phildobbie.com

I have a bunch of skills and many years experience in marketing and business. You can use them to add value to your business by employing me on a contract basis, or full-time for the right gig! Check out my experience here and read some of the case studies of companies I have worked for. 

Writing

I have always loved writing. Whether it's advertising, online, brochures or corporate documents (such as the Annual Report or an IPO Prospectus), I've done it before and I'm happy to do it again in exchange for money or food.

Podcasting

I have many years of broadcasting behind me and now I'm presenting a daily podcast on BNet. Web users these days are calling out for multimedia content. Many don't have the attention span to read lots of words. So if you have an involved concept to get across it's best to do it with sound and vision. Sound is a great medium for online because it gives something for people to listen to while they continue to surf your site.

Product Marketing

Most product managers in the telecommunications space are quick to say that they are not a marketing person. That makes it difficult to specify the features of the product. This technology-push approach has led to the downfall of many products. I have experience across the full marketing mix and can help to develop, price and promote products that people want and can understand.

Brand Planning

Personally, I reckon a lot of people make too much money crapping on about brand. It's important but it's no deep, mysterious art. It's nothing more than determining the personality of your business, then ensuring that everything you do reflects that personality. I can help get your brand back on track through workshops, processes and templates. That way you can have brand integrity without being held ransome by the office Brand Nazi . 

Acquisition Campaigns

This has been the focus of most of my career, Whether it's TV and radio, press or online, or a mix of all of them, the principles are the same. Keep the message simple, focus on an offer and tell people how to buy, or how to find out more if they're not ready to buy yet. Then analyse the results to determine which media and creative combinations worked.

Websites & Applications

Most websites these days are, in fact, applications. This website was constructed using Joomla, a content management system that is a web-based piece of software. If your website or online applications are in need of help, I can guide your team through the process of determining objectives, preparing use cases and designing the customer journey. Working with information architects I can then map out the full site and write a Business Requirements document that your IT team will love! Honest.

Online Marketing

Over recent years the target market for the services I have been peddling have been heavy online users. That means online marketing was an important part of the mix of media used to reach them. That doesn't mean it was always the cheapest for customer acquisitions. People might be using your site for presales research then buying through another channel. So don't be upset if you have a low conversion rate. You shouldn't ignore online as a brand-building medium either, with broadband users spending more time online than in front of the TV.

People Management

Don't ever employ me to manage a Human Resources department. My focus has always been on outcomes for the business. That doesn't make me a bad manager, just not a specialist in human issues. In fact, if you believe in psychometric tests I'm a great "teacher", as well as (according to Facebook) an egotist with a narcissistic personality disorder.