I track how luxury moves through culture, capital, and technology. I run NEON NAVY and lead marketing at Viperium. These Field Notes are where I think out loud: client work, market shifts, things worth noting. Written from Cape Town, Milan, Dubai, or wherever the work takes me.
Field Notes has a new home. If you've landed here from an old link, welcome. And thank you for finding your way back. Field Notes has moved to Beehiiv, where it has a fresh new look, a new online archive, and a better reading experience all round. All 14 issues are waiting for you there, and Field Note 15 is on its way very soon. READ FIELD NOTES ON BEEHIIV See you on the other side. Zantelle
Hello everyone, 2024 was the year I established NEON NAVY. In most cases, a fairly regular administrative process of registering a business and opening a bank account. Not in my case. As a South African citizen and Italian resident, it took me eight months to find a solution that ticked all my boxes. And in those eight months, countless calls with lawyers, accountants, tax advisors, wealth managers and financial managers discussing every possible fiscal and tax setup imaginable. It was not...
Hello everyone, For those of you who have been reading my Field Notes for a while, you might recall that alongside my consultancy work at NEON NAVY, I also hold the role of Chief Marketing Officer at Viperium. As a soon-to-be-launched cryptocurrency, $VPR forms part of the wider Viperium ecosystem and towards the end of last year, this took us to Singapore to attend TOKEN2049, the largest cryptocurrency conference in the world. It was fascinating to see the range of projects already live, or...
Hello everyone,Welcome to 2026. January, with its colder temperatures across the northern hemisphere, is always the season that pushes me indoors. Wrapped up warmly, museum-hopping, and consuming an unreasonable amount of hot chocolate. Living in Milan, museum and exhibition options are hardly scarce. This month, I visited the ADI Design Museum which, alongside its updated permanent collection, hosted nine BMW Art Cars for a limited period. Although I’ve seen all twenty BMW Art Cars before,...
Hello everyone, A few days ago, after a surprisingly disappointing experience in a Bottega Veneta store, triggered by an issue with one of my favourite handbags, I found myself thinking about something the luxury world still underestimates: the people on the front line. The individuals in boutiques and showrooms. The ones who are the experience long before the product. Story Time Let’s rewind to 2015. I had just taken on my regional role overseeing 13 Lamborghini dealerships across the Middle...
Hello everyone, And just like that, it’s November. Christmas plans are forming, inboxes are filling and most of you are deep in Budget Season. Before the year wraps up, it’s worth pausing on something that should sit at the centre of every 2026 plan: Humans are pack animals. Read that again. We thrive in communities. We want to belong. Post-pandemic, this instinct is louder than ever. People are rejecting over-digitised lifestyles and seeking real connection. For those of us marketing to HNW...
Hello everyone, Field Note 08: Life After the Logo clearly struck a nerve, and I’m glad it did. The messages, DMs, and conversations that followed made one thing clear. A lot of people working in luxury have been feeling the same quiet frustration. And since we’re being honest, let’s talk about luxury automotive marketing. For years it’s been stuck in reverse. The same tired event formats, the same visuals, the same tone of voice recycled since the nineties. It’s not just uninspired; it’s...
Hi everyone, This month marks two years since I walked away from my dream job at Lamborghini and naturally, it’s been a reflective couple of weeks. Listening to a podcast this morning with Steve Versano where he touches on personal branding reminded me of something few people talk about: how much of your personal brand gets wrapped up in the brand you work for, especially in luxury. And what happens when you leave? When I was weighing up my resignation, one thought kept looping in my mind:...
Hello everyone, It’s been a minute! I hope you’ve managed to catch some downtime this month. For those of you down south, scrolling through feeds while the Northern Hemisphere has been baking on Mediterranean beaches, I see you! Don’t worry, your summer’s coming. If you remember Field Note 04: The New Generation of Wealth & What They Really Want, I defined “Young Money” and “Old Money.” Here's a quick refresher: Old Money: Those born into plush life, now inheriting serious wealth (and dodging...
Hello everyone, Once again, thank you for all the thoughtful feedback on the last Field Note. I’m so grateful to each of you reading and joining the conversation. As we head into the European holiday season, you can expect a little less focus on the world outside, and a little more on what’s going on inside my head. I’ve always found August to be a great time to pause, reflect, and re-strategise. Everything slows down a little around here because the Italians (quite rightly) take their summer...