Creative incubator Secondborn officially launches

Marketing leaders Ali Cox, Kate Holgate and Sarah Tjoa have introduced Secondborn, a creative incubator aimed at challenger brands focused on health, happiness, and sustainability. The venture enters a market where demand for bold creative approaches continues to grow despite organizational risk aversion.

Research from LIONS indicates that only 13 percent of marketers and creatives consider their companies risk-friendly, while studies by WARC and Kantar show that brands embracing creative risk can achieve profit margins up to four times higher than more cautious competitors.

Incubator model focuses on speed and flexibility

Secondborn operates as a creative incubator offering short-term, high-intensity engagements designed to accelerate brand thinking and output. Its model centres on assembling specialist teams, fostering collaborative environments, and equipping clients with tools to strengthen creative confidence.

Kate Holgate, Co-Founder, Secondborn: "It’s a paradox that calls for new and nimble creative solutions. Our approach is intentionally flexible and fast-moving. We curate a team of experts, create conditions that spark innovation and teach tools for building creative confidence."

Structured programmes target specific needs

The company provides four core service packages tailored to different stages of brand development. These include workshops for in-house teams, short-term ideation programmes, extended content strategy engagements, and community-focused activations.

The offering is designed to deliver campaign ideas within eight weeks and support brands seeking to reconnect with audiences or redefine their storytelling approach.

Early client work demonstrates approach

Among its first projects, Secondborn partnered with Pets Best Pet Insurance on a workshop programme titled The Muse. The session applied design thinking methods to cross-functional teams spanning marketing, user experience, sales, and product development.

Walter Haugland, CMO, Pets Best Pet Insurance: "We’ve partnered with Kate for more than a decade, including during a rebrand that helped fuel a major phase of growth for our business. When our momentum began to plateau, Secondborn delivered the shot of adrenaline we needed. The workshop helped us adopt an entirely new approach to unlocking bold ideas across the organization, empowering the team well beyond the session itself. The short, high-intensity format created a level of focus and energy that’s difficult to achieve through more traditional, extended processes."

Links to agency roots support expansion

Secondborn operates as a sister company to Noble West, where Kate Holgate and Sarah Tjoa also hold executive roles. While Noble West focuses on sectors such as food and agriculture, Secondborn has been established as a standalone entity serving brands across multiple industries.

Sarah Tjoa, Co-Founder, Secondborn: "At Noble West, we built a reputation for bringing modern sensibilities to the oldest economy. That experience showed us how powerful creativity can be in reawakening categories not typically known for it. With Secondborn, we’re channeling that same spirit…helping challenger brands find fresh energy, clarity, and momentum for what comes next."

www.wearesecondborn.com

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