Marketing Strategy and Brand Management

Marketing strategy is everything. Promotion is only one part. To influence the market, all aspects of the offer must be considered.

Working with clients and within in-house teams, I have been responsible for the creation and execution of effective marketing strategy and brand management plans.

Portfolio: Route-to-market strategy

With experience in both B2B and B2C, my roles have been focused on generating sales, subscriptions, and applications through an integrated approach. Not just relying on digital campaigns, but to consider and build effective routes-to-market to cut through the noise and start building brand leverage.

Working in publishing, I was responsible for the creation of contra-deals, with third parties to build international representation and subscription leads for the publisher’s life science journal catalogue. For a local authority, I devised product launches for their training programmes to generate leads and sales, and within a premium retailer, I built a new inbound marketing model complying with new data legislation.

During my time in agency, I consulted with clients to work out the market they were wanting to enter and devised market-entry strategies which also informed specific digital marketing activities.

Focusing on the best approach to go to market, through an effective marketing strategy.

Portfolio: Re-building the market proposition

When working in an FE college and a charity, previous reputation, and marketing mismanagement, had led to a critical loss in student numbers and the charity’s education division. Constrained by budget and time, I devised a new brand proposition and go-to-market approach for student recruitment. Leading to an increase in application numbers and safeguarding the immediate future of the institution.

Focusing on the values of the institution and the charity, and listening to staff and students, I was able to reposition the brand. Creating a sense of purpose for staff and a clear message for the community.

Leading data-driven initiatives established new insights into the student journey. Enabling me to refine and rebuild their messaging, their approach to school liaison and the courses the college and charity had to offer.

As part of my tenure, I implemented a size & shape initiative as well as spearheaded a major overhaul of their website and their prospectus (pictured).

Completing a new strategic direction for the college’s student recruitment and marketing, providing counsel and a model for the education directorate to take forward with their wider provision.

Portfolio: UK Marketing Strategy

Overseeing the marketing and student recruitment for the UK market, I was responsible for developing and executing the strategy.

2020 will forever be known as the year of ‘unprecedented’, or in the marketing world, ‘pivot’. The need to re-evaluate the proposition and focus on route-to-market was essential considering the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.

Building the proposition from the ground up, undertaking workshops, analysing application trends and past performance, I developed a brand-led approach. Re-configuring the media mix based on geographic and demographic data. Focusing on the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’ for all activity, and managing the development of virtual events with live streaming and on-demand content.

Through a process of conversion rate optimisation, the brand-led approach contributed towards a 15% increase in undergraduate applications (nearly 9% more compared to the sector) and a 49% increase in postgraduate.

Portfolio: Procurement and agency management

Strategy is nothing without execution. That’s why as part of the marketing strategy, I have ensured that we had a delivery partner that could support us in achieving the ambition. Positioned as an extension to the team, these partnerships provide more capacity and insight.

Working in digital marketing, I’ve scoped and briefed agencies to create an informed approach to procurement. Ensuring that the needs and objectives of the institution were captured and articulated, before, the tender process started. Reducing costs associated with ‘consultancy’ fees, associated with digital transformations.

More recently, I undertook a procurement initiative to consolidate the operational costs of the department’s marketing activities. Re-evaluating the needs of the business and ensuring a suitable partner that could deliver for the University.

Devising internal workshops and working with the Legal team, I created and managed the briefing and tender process to establish a new media partnership for brands. Leading to more effective and agile working processes. The ongoing relationship was managed by myself and my team.

Portfolio: Charity Brand Hub and brand roll-out

Brand is where perceptions and behaviours meet to form a lasting impression and inform shared value.

Re-defining the charity’s brand was only the first phase, the next step was to embed this into the working culture and practises. That was my role as I supported the team in rolling out the brand refresh.

Identifying the need to have a central resource to empower teams to become their own brand guardians, I set about creating the Brand Hub – a central library of user guides, templates, emails, fonts, and imagery.

After creating the materials and building the Brand Hub, I also created the internal comms campaign, and staff engagement pieces to support the rollout and embed new working practises.

Working with the team, I put together post-launch plans for the team to take forward including roadshows and workshops.

What can you do for me?

If you’re looking for someone to develop your marketing strategy or improve your student recruitment, get in touch. Don’t just take my word, check out my LinkedIn recommendations.