Who do we work with and what problems do we solve?

What does Sookio actually…do? As we complete our first full year as a communications consultancy rather than a marketing agency, we’re reflecting reflect on the nature of our projects and the clients with whom we work best.

Put simply, it’s about communications, from the inside out. Giving you internal clarity for external impact.

Here are eight of the tastiest communications problems we solved in 2025, plus an overview of the people, sectors and types of organisation who make a great fit - so you can come to us to solve your problems too!

1. "We've overhauled our IT function and want to do the same with marketing. Can you show us what good looks like, not just in terms of our channels and content, but who we should hire to do it?"
➡️ Audit and recommendations for a competitive intelligence firm in life sciences and pharma.

2. "Our new website is about to relaunch. We need an effective comms strategy to keep up momentum. Which platforms should we use, what resources do we need, how can we make sure it adapts to fast-moving trends in digital?"
➡️ 17 stakeholder interviews, competitor analysis, comprehensive marketing and communications strategy presented to the senior leadership team of a 3000-strong organisation.

3. "We have a talented junior marketer on our team but they have no one above them to learn from. They need a marketing mentor so they continue to grow and progress within the business."
➡️ Monthly one-to-one sessions to review, plan and set targets.

4. "Shall we just set fire to this website and spend £25k on a new one?"
➡️ "No - spend an afternoon and 150 quid on iStock, refresh the imagery across the site, sorted."
Effective communications consultancy is often about knowing where to say no, as well as yes.

5. "Our healthcare organisation truly changes lives - but we don't know how to demonstrate impact. And everyone on the team describes what we do in a completely different way."
➡️ Communications toolkit, team training, messaging framework, and creating a new tagline - together - that everyone can get behind.

6. "We have a multimillion funding bid and a very short timeframe. But we're scientists, techies and engineers and need someone who can build the communications strategy to help us achieve this."
➡️ Strategy and 8-week action plan; follow-on support to develop new website, advise on content, amplify key messages to decision makers in Government.

7. "We want to do marketing properly in our public sector organisation but don't know where to start - what to prioritise, which channels we should actually use nowadays to reach our audience, if we need to hire."
➡️ Strategy and content pillars workshop, hiring support - all as part of our consultancy services.

8. "We need to run a campaign to reach students in the Caribbean, but have no one on the team with specialist skills and don't know the best suppliers to use."
➡️ Sourcing and overseeing Meta campaigns specialist + video production, resulting in a Facebook and Instagram campaign for an education client with 17.4m impressions and 3.7m reach for the less than the price of a pint nowadays.

What makes a great fit between consultancy and client?

Another learning throughout the year, project by project, client by client, is where our sweet spot lies. How can we play to our strengths and address the challenges you actually face? A pattern developed about who we typically work with:

• CEOs, MDs, and senior leadership teams steering the ship. Internally, you might be balancing legacy systems and team dynamics, while considering whether the marketing activity is really getting the impact you need.

• Heads of Comms who come to Sookio for our excellent track record in content creation and our little black book of the best suppliers. Through content consultancy we can nail the brief and ensure the project runs smoothly.

• Sectors. Sensible ones! Highly regulated ones. Like healthcare, life sciences, public sector, corporates, higher education. Maintaining a good reputation and delivering a high-calibre product or service is critical.

• How big? Small-to-medium enterprises. It could be 30 staff, it could be 3000.

• Where? We’re a communications consultancy in the thriving Cambridge innovation ecosystem, so we do a lot of work round here and in London, and we’re a great fit for clients in other knowledge intensive hubs across the UK and in the US who welcome our Cambridge perspective.

• Established businesses. Our trusted relationship with the University of Cambridge means that many of our clients are centuries old, and one was even founded in 1216 - but you don’t have to have records going that far back!
  But when you’ve been going for 10+ years, you’ll have developed some knotty communications challenges we can help you untangle:

  • You’ll have been through three waves of social media (from ‘novelty’, to ‘norm’, to ‘what the hell is going on right now’) and digital transformation across the organisation.

  • You’ll have a marketing team. But who should be in it? Which tools should they be using? How sharp are their skills? Are you on the right channels and platforms, or are you just continuing on by momentum with no real strategy behind it all? And what about (gulp) AI?

And no, you don’t want to ask ChatGPT about all this - you want to talk to a human with 25+ years of business and marketing experience who will share thoughtful advice and explain things clearly and simply, bringing some energy to the whole process!

Need support with your communications, from the inside out?

Talk to us about communications consultancy and how we can solve all your problems. Well, almost all of them!