SECONDBORN, a Creative Incubator for Challenger Brands, Announces Official Launch

Mar. 24, 2026

Marketing industry veterans Ali Cox, Kate Holgate and Sarah Tjoa today announced the launch of Secondborn, a creative incubator designed specifically for challenger brands committed to health, happiness and sustainability. 

The new company launches at a moment when creativity is both increasingly constrained and urgently needed. According to the 2025 State of Creativity report from LIONS, just 13% of brand marketers and creatives view their companies as “risk-friendly.” Yet research from WARC and Kantar shows that brands willing to take creative risks generate four times higher profit margins than those that don’t.

“It’s a paradox that calls for new and nimble creative solutions,” said Kate Holgate, Co-Founder of Secondborn. “Our approach is intentionally flexible and fast-moving. We curate a team of experts, create conditions that spark innovation and teach tools for building creative confidence.”

Secondborn addresses the specific needs of each client via four core service packages, ranging from team workshops to more robust engagements, including campaign ideation in under 8 weeks. The incubator is designed for limited engagements that reawaken and reinvigorate brands that are seeking to tell their stories and/or reach their audiences with impact.

Service packages include: 

• The Cruise Creative Labs: Customized creative workshops for inhouse teams (1/2 day to full day)
• The Joyride: Focused on creative ideation (6-8 weeks)
• The Road Trip: Focused on content strategy & production (12-16 weeks)
• Pit Stops: Focused on community activations & events (10-12 weeks)

Among its initial engagements, Secondborn conducted a creative workshop called “The Muse” for Pets Best Pet Insurance. The offsite workshop was focused on design thinking ideation tools helping cross-functional teams in marketing, user experience, sales and product development.

Walter Haugland, CMO, Pets Best Pet Insurance said:

“We’ve partnered with Kate for more than a decade, including during a rebrand that helped fuel a major phase of growth for our business. When our momentum began to plateau, Secondborn delivered the shot of adrenaline we needed. The workshop helped us adopt an entirely new approach to unlocking bold ideas across the organization, empowering the team well beyond the session itself. The short, high-intensity format created a level of focus and energy that’s difficult to achieve through more traditional, extended processes.”

 

Secondborn is a sister company to Noble West, a marketing agency focused on the future of food and in agriculture, specializing in creative and strategy. While Holgate and Tjoa serve in executive roles there, Secondborn is a standalone creative incubator designed to serve brands in diverse industries through short-term, high-impact creative sprints.

Sarah Tjoa, Co-Founder of Secondborn said:

“At Noble West, we built a reputation for bringing modern sensibilities to the oldest economy. That experience showed us how powerful creativity can be in reawakening categories not typically known for it. With Secondborn, we’re channeling that same spirit…helping challenger brands find fresh energy, clarity, and momentum for what comes next.”