More Than Words.
We help leaders make and deliver their most consequential decisions.
Leaders with experience
Kevin
Jon
Matt
Chris
Purpose
Purpose is more than a statement of good intent: it informs business strategy. We articulate and align your purpose and its impact with team and business goals.
Leadership Strategy
We candidly advise boards and CEOs on the communications and reputation implications to their most consequential decisions.
Data and Research
Testing is better than guessing. We apply data and primary research to inform your decisions, reduce business risk, optimize messaging, and gather insights to inform communications strategy and planning.
Narrative and Storytelling
We differentiate your company’s value with a narrative rooted in your business and brought to life with stories projected through the eyes and actions of your employees.
Reputation and Crisis
We strengthen your resilience to challenges and build long-term reputation strategies that promote growth and help avoid crises.
Change Management
Generational, cultural, and technology shifts are reshaping the workplace and how companies and employees meet customer expectations. We help you harness and reduce the risk of change.
Corporate Communications
Effective media relations and social engagement are rooted in advancing business goals. We are strategic in building firm-wide positioning.
Thought Leadership
To shape and claim a point of view on issues bigger than your business is indispensable to your reputation. From building brand loyalty to occupying a seat at the policy table, we give a voice to your viewpoint.
Market Strategy
We model the contours of your competitive landscape to identify your ‘white space,’ inform your decision-making, and define and articulate your strategy.
Executive Support
Consider us your fractional resource if your need calls for extended executive-level support.
Kevin Bubel – Founding Partner.
I founded Oakton to bridge an essential gap in many companies: to align corporate reputation, transformation, and purpose with commercial objectives, using communications to deliver business outcomes.
With more than words, I bring the perspective of three decades as a tier-one financial journalist, corporate executive, and agency leader with global responsibilities and extensive experience in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
I extend the boundaries and impact of communications as a true business partner and connect the dots in ways others can’t to help leaders see and tackle challenges differently, with advice and actions that drive change and generate business results.
I have been either the first-in-role or first-to-do for much of my career.
I founded and for over a decade led the first board and C-suite advisory practice in the world’s biggest strategic communications and PR agency to lead global companies through reputational challenges and transformative change.
In-house at Mars Inc. I set purpose-driven corporate reputation strategies that led the company forward for a decade. As head of Asia-Pacific communication at AVON Products, I aligned 10 countries with no common language or culture behind a shared turnaround strategy. And piloted Cathay Pacific Airways through the greatest challenges in its history, including SARS, when a public health emergency was not yet part of the crisis playbook.
As a journalist, I was an editor and bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, for which I was one of the first reporters to be based in Vietnam when it opened its doors to international business.
Foremost, I am a dedicated husband and father. And a somewhat dedicated cyclist for which summiting the Col du Tourmalet remains top of my 'to-do' list.