Bark!
Bark! it's an order, a shout, an attention grabber. It shatters the quiet, and rises above the noise.
It says 'hey - I've got something to say!' It's also a warning that can 'save the day'.
This is how Bark creates content. It must grab attention, engage the audience, and 'save the day'.
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Bark! leads with digital content, creating and utilising all the immediacy, efficiency, and tech of a digital world. Clients include:
PG Bison, Restonic SA, Vitafoam, MAXE Automotive Products, Aprio Strategic Communications: Absa Africa, Absa Home Loans, Bidvest Bank, Consol Glass.
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Bark! Content Marketing is a South African based company with local and international projects.
Sub-story: In 2017 Mark's dog, Jasper, was tragically killed, which deeply affected him. Bark was named in Jasper's memory.
Team:
Mark Leighton - Owner
Mark is a veteran of consumer publishing, having commercially managed some of SA's leading consumer media brands.
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He understands the dynamic between content and commercial objectives and has a successful track record of creating growth through digital content strategies to achieve client's specific business objectives.
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Mark's an outdoorsy soul at heart. He loves hiking, overlanding, and mountain biking; all washed down with a Craft beer or glass of Chardonnay. He's also nuts about his Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
Simon Crawford - Managing Consultant
Simon is a creative storyteller at heart, whose communication insights are the core of Bark's content objective.
His vast experience in corporate communications in his own successful business, is finely tuned to create a golden thread of content that engages audiences in such a way that the business strategy becomes fulfilled. Simon brings content and design resources to the mix.
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Simon is a sociable family man with a yearning to share good times in the bush with special people.
Tamara Oberholster - Content Editor
Tamara has written for a variety of publications and clients, on subjects ranging from wireless telemetry to taxidermy and much in between. She edited Banker SA magazine, and has ghostwritten several best-selling books for prominent South African business and sports icons.
She calls herself a "Word Chef" as uses words as ingredients to create stories with flavour. She has experience in journalism, communications consulting, advertising and public relations.
Tamara spends her spare time sewing, crafting, roller skating, ballroom dancing and plotting her next travel adventure (and far too much time on Twitter exchanging puns and cat pictures).
Nadia Rossouw - Media & PR
Bark entered a partnership with Nadia Rossouw (NRPR) to handle media and PR for Bark clients.
Nadia is a communications and PR specialist who finds strong news ‘hooks’, create quality content & secure landmark exposure in online & offline media. With over 20 years’ experience across B2B, B2C and the NGO space, NRPR prioritises integrated comms in every PR plan and believes in high quality content as a powerful tool that helps to propel any brand.
Nadia enjoys long distance running with her husband A LOT, and then spends the rest of her free time with her two children and Schnauzer, Max.
Jacqui Burn - Web Designer
Jacqui is an experienced web designer having produced websites for B2B and B2C organisations. She is known for getting the job done - no matter the challenges.
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An example is Bark's latest website production for MAXE Automotive Products www.maxe.co.za
Background
After studying, the world of community newspapers beckoned Mark earned his stripes in the 'school of tough knocks' at South Africa's Caxton newspaper group.
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He followed the corporate path initially with Ramsay Media SA, leading to an executive management role in the company and on CAR magazine.
He left corporate to join In-Site Media, a start-up company - heading up its SA Gauteng operations to launch Rugby World in SA.
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Having whet his entrepreneurial appetite he helped to launch Narrative Content Marketing (with Publicis Group) in 2012. This expanded his digital world, and clients grew to include Jeep, Nedbank Greenbacks, Builders Warehouse, and eBucks Travel. (Jeep and Builders became award winning projects).
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But Mark's vision was to run his own agency and he left Narrative in 2016, exploiting his experience and insights to launch Bark Content Marketing - a specialist digitally focussed content agency.
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Bark has grown its initial resources of specialist writers, designers, and digital developers, to include media and PR from 2020. All resources focused on providing a healthy ROI for Bark's clients.
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