Phil W.
About me
| Phil W. | |
| History | |
| History | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Alcuin | |
| 1983 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Marketing Director | |
| British Hospitality Association | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Tourism, leisure and hospitality | |
| Small business (0-49 employees) | |
| 2015 |
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A day in the life of a Marketing Director in the United Kingdom
Experienced and versatile Marketing Director - blue chip brands and innovative not for profit
My career goals when I graduated
Job using skills that I developed studying history, a commercial and creative aspect and the opportunity for good remuneration.
My career history
NHS HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE INFORMATION CENTRE
Director - Marketing Communications & Development
LEARNDIRECT ( Ufi Charitable Trust )
Group Director of Marketing, Research & Communications
MARS EUROPE Head of European Marketing & Market Development
FIRST ALERT EUROPE LTD
European Sales & Marketing Director
DEL MONTE FOODS INTERNATIONAL LTD
Marketing Director - Europe , Marketing Manager – UK
PFIZER LTD
Product Manager
NIELSEN MARKET RESEARCH
Account Manager
What has helped my career to progress
Application, flexibility, good personal relationships, integrity and judgement, preparedness to enter new roles and industries-public and private sector
How my studies have helped my career
Communication skills , writing , analysis and differentiating the important from less so.
What surprised me about my career so far
Variety of sectors, company sizes, involvement in different geographies, great bosses, shit bosses....like life really!
Where I hope to be in 5 years
Interesting work in a challenging environment and working with people with similar values
My advice to students considering work
Your skills , interest and passion can often be met in varied careers so don't preclude them too early. Also start something as you may not yet know you exact career target.
My advice about working in my industry
Research and speak to people -don't assume the good or bad.
Contacting me
Preference to arts students but not prescriptive.
Happy to help with career choices and learnings, or specific insights with particular applications
What I do
Develop marketing strategy and plans for a private sector body representing the hospitality and tourism industry.Implementing plans which actively champion the interests of UK hospitality and tourism with govt and advice and business services which help individual members to flourish.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Special talent demonstrated building innovative new organisations , markets and brands for Mars, Del Monte, Pfizer, created a new national brand at Learndirect and marketed to membership of individuals (2m) and businesses (>200k).
Cutting-edge communications - marketing success has covered ground-breaking advertising, media, events, digital acquisition and partnership marketing, B2B experience and campaigns based on national and local insights. Major public sector digital initiatives - Learndirect & NHS Choices.
Insightful strategy and analysis - highly data literate with a proven ability to analyse market behaviour, based on training at Nielsen- the global market research leader. Led major segmentation exercises for Mars, in the UK education market, the health research market and for fire safety in Europe, as the basis for strong and successful growth strategies.
Innovative new business and services - based on real customer needs and insights , delivered over £40m of new business including consumer products , sales to businesses of training and health services , licencing and distributor agreements, and negotiated £ multimillion supplier and government contracts.
Outstanding relationship management – operating at board level, achieved objectives by maintaining the confidence of stakeholders, non-executives and senior management at parent companies, customers and suppliers, and with teams at government departments. Negotiated strong partnerships with national and regional bodies for joint promotion and reciprocal services.
Acute budget and financial skills - including managing a financial turnaround at First Alert, developing company value during a management buyout at Del Monte.
What I like most
Researching marketing, defining strategy and being involved in creative communications or commercial solutions
What I like least
Small 'p' politics and non collegiate work mates
What surprised me most
Like every industry I have worked in, it has its own culture , patterns, and commercial challenge; so this fact was not a surprise but the fascinating details of these were.
Next steps...
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