ABOUT

HELLO ...

My name is Ike Levick. I founded Curio Communications in 2023 after almost 30 years of working in communications and marketing, both inhouse and for consultancies, across multiple industries and sectors. I now enjoy freelancing for a variety of clients to create original communication solutions that inspire action. When I'm not working, I'm busy writing a historical fiction novel set in WWII-occupied Holland.

THE CURIO STORY

Every name has a story behind it ... and I chose Curio Communications because it captures what I do and how I deliver. I’m curious about what makes people tick – from understanding Board members’ priorities, to identifying C-suite concerns, to finding out what matters most to employees, to figuring out how to influence a buyer’s decision, to better understanding community concerns ... they all matter.

To me, curiosity means asking lots of questions. The right questions, especially the unexpected ones that build on conversations and insights. It also means doing proactive research - from surveys and desk research, to interviewing and learning from experts and listening deeply to leaders and employees. This is how I discover those valuable gems that can become storylines and threads in a broader change or transformation narrative. It's like stirring a big melting pot of information to inspire unique, memorable content. Being curious underpins my ability to create targeted internal engagement or marketing strategies. It also drives me to create incredible content to change minds, inform decisions and build stronger brands.

And every company has a brand, with personality and a striking visual identity: I'm lucky that one of my closest friends is an incredible graphic designer who offered to help me. Her endless patience, smarts and intuition resulted in a fabulous logo, colour palette and design language. I hope you love it as much as I do! Thank you, darling Iols.

These days brands need websites, too. This one was made possible thanks to Ashton Hetherington, an incredibly tech savvy young man who is studying computer science at the University of Technology Sydney. He helped me develop this website in time for World Storytelling Day on 20 March, 2024, Thank you, Ashton!

Magic happens when we’re curious – it’s how we connect as humans. Are you ready?

My Story

MY STORY

In a nutshell, I started my career in London in 1994 with a mid-sized management consultancy focused on advising public sector clients on how to unlock better performance through best practice research, change management and business process re-engineering. I then pivoted towards internal communication and employee engagement, joining WPP in London and then Ogilvy in Sydney. My clients included BP, TNT and Invensys in London and Southcorp Wines, Australia Post and AGL here in Australia. Given the critical role that managers and leaders play in engaging employees, I focused on finding the best way to equip these communicators to do just that – from designing motivating reward and recognition programs, to developing two-way communication cascade packs, finding creative ways to communicate change, developing inspirational speeches and conducting skills development workshops and much, much more.

After Ogilvy I worked at ABN AMRO for six years as the wholesale bank's internal communication leader in Australia, including a three-month stint in an exciting global role based in London. I was responsible for the internal communication strategy, CEO communication, designing and launching an annual values awards campaign, designing and running Town Halls and developing the integration strategy and Day 1 comms when ABN AMRO was acquired by a consortium including the Royal Bank of Scotland. I then enjoyed working as a head-hunter in the PR agency space for four years, before re-joining Ogilvy where I worked as a strategist with clients including SAP, NSW Police, Teva Pharmaceuticals and BAT.

I joined Deloitte Australia in 2014, where I started by leading the internal communication function for several years before being promoted to become the first Communications Director for the CEO. My third and final role was as the firm’s Marketing Director, Brand Storytelling. In the last decade I have led teams, mentored colleagues, shaped employee and marketing campaigns and created actionable content to engage the firm’s employees and partners - as well crafting marketing strategies and using storytelling techniques to target external stakeholders including Australia’s boards, C-suite and government bodies.

Explore some recent examples of my impact.

I'd love to connect with you on my LinkedIn and you can also follow my company LinkedIn page.