About me
I am an online marketing specialist with 10 years working in Account Management and New Business in the UK digital industry, a fervent Android mobile user and a Apple Mac computers enthusiast.
If you are interested, you will find a full “formal” CV on my LinkedIn profile, but in a nutshell…
The informal cv..
Born in France in the 70’s, I finished studies as an engineer and worked for a French water agency and in a related sale role for a short time before deciding to move to the UK and the online world.
In my first role in London, I worked for a web agency, Magus Research which provided a corporate Search Engine on an ISP basis to large blue-chip companies in the UK and continental Europe. I had a succession of roles there from Technical Account Manager to New Business Director in France, Project Manager and general developer across a 4-year period.
I suppose I then got my first big break, joining the Australian Search Marketing company, DecideInteractive as Account Manager. This company was then acquired first by 24/7 RealMedia then eventually WPP - while I made my way from an Account Manager to Head of Account Management, managing a team of 6 and the PPC accounts of clients such as John Lewis, NTL/Telewest (now Virgin Media) and LavaLife.
Mid 2006, I then took the role as Head of Search for OMD in the UK, running the Search Marketing teams of OMD UK, OMD international and Manning Gottlieb OMD. During my two years tenancy, I set up OMD’s Search Marketing offering, recruited and trained a team of 20, played a key part in the signing of new PPC accounts such as Virgin Media and hmv and was generally in charge of the successful delivery of PPC across clients such as easyJet and Vodafone.
Importantly, this role allowed me to gain a more integrated perspective in Digital Marketing in general and a good overall understanding of all disciplines from Display Advertising to Affiliate Marketing. I also furthered my relationship with key media owners and understood better the way they work and how they have evolved in this fast-paced marketplace.
In mid 2008, I was able to take some time off and left the UK for an 11-month around the world trip, visiting 17 countries and (pardon the cliché) having a life-changing series of experiences in the process. I can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone who is lucky enough to have this opportunity!
Upon my return, I joined the Digital Marketing software company Kenshoo in Europe as Director of New Business and Strategic relationship, as a way to get back to my more technical roots. During my 13 months there, I brought in a number of pan-European deals with agencies and direct advertisers such as Spartoo.com or Havas / Media Contacts, for example, and saw through the successful on-boarding of such clients.
Since December 2010, I have been freelancing in Digital Marketing and have been acting Head of Digital for an integrated agency. I have also worked on both direct advertisers and agency projects in Digital Marketing and Search Engine Marketing.
Other random titbits of information
Well, I have already mentioned above that I enjoy running the Google Android OS in its purest form on my Google Nexus S, and that I really enjoy working on my MacBook Pro.
Generally, I like to understand “how things work”. That means understanding pieces of code or work and using those to build a new project from scratch.
I have also been keeping a good tab on all the topics I am interested in primarily using Feedly to monitor my 100+ RSS feeds. I am also pretty interested in understanding how best to use social networks; personally, as well as from a Digital Marketing standpoint. Although for me, there is a clearcut distinction between what is what: Facebook is a personal tool I am using to keep in touch with friends and family whereas LinkedIn is for business. Twitter is more complex as it can be use in a much more versatile way, in my view.
For blogging, I have used Wordpress extensively and lately, have discovered Tumblr, hosting this site and more suited to my needs here.
Oh, finally, I should mention that I am really into paragliding. In the process of taking my pilot license in the peak district. Snowboarding is not so accessible here in the UK, but I love it when I can get it too!
