Christina Cannes,
Growth & Brand Strategist
Christina Cannes,
Growth & Brand Specialist
Born in the US, I studied archaeology with big plans to excavate sites in Ancient Greece and Rome, but marketing won out in the end.
I started my career in-house at McGuireWoods, an international law firm with 21 offices across the US, London and Shanghai, and a boutique B2B marketing firm in Richmond, Virginia.
After a few years in corporate, I opted for a late gap year to visit Australia—and never left!
I landed in Melbourne and began freelancing with ACP, which became Bauer Media Group, and at that time owned a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations worldwide. I grew products and brands across their adventure, offroad travel, caravanning and 4WDing media.
I spent five glorious years being paid to travel across Australia in shiny, new LandCruisers and Defenders, testing caravans and camper trailers, creating content and helping Bauer grow their offroad travel products by over 800%.
A decade before moving to Queensland, and working from home was a trend, we made the move and found a gap in the market. To meet demand, I co-founded the award-winning Escape Media and launched 4WD Touring Australia, a national magazine and TV show that aired on Network TEN. In three years, I bootstrapped my startup from $0 to seven-figures (debt-free).
For three years, 4WD Touring Australia was the highest-circulating monthly 4WD magazine and won best cover in the Magazine Cover Awards ‘Maggies,’ and Escape Media nabbed runner-up for small publisher of the year at the Publishers Australia Excellence Awards.
Our success resulted from disrupting an existing market with a new product and advertising model, designing the brand philosophy around travel as a spiritual journey and providing superior customer outreach and service.
Clients included Toyota (we made TV commercials for them!), ARB, GME, Redarc, MaxTrax, Rhino Rack and Lightforce.
After three successful years, I parted ways with Escape Media to launch my own niche agency, Umgum, and support a range of clients, including government, music and entertainment, FMCG, construction, and professional services.
Naturally curious, I love solving problems and optimising products and services using data analytics, market research and business development strategies. With over nineteen years of experience in media, marketing, and innovation, I can run the gauntlet from startup to FORTUNE500.
My superpower is the uncanny ability to sense a business’s foundational weaknesses and how it is underserving its customers and underdelivering value.
Business owners and managers are often too busy with the operational functions of the business to step back and see where they could provide and better communicate value to their customers. With fresh eyes and a different perspective, I help you grow, scale and restructure using simple, manageable and proven methods.
Career Highlights
Career Highlights
My experience spans industries in Australia, Asia, the USA, Canada, and Europe (I am a citizen of both Australia and the United States).
– Co-founder of an award-winning media start-up (Australia)
– Increased ticket sales at a large Queensland folk festival by 40% (Australia)
– Increased media product sales by 800%, taking them from niche to flagship (Australia)
– Created a business development department at a US law firm with a pitch success rate of 100% (US)
– Developed an incoming-producing consultancy for a government agency during budget cuts (US)
– Innovated a workflow system to empower teams (US)
Please contact me with any questions. I look forward to working with you!
My favourite tools
My favourite tools
Areas of expertise
Areas of expertise
• Data analytics & insights
• Customer experience
• Market research
• Brand, marketing & sales strategy
• Media & public relations
• Content (web design, blogs, social media, print)
• Social media campaigns & advertising
• CRM management
• Advertising & sponsorship management
• Business development strategy
• Merchandising & distribution
• Export markets
• Product development
• Data: SQL, R Studio, Tableau, Excel/Google
• Code: HTML & CSS
• CMS: WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace
• XERO accounting
• SMM: Hootsuite, Woobox & Later
• EMS: Hubspot, MailChimp, Klaviyo
• Design: Canva
• CRM: Hubspot, Capsule
• Canon 6D DSLR + lens kit + editing
• Mac OSX + Windows
• Microsoft Office & 365
• Gsuite
• GPTs & AI (prompting, etc)
• Midjourney
Powered by compassion
Powered by compassion
One of a cohort of 13 dynamic social enterprises in South East Queensland, I joined Impact Boom’s Elevate+ Accelerator Program for purpose-led entrepreneurs in 2023.
I love partnering with clients who positively contribute to the world. Umgum allocates 20% of our profits to organisations supporting people affected by family and domestic violence.