Built To Move People
Jonathan Wood
Marketing Strategist &
Business Anthropologist
Maneki Marketing is rooted in a lifelong curiosity about people. What motivates us? Who earns our trust? How are meaningful connections created? This is the story of how that curiosity became a marketing philosophy....and eventually a company.
Maneki Marketing founder, Jonathan Wood, began his first venture at eight years old. With parents asking for back scratches, he realized several key ingredients for a successful business were in place: a clear target audience with a pain point (literally), very little competition (one sister) and the perfect location...living down the hall from his only customers. So naturally, he began charging ten cents a minute.
That entrepreneurial spirit never went away.
After gaining a foundation in cultural anthropology, Jonathan built a career spanning the marketing spectrum. He founded and ran a fine art gallery in Seattle for more than a decade, producing over 100 events and learned to forge lasting community connections on a small business budget. After a move back home to Florida, he became the director of marketing and social media for a corporation with a collection of brands- from luxury fashion to automotive- overseeing strategy while creating print and digital ad campaigns. With each brand having a different look and customer base, he learned how to adapt design and messaging to best reach a specific audience.
Later Jonathan joined a cutting-edge experiential marketing agency that produces large-scale immersive events and activations for major entertainment studios, sports teams/leagues and global brands. There he studied the psychology and neuroscience behind the methods used by the largest companies in the world to attract customers . For example, using multi-sensory experiences, gamification and authentic storytelling to craft moments designed to draw people in organically and create lasting memories.
No matter how large the campaigns became, Jonathan never lost his passion for championing local businesses, which he sees as the soul of a thriving community. Through it all, he learned that the best marketing doesn't chase trends. It helps people discover something worth caring about. In other words, good marketing should move people.
Today, Maneki Marketing combines big-picture creative energy with practical marketing systems to bring enterprise-level thinking to local businesses that want to grow without losing who they are.
Maneki Marketing moves people.
How We Work
We apply an anthropological mindset to business, taking time to understand consumer needs, habits and motivations to create more meaningful and effective connections. Here's how we put that approach into practice.
1. LEARN
We start with listening. After understanding your goals, customers, market and what's worked (or hasn't), we uncover the insights that guide every decision that follows.
2. DESIGN
Next we customize proven frameworks and tailor tools, ideas and strategies to fit your needs and objectives. While great systems are repeatable, effective solutions are not cookie-cutter.
3. ORCHESTRATE
With the plan in place, we coordinate internal support, trusted specialists, state-of-the-art technology, AI tools and a network of vendors to execute projects efficiently and effectively.
4. EVOLVE
Markets change. Expectations shift. Opportunities emerge. Businesses grow. And we stay alongside you, helping you adapt and refine...so we're ready for whatever comes next.
What's Maneki?
traditional maneki neko
The Japanese word maneki (muh-NEH-kee) by itelf means "inviting" or "welcoming", but is often combined with the word for cat (neko) to refer to the beckoning figurines. (Not coincidentally, Neko, is also the name of our brand ambassador.) When placed at the entrance of homes and businesses, maneki neko are believed to bring good luck. A raised left paw attracts customers, and a golden one,
like in our logo, brings in wealth and prosperity.
Our Neko