yllw · Marketing practice, Amsterdam

01 / What we believe

Strategy without execution is just an opinion. Execution without strategy is just noise.

Principle i. The voice is yours.We don't invent your brand voice. You already have it, written down or simply lived. Our job is recognising it, sharpening it, and putting it on everything you ship, consistently, without diluting it along the way.

Principle ii. No fluff. Ever.We don't ship buzzwords in a beautiful template. We build things your team can use on Monday morning: a system, a plan, a calendar that fills itself. Anything less isn't finished, and we'll say so ourselves.

Principle iii. Named humans, not hidden.When we bring in specialists, you see who they are. Our network is credited, curated, and senior, and you meet them when the work starts. No mystery interns behind the deliverable, no markup hiding in the hours.

Principle iv. AI does the generic work.Every team we meet loses hours to work a machine should do: first drafts, repurposing, reporting. We set up the prompts and automations that take it over, so the humans can do the part that needs them. Our own practice has run this way since 2023.

Work
with us.

Not sure which fits? Book 30 minutes →

02 / How we help

The work lives in content, brand voice, and marketing operations. Performance campaigns, SEO, and channel-specific execution come from the Network, briefed and led by us.

Marketing Audit

The starting point. Two to three weeks looking at where your marketing actually stands. What's working, what's leaking, what's missing, where to invest next. You leave with a prioritised list: typically 10 to 15 items, ranked by what they cost you. If the list isn't worth the fee, you don't pay it.

NOT READY? THE SCAN · ONE WEEK

You hand over the numbers, we add what we see from the outside, and you get a written conclusion with five recommendations. No interviews, that's the audit's job. Upgrade within two months and it comes off the audit fee.

THE WORKING SESSION · HALF A DAY

One problem, one room (or one call), four hours. You bring the mess, we leave with a decision and the first three steps written down. Counts toward the Audit if you upgrade within two months.

Kickstart

A working content system, set up in your tools, that your team can run without us. Three to four weeks of build. Prompts, templates, and one or two real automations doing the work week after week. Handover session and a short runbook.

Partner

The ongoing relationship. Strategy, execution, or both, depending on what the month asks for. In practice: running the editorial meeting, keeping the KPI dashboard honest, tightening the content framework, and shipping the work that comes out of it. Three tiers, three months minimum:

ADVISORY

A fixed weekly slot. Strategy, sparring, and keeping the plan honest. Your team executes.

WORKING

Advisory plus hands on the work. We run the editorial meeting and ship alongside your team.

EMBEDDED · SCOPED PER TEAM

Two days a week inside your team, calendar and all. For when the next hire isn't there yet.

How it works

STEP 1

Book 30 minutes

Bring your messiest problem. No prep, no pitch, no obligation. You leave with a one-page proposal within two days. Yours to keep, even if you don't continue.

STEP 2

Get the list

Two to three weeks later you know what's working, what's leaking, and what to do first.

STEP 3

Build

We execute together, or your team runs with it. Same hands either way.

References

"Annelies gets things done. A strong creative and strategic mind, clear solutions, and very strong stakeholder management. I would highly recommend her to any company." Marieke Neleman · led the team at Zalando

"She gets audiences on social genuinely moving, and you can see it in the numbers. Above all, working with Annelies is a pleasure." Mark de Lange · agency partner, Delta Lloyd

"Sharp, fast work and effortless to collaborate with. She has made us a serious step better. Five stars, for sure." Jeroen Heydendael · Strategy Director, Marketing & Commerce

03 / The Network

Named. Credited. Never hidden.

Most agencies hide their freelancers. We don't. When a project needs design, copy, photography, or development, we match a curated specialist to the job: in skill and in passion. You meet them when the work starts, by name and with their track record, credited in the deliverable. Ask in the first 30 minutes who we'd bring in for yours. The disciplines we typically reach for:

N / 01

Brand & identity

N / 02

Copy & content

N / 03

Sites & pages

N / 04

Photo & video

Shown, not told

Same output, under half the time.

THE PROBLEM

Instead of spending two days a week producing social and email by hand.

THE BUILD

Kickstart: one content board, six prompts, two automations. Four weeks.

SINCE THEN

The team runs it without us since month two.

NAMES AVAILABLE IN THE FIRST 30 MINUTES.

Real opinions, written down.

04 / Notes

06 / The founder

A decade doing marketing inside other people's companies. yllw is what I learned.

Since 2013, full-time since 2021, I've worked with teams at APG, Censo, UMA, and (way back) Zalando. Pensions. Energy. Aesthetics. Wine quality control. I like variety.

What every one of those engagements had in common: there was always generic work eating the team's time, and always a human layer that wasn't getting enough of it. yllw is the practice built around solving exactly that.

More about how I work →

Working with me

You'll hear it straight.

If something is a bad idea, I'll say so. Politely, once, with a better alternative attached. You're not paying me to agree with you.

No black box.

I work in your tools, on your calendar, visible to the whole team. You always know what I'm doing and why, and the invoice never surprises.

Expect "why?" a lot.

Pensions, energy, fashion, wine quality control: I've learned the good questions are the same everywhere. Your industry doesn't scare me.

Good questions.

07 / Questions

Who is this for?

Teams at growing companies that have their own marketing people. We work next to your team, not instead of it. Founders without a team yet usually start with the Audit.

Do you also execute?

Yes. Strategy and execution by the same hands is the whole point. When a project needs a specialist (design, copy, photo, development), we bring one in from the Network, credited by name.

What does it cost?

Every engagement is scoped to your situation, so the number lives in the proposal, not in a rate card. After our first 30 minutes you get a one-page proposal: what we'd do, in what order, and what it costs. No templates, no surprises.

Do we need to be in Amsterdam?

No. Based in Amsterdam, working globally. Most collaborations run remote with a kickoff in person where it helps.

One question left? Book 30 minutes →

Less noise.
More taste.