About Stake

Every decision we make integrates shape-shifting brand strategy and reputation reality so you don't need to choose between your distinction and defensibility.

Brand and reputation aren’t fundamentally different jobs.

But someone, somewhere decided they were. And along the way the separation stuck: in org charts, agency rosters, briefs, and budgets. Meanwhile, trust erodes and teams scramble.

It doesn’t have to be so chaotic. We’ve found another way.

What if a crisis is your brand’s defining moment?

When the worst happens, it doesn’t have to be a scramble to protect your brand – it can actually be a turning point. How?

Imagine if every stakeholder was considered before the brief was written. Imagine the bold idea and the credible idea are one in the same, treated as such from the start.

That’s the reality we work towards when we build alongside you. No spin, no fluff, no pretending complexity is strategy – just a pathway forward that actually works.

Close-up of a vintage typewriter with a sheet of paper inserted that has the word 'crisis' typed on it.

No layers. One team. Full accountability.

We’re a Melbourne brand consultancy working across the Asia Pacific region with global brands in B2B, purpose-led, and regulatory markets. By integrating brand and reputation from the start, we create truly influential brands that are both bold and believed.

We’re led by Matt Thomas. He works at the intersection of brand, reputation and public affairs, helping organisations build trust, navigate complexity and create lasting value. Over the past two and a half decades, Matt has advised ASX-listed companies, government, healthcare, education and consumer brands through growth, transformation and crisis. He founded Stake on the belief that reputation is not simply managed, it is earned through action.

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn

Five people sitting at a computer desk in an office, engaged in a discussion, with computers and office supplies on the desk and large windows in the background.

Our guiding principles

Here’s the DNA that runs in and through our thinking, work, and ambitions.

❋ Integrative thinking

We combine brand and reputation from day one – designing boldness and believability together so both get stronger. The result? Positioning that's distinctive and defensible.

❋ Agnostic strategy

Starting with messages that differentiate and hold true, we then choose the channels, formats, tactics, and teams that best serve them. Not the other way around.

❋ Build belief from the inside out

By shaping and co-creating ideas with the people who enable or resist progress, brands move forward with stakeholders – rather than against them. This level of belief sustains and grows over time.

❋ Uncover the unsaid

In the age of AI, competitive insight comes from revealing what stakeholders feel and believe, but haven't written down. We uncover the truths that enable or block progress.

A regional council united its local area with a powerful brand narrative to spark tourism and community growth. Australia's largest gardening club, transforming how they empower their communities to tackle food security and conservation. A strategic brand identity for a marketing procurement partner that balances the needs of diverse audience segments.

That’s what happens when smart brands use the Stake equation. See how our Melbourne brand consultancy has impacted brands at home and around the world.

Does Stake get results?

See Case Studies

If there’s something real on the line, let’s talk.

You can't simply buy influence with more creative or manufacture it with louder messaging. Genuine brand influence is earned when what you promise aligns with what you deliver – and when stakeholders trust you enough to act on it.