Blue Gecko
Marketing & Communications
Your story matters.
Messaging, Brand Narratives & Positioning —Built for AI Visibility
I work with companies, founders and senior leaders as a fractional CMO or communications advisor, helping them define their positioning, sharpen their messaging, build their brand narrative and turn strategy into communications that build reputation and influence.
I'm Michelle Ponto —an Emmy-nominated journalist, marketing strategist and communications advisor with 25+ years of experience across global media, corporate communications and marketing.
My approach is shaped by both sides of the communications equation because I not only know how to find and tell a story, but I also understand the business strategy behind it and how the communications role is changing as AI transforms the way people create, discover and evaluate information.
Today, I work with organisations that need senior thinking and hands-on execution, but don't necessarily need (or want) a full-time executive or a large agency. Depending on what you need, I can step in as your fractional marketing or communications lead, advise your existing team or take on a defined strategic project.
One senior person. Different ways of working together.
You may need someone to lead your communications for the next year. You may have a strong marketing team that needs strategic direction. Or you may have a specific business challenge that needs an experienced pair of hands for a few months.
I work across all three.
Fractional CMO
When you need senior marketing leadership without adding a full-time CMO, I can step into the role on a part-time basis — working with leadership, shaping strategy, guiding the team and making sure the strategy actually gets implemented.
Fractional Communications Advisor
When communications needs a senior voice but a full-time head of communications doesn't make sense, I can work alongside your leadership team or existing communications function, bringing strategic direction, hands-on execution and an outside perspective.
Strategic Projects
Sometimes you don't need an ongoing advisor. You need someone to solve a particular problem such as helping you reposition the business, develop your messaging, define a brand narrative, build an executive profile, prepare for a launch or figuring out how AI changes the way your communications team works.
I lead the project from strategy through to execution, bringing in trusted specialists from my network when the work calls for expertise beyond my own.
Creating Strategic Communications
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Messaging, Positioning & Brand Narratives
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Executive & Personal Branding
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Strategic Communications
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AI & the Future of Communications
Who I have worked for
Not sure what the problem is yet?
You don't need to arrive with a perfectly defined brief. Tell me what you're trying to achieve, what's not working or what's changing, and we can work out what you actually need — whether that's a strategic conversation, a defined project or someone to work alongside you for a while.