ENGAGEMENT PROFILE

Geoff Matthews is a senior strategic advisor and project lead who is regularly engaged to step inside organisations navigating complexity — particularly where sustainability, technology, regulation, and long-time horizons intersect.

He works directly with boards, founders, executives, and project sponsors, often in embedded or fractional roles, to help organisations clarify direction, shape propositions, and translate complex ideas into workable commercial reality. Engagements range from contract advisory and project leadership through to governance, commercialisation, and market-entry support.

While much of this work is delivered through BrandCom, clients engage Geoff personally for his judgement, experience, and ability to operate comfortably inside complex environments where trust, discretion, and clarity matter.

 CURRENT FOCUS

Geoff’s current work sits at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and market change. He works with:

• Early-stage ventures developing first-market propositions and commercial pathways

• Established organisations responding to regulatory pressure, system change, or shifting expectations

• Industry and institutional stakeholders navigating long-term transition and transformation

The work varies — from strategy and positioning through to commercialisation, market entry, and programme leadership — but is consistently grounded in making complex systems work in the real world.

 SUSTAINABILITY & SYSTEMS EXPERIENCE

Geoff’s sustainability credentials are grounded in direct involvement with industrial systems, energy markets, and decarbonisation pathways over more than a decade. His work has included primary authorship and co-authorship of industry, academic, and mainstream publications on industrial energy use, demand-side response, and pathways to zero-carbon production.

He has been repeatedly invited to present at major international conferences and forums across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East, contributing practical insight into how decarbonisation and transition operate within energy-intensive and industrial settings.

This experience is rooted in hands-on engagement with heavy industry, materials production, and energy systems — providing a depth of understanding that extends well beyond policy or advisory commentary.

 PROFESSIONAL BASE

Founder & Principal — BrandCom
Strategic Brand & Commercialisation Practice | Established 2001

BrandCom is an independent strategic brand and commercialisation practice founded by Geoff Matthews more than 25 years ago. Through BrandCom, Geoff has led and delivered complex engagements across government, industry, technology, and sustainability-driven sectors in New Zealand, Australia, and internationally.

BrandCom treats brand not as an output of marketing, but as the organising system through which organisations build coherent strategy, trust, and value — an approach that continues to underpin Geoff’s advisory, leadership, and project work today.

For a fuller narrative of BrandCom’s origins, philosophy, and evolution, see:
www.brandcom.marketing/our-story

 PLATFORM LEADERSHIP

Founder & Host — SIM-PAC Live
Industrial Sustainability Platform

Alongside client work, Geoff is the founder and host of SIM-PAC Live, a platform focused on industrial sustainability and real-world transition. It includes Conversations from the Edge, an interview series created and produced by the BrandCom team that brings together leaders and innovators from across energy, sustainability, and clean industry to explore how industrial systems are evolving, and what decarbonisation and transition look like in practice.

SIM-PAC Live also includes the annual SIM-PAC Live Sustainability Awards and a national network of 70+ organisations across industry, energy, materials, and professional services. Collectively, the platform reinforces Geoff’s role as a trusted convenor and sector-level advisor with deep visibility across the industrial sustainability ecosystem.

Further reference:
SIM-PAC Live Platform
SIM-PAC Live Sustainability Awards
Conversations from the Edge (YouTube)

PRIOR LEADERSHIP & ADVISORY ROLES (SELECTED)

Global Head of Strategy & Energy Sector Lead — ENPOT (Energia Potior)
2016–2021

• Led global strategy, positioning, and commercialisation of an industrial energy-modulation technology for aluminium smelters

• Worked directly with smelter operators, energy markets, and system stakeholders on demand-side response and decarbonisation pathways

• Co-authored industry and academic publications on zero-carbon production pathways

• Recognised internationally as a thought leader in industrial sustainability and energy systems

Founder, Chief Executive & Director — Multiple Ventures (via BrandCom)
2001–2016

Through BrandCom, Geoff founded, led, or played senior executive roles in multiple ventures across technology, food, sport, and services, including:

• Commercialisation of new digital and service platforms

• Scaling of sustainability-led premium food brands

• International market development and investor engagement

• Governance and advisory roles supporting long-term growth and transition

 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS

Geoff has authored and co-authored numerous industry, academic, and mainstream publications relating to industrial energy use, sustainability, and decarbonisation, and has presented at major international conferences and forums including:

• International aluminium and energy conferences across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East

• Sustainability, energy systems, and industrial transition forums

• Industry-led and academic platforms addressing pathways to zero-carbon production

Click here for a curated list of publications and presentations.

 RECOGNITION

• Five-time winner, New Zealand Marketing Awards (via BrandCom)

• Runner-up, New Zealand Marketer of the Year (twice)

• Founder of two Deloitte Fast 50 companies

  For a full list of awards click here:

 FOUNDATIONS IN GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC SYSTEMS

Senior Roles in Government and Public Service
1984–1997

Geoff’s early career was spent in senior roles within New Zealand government, including service within the Office of the Prime Minister. This period provided a grounding in governance, policy formation, stakeholder management, and public perception — foundations that continue to inform his later work in strategy, leadership, and complex system navigation.

 TRANSITION TO BRAND, COMMUNICATION & STRATEGY

Advertising, Public Relations & Postgraduate Study
1997–2001

Between leaving government service and founding BrandCom, Geoff worked in senior roles within the advertising and public relations industries, alongside postgraduate academic study in marketing, branding, and consumer behaviour.

This period bridged policy and perception — translating experience from government and public systems into a disciplined understanding of brand, communication, and how meaning is formed, received, and acted upon. It directly informed the thinking that led to the establishment of BrandCom in 2001.

AVAILABILITY

Geoff Matthews remains open to contract advisory roles, fractional leadership engagements, board and governance appointments, and project-based work, where his experience, judgement, and ability to operate inside complex environments can add material value.

CONTACT:

geoff@brandcom.co.nz
T: +64 278 737 211

T: +61 426 750 165