2 minute read
In Memoriam
RACHEL GARDINER
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING 2012 – 2021
In December last year we tragically lost our friend, colleague and the Dio Director of Marketing, Rachel Gardiner to cancer.
A Forest Pansy redbud tree, a favourite of Rachel’s, has been planted at school in her memory. Rachel’s appointment to Dio heralded significant change for our marketing strategy. Brought into the School on the recommendation of the then Board of Governors member Marty O’Halloran, Rachel was to use her corporate background to deliver a brand solution and marketing campaign that would resolve a declining roll. And in so doing, Rachel changed the landscape of how New Zealand independent schools present themselves publicly. With the backing of Marty’s DDB creative team, Rachel launched the now-iconic Dio ‘O campaign’. Coupled with a comprehensive media plan, she rationalised the ad placements we’d been selecting at random and went big with radio and outdoor billboards for greater exposure.
Almost 10 years on, other schools have dramatically lifted their game; they’ve had to. Professional advertising campaigns are par for the course across our industry. Indeed, securing the right billboard placement is fiercely fought over during Open Day months, but the cleverness of the O images are as yet unmatched by any other school’s marketing. That roll she set out to improve has never been stronger. You can only be a good marketer when you believe in the product, and Rachel embodied that. She loved the School and all that it stood for. She believed that Dio makes a difference to the lives of all who come through it. She was fiercely protective of showing diversity and ensuring the photos we used in promotions reflected the true makeup of the School. But of course, no one is perfect, and as a redhead herself, she couldn’t help over-representing redheaded girls in our photos!
Rachel was more than a good marketer. With a larger-than-life personality, she had no qualms about singing in the office, or demonstrating her yodeling skills if you asked. She had a keen eye for design, often mixing designer clothing with dangly earrings she’d made herself at an afterwork jewellery making class.
Rachel was the sort of person who always left an impression. And Dio is a different – and better place – for her time with us. She is deeply missed.
Rachel leaves behind her husband Marshall and their sons Sam and Ben. A tree was planted at School in memory of Rachel so that her family can visit the school she loved and we can honour her memory.
