Almostronaut Creative isn’t just an agency—it’s a crew on a mission to turn marketing into an adventure.
Guided by the motto “built to launch, designed to land,” Marleen Kiral and her team craft bold, imaginative campaigns that don’t just grab attention but deliver real results. From rebuilding lost websites in record time to designing community treasure hunts that connect locals and businesses, their work is rooted in curiosity, creativity, and strategy.
In this exclusive
Website Planet interview, Marleen shares how Almostronaut builds long-term partnerships and helps brands tell stories that truly land.
What inspired the Almostronaut concept, and how does “built to launch, designed to land” reflect your design philosophy?
Almostronaut Creative was born from the idea that creative work should feel like an adventure, not a chore. We wanted to capture that sense of exploration and curiosity – because in marketing, while there are proven concepts and industry standards, the real magic happens when you chart new territory.
“Built to launch, designed to land” sums it up: imaginative concepts that spark attention and delight, but land with strategy and measurable results. Even something as small and seemingly mundane as a business card can become a great, memorable conversation starter when you add a clever twist or unexpected gimmick.
How do you balance branding, web design, and “snack-fueled brainstorms” while serving clients across sectors—from small businesses to nonprofits?
Serving many diverse small businesses and community organizations is definitely harder than serving fewer, larger clients within one niche; that’s true. It comes with a lot of juggling.
What keeps us grounded in between the constant task switching is the fact that most of our clients are simply lovely humans who, like us, want long-term partnerships built on mutual respect. That makes the juggle worth it.
Can you share a memorable “search-and-rescue” website project where you transformed a struggling site into something mission-ready?
About a year ago, I was contacted by a small construction business that had lost its old website completely – even its domain name was gone.
With some digital archaeology via the Wayback Machine and a client who was wonderfully responsive, we rebuilt everything from the ground up on a secure, resilient infrastructure. We even managed to recover their original domain name. Their new website was up and running within less than a week from the first panicked phone call – complete with a modern look, up to date on privacy standards, a new portfolio of their current projects, and recent customer testimonials.
There are often technical snags along the way, and collaborating to create content can take some time, but in this case, everything clicked. The client’s trust and quick turnaround made it possible for us to go from zero to launch in record time. They’re now on a care plan with us, so the website won’t require any more searching or rescuing in the future.
How do your “fun projects & campaigns,” like “Sooke’s Hidden Treasures,” embody Almostronaut’s creative and local-first approach?
The best marketing campaigns are the ones you experience, not just consume. With “Sooke’s Hidden Treasures”, we built a campaign that sparked curiosity and play while driving traffic to local businesses. The hook was to imagine those hand-written lists of favorite local spots you’d pass down to friends and family. To capture that feeling, we had to find a balance between a polished, trustworthy look and a handwritten, genuine appeal.
Alongside traditional ads, rack cards, and the like, we designed a community-wide treasure hunt, where a treasure map was gradually revealed on Instagram. People could anonymously compliment their local faves, which we then interviewed and featured on social media. The response was incredible – so much love and connection flowing through the community. For us, this campaign embodied everything the Almostronauts love: gamification and whimsy, human-centered marketing with heart, and enabling locals to empower each other.
What values drive your work—from environmental stewardship to accessibility and storytelling—and how do they shape client collaborations?
I’m going to say something that sounds a little unromantic: Marketing, at its core, is about removing obstacles between a message and its audience. Often (but not always), that means removing obstacles between a product or service and a potential buyer.
Every business, brand, or project has a fascinating story to tell. If that story isn’t found, accessed, understood, or remembered, those are all obstacles we can tackle in various ways. What’s great about this job is that we do get to care about accessibility because it’s the right thing to do for people depending on assistive technologies like e-readers, and better accessibility also benefits everybody else.
We get to care about ethical, consent-focused marketing, and that also makes our work better. We get to support important causes by helping community organizations and nonprofits. Things like accessibility and privacy requirements, or restrictive budgets, are often seen as hindrances… but in reality, they push us to be more creative, more efficient, and ultimately better at our jobs.
For every client and every challenge, there’s an agency that’s the perfect fit – and it isn’t always Almostronaut Creative. Our shared values help us connect with the right-for-us clients that we can build those long, wholesome relationships with.
How does your small team—from Vancouver Island to New Orleans—ensure both creative depth and personal attention with a global client base?
Many of our projects start with a coffee date, but most of our clients find us through recommendations and referrals, and those come from all over: across Canada, the USA, Australia, the UK, and European countries like Germany and Ukraine.
Some of our services are local to Vancouver Island, like hand-finished signage, retail props, and 3D-printed or woodwork pieces. But the “usual suspects” of marketing, the websites, printables, custom illustrations, and promotional items, are available across borders and time zones thanks to tools like Zoom and WhatsApp, and flexible schedules on our end!
What makes it all work, though, is the team: the Almostronauts are a crew of nerdy humans who geek out over movie props and vintage design styles, online and offline. And when we launch into hyperfocus mode, we’ll make the mission happen – no matter what.
Find out more at:
www.almostronaut.com
