.

    We really value the partnership with D&Co, and look forward to it making a real difference in the moments that matter to our members.”

    Jody Bews-Hair
    Head of Customer Experience
    Southern Cross Health Society

  • “What’s impressed me the most about D&Co is how the team really understood what truly sets us apart from others and how they’ve been able to capture that through the brand strategy and the design of our new brand.

    I’m also grateful to Russ for his support in dealing with other agencies and media firms with a no nonsense and honest approach. D&Co have demonstrated an authenticity that we’ve really valued. We continue to work with Russ and his team as we build the brand and associated moments for our patients.”

    Dr David Lim
    Specialist Dermatologist and Mohs Surgeon
    Skintel

  • “We’d worked with D&Co before so when it was time to refresh our brand we knew we’d be in good hands and we haven’t been let down.

    Russ and the team guided us through the process, inspiring us to push further as we explored what a new Counties Power could become. And from these discussions Counties Energy was born. A progressive, innovative and powerful new brand that has captured our imagination and now paves the way as we focus on creating a smarter energy future that will change lives for the better.

    It's an incredibly exciting time and we're delighted with the smarts, creativity and innovative spirit D&Co have brought. Their business model brings together the very best strategic and creative minds in the country, tailored for the specific challenges they face. From the guiding leadership and brand strategy from Russ to the incredible mind of Scotty on the brand voice, Craig with his emotive video storytelling and Paul bringing the brand to life - we've been blown away.”

    Moonis Vegdani
    Group GM Technology & Digital
    Counties Energy

  • “We wanted to bring to life a CX vision and strategy for new world, one which the whole business could get behind. We wanted to use genuine customer insight and set a north star to identify and focus on the critical ‘moments that matter’ for our customers.

    We established a partnership with D&Co and worked collaboratively with their team to develop our CX strategy. The work established our cx priorities and provided absolute clarity on the key pain points and areas of opportunity to help differentiate new world in the market. We have delivered new products, services and experience enhancements and baked the insights into key processes across the business. Importantly, the strategy has helped align aligned diverse stakeholders through a common language, CX framework and decision making process.

    Working with Russ and his team has been a rewarding journey and we continue to work with the team to tackle brand and CX opportunities in innovative ways.”

    David Brem
    Head of Customer Experience & Personalisation
    Foodstuffs NZ

  • “It's been an incredible journey working with Russ and his team on our brand strategy, our internal launch and the powerful new visual identity.

    Russ really got us and spent days interviewing our team. What surprised me is that ‘We’re In This For Good’ really captured how our people feel. Our people genuinely care about each other and about looking after our customers. It’s who we are, and Russ, somehow, managed to capture that and it really resonated with the team.

    D&Co brought our business to life in a way I didn't think possible and we are looking forward to continuing our exciting journey with them.”

    Antony Moess
    Managing Director
    Bakels Edible Oils (NZ) Ltd