We catch up with Canva’s CMO, Zach Kitschke, at Cannes Lions to talk about the power of storytelling.
Zach Kitschke
Zach Kitschke didn’t join Canva to run a global marketing empire. He came in to write a press release.
Back then, Canva was little more than an idea floating around Sydney’s startup scene – one of many long-shot pitches trying to make design accessible to the masses. “There was nothing you could tangibly see,” he recalls, “but the idea was super inspiring.”
That was 12 years ago and he was employee number five. Today, Kitschke oversees a 400-strong global marketing team at one of the most valuable private tech companies in the world. And yet, at the core, he still sees himself as a storyteller.
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Kitschke started out as a tech reporter covering Australia’s emerging startup ecosystem. When the publication he worked for folded, he leaned on a contact – an early Canva investor – for freelance leads. “They said, ‘You should chat to Mel and Cliff.’ That turned into day one, writing Canva’s funding announcement. I’ve been showing up ever since.”
His background in journalism and comms, he says, shaped his entire approach to marketing. “Everything is communications in my book. Whether it’s motivating teams, shaping culture or marketing to customers, it all comes down to how you tell the story.”
That perspective was vital in Canva’s early days, when it had no budget and no customers – only an idea. Kitschke helped shape the company’s narrative, built out its content and community strategy and gradually grew the function into a full marketing engine.
From the start, Canva set itself apart with a “people-first” tone and a sense of joyful simplicity. While many tech brands default to sleek minimalism or AI-fueled futurism, Canva leaned into accessibility and warmth.
“Canva is a very human brand,” Kitschke says. “It’s joyful, playful, empowering. And that tone has stayed consistent – even as we scale and go after enterprise.”
It helps that Canva’s mission is more than a tagline. Co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht have committed to giving away most of their wealth via the company. Canva gives its platform away to more than 750,000 non-profits and tens of millions of educators. Its “two-step plan” is core to the company’s identity. Step one: build the most valuable business possible. Step two: do the most good possible.
That clarity of purpose makes marketing less about spin and more about amplification. “We talk a lot about empowerment,” Kitschke says. “The platform was created for people who weren’t empowered with traditional tools. That fuels everything – from product to community.”
We caught up with Kitschke at Cannes Lions, just as Canva’s playful ‘Make the Logo Bigger’ billboard – a wink at the worst client feedback in marketing – was named The Drum’s Ad of the Day.
It’s part of a broader push to grow Canva’s presence in key global markets – including the UK, Brazil, France and Southeast Asia – through irreverent, locally resonant campaigns. In Brazil, a campaign fronted by a famously accented TV personality even came with subtitles.
“The big unlock for us has been building local teams,” Kitschke explains. “We want Canva to feel like a Japanese company in Japan. An Indian company in India.”
Behind the localization strategy is a consistent creative voice and brand system – one that reflects Canva’s roots in design, simplicity and user focus. “We’re customer zero,” says Kitschke. “We use the tools ourselves and that helps us build better products.”
The next chapter in Canva’s story is performance – or, more precisely, connecting creativity to outcomes. Its recent acquisition of MagicBrief, a Sydney-based startup that analyzes ad performance, is a signal of intent.
“Every piece of content is trying to drive an outcome,” Kitschke says. “MagicBrief helps us close that loop. It’s a launching point for better creative, with insights built in.”
The plan is to integrate the tool into Canva’s broader platform, turning what’s already a powerful creation suite into a full-cycle marketing engine. “The dream is to give teams the insights and tools in one place and let them move fast.”
This could have far-reaching consequences. For small teams, it’s a leveler. For agencies and media partners, it’s a prompt to rethink value. As content demands multiply and marketing budgets tighten, Canva’s message is clear: efficiency and creativity are no longer opposites.
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Kitschke is quick to downplay the idea that there’s a perfect CMO blueprint, but he does believe certain traits will define the next generation of marketing leaders – and they have more in common with journalists than ad execs.
“Everything is being disrupted,” he says. “The most important skill is curiosity and adaptability. The jobs of today won’t look like the jobs of tomorrow.”
And maybe that’s why Canva’s tone hasn’t hardened with scale. It’s still full of quirky rituals – trophies for your first design, Canva user numbers like collector’s items, community forums run by teachers and creators. Kitschke’s comms-first DNA is still baked in – not just in the brand voice, but in how the company listens and learns.
“We’ve had a lot of feedback this week about how we’ve kept our humanity,” he says. “You can do serious things but still make them joyful.”
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