EXPERIENCE.

Uncover the Journey of Creative Innovation

INTRODUCTION

  • Over the years, I've crafted a career filled with creativity, innovation, and impact. My journey spans multiple disciplines and industries, from branding and marketing, through to graphic design, web design, podcasting, and video production.
  • Throughout my career, I've prided myself on pushing boundaries and delivering results. Whether I've been directing brand strategies, crafting visually stunning graphics, designing user-focused websites, producing enlightening podcasts, or creating captivating videos, my passion for all things digital shines through.
  • My work has been a thrilling ride, peppered with awards and recognitions, significant growth achievements for companies, and most importantly, countless stories of transformative business solutions. This page is a brief exploration of that journey, demonstrating the diversity of my experience and the breadth of my skills.
  • As you delve into my professional history, you'll uncover the essence of what I bring to every project – a potent mix of creativity, strategic thinking, technical prowess, and an unyielding commitment to excellence.
  • So, whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration, an established company in need of a fresh perspective, or simply curious, I invite you to explore my professional journey. Let's immerse ourselves in the thrilling world of digital innovation!

Professional EXPERIENCE

Upment Agency Ltd
United Kingdom / Serbia
Nov 2018 - Present

Co-Founder & Principal Strategist
Upment, a growing Adobe Commerce (Magento eCommerce) technology agency, serves an array of B2C and B2B clients worldwide.

Since joining the team, I catalysed the evolution of Upment from a two-person operation into a fully-fledged agency with a burgeoning international client base. My vision drove the total restructure of the business, enabling us to extend our reach to clients in the UK, Japan, and the USA.

Key responsibilities and achievements include:

- Business Transformation: Oversaw the strategic revamp of Upment's brand and business structure, transforming it from a modest Upwork-based operation into a full-service agency.
- Team Building & Staff Management: Assembled a talented team of eight, overseeing daily management tasks ranging from staffing and accounts to payments and project task allocation.
- Community Empowerment: Initiated and launched a free local coding school aimed at training young adults in the art of development, culminating in internships for top-performing students.
- Client Relationship Management: Became the key client contact, managing and enhancing performance of client accounts while maintaining regular communication about development progress, timelines, successes, and activities. Successfully leveraged Asana as a project management tool to streamline these processes.
- Content Creation & Branding: Authored impactful blog articles, client proposals, and video tutorials to drive client engagement and amplify the brand's presence in the industry.
- Design: Led the front-end and UI/UX design aspects, merging creativity and technical acumen to create appealing, user-friendly interfaces for our clients.
- Sales & Marketing Management: Spearheaded our sales and marketing efforts, focusing on growth-driven strategies and measurable outcomes.
- Strategic Leadership: Consistently dedicated to the evolution and implementation of business strategies, positioning Upment for sustainable growth and success.

NFTsReg
United Kingdom
Nov 2021 - Present

Founder
Creating a platform to fight NFT scams within the utility NFT market.

In November 2021 I started creating an NFT collection for a project, where it’s utility was to enable artists to create websites specifically to show there NFT art on a similar basis of Squarespace, but, with minting capabilities; however, after attending many Twitter Spaces, I discovered that the community wanted away to fight NFT scams.

So, I went about creating NFTsReg. I illustrated all the characters enough for 7777 to be minted and set about creating the project. The project has been self-funded, after many development hurdles/mistakes, sadly, I decided to park the project. On a positive note, this has pushed me deeper into the NFT market and has taught me a lot about NFTs and the creation process. I truly believe NFTs offer a global entrance for many brands and businesses. Everything for this project was done on a more gorilla marketing process.

Ayre Media UK
United Kingdom / Global
Mar 2018 - Nov 2018

Marketing Director - Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Marketing and media agency working in the blockchain and cryptocurrency arena.

Developed the marketing strategy to increase awareness of events, generate leads and sponsorship. I was also responsible for building, motivation and leading teams across both Ayre Media and the news website CoinGeek which is based in Asia; in effect, I became the MD for BCH.

Achievements
CoinGeek Conference in Hong Kong (400 delegates)
Sold 400 delegate seats from zero delegates in 2.5 months using performance advertising: Banner Ads, PPC, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn in mail and YouTube. Tickets were priced at £1500 and sold in BCH. 

Other notable wins
- Antigua Citizen Investment Program (CIP): designed and wrote all technical documents. Devised an email campaign to high net worth individuals, signed up 54 prospects and sold one CIP at £134k.

- Bitcoin Cash Rebirth Party: I was requested to create an outlandish party hosting 200 guests within a two-week deadline, this I managed and also created a viral video that received 242k views.

Overall Growth by Percentage
- YouTube by 367%
- Twitter by 550%
- Facebook by 247%
- CoinGeek visits by 143%
- Email database by 221%
- Email average open rate 25%

Deeper study of my position here

Canada Life UK

Full-time Contractor
United Kingdom
Feb 2013 - Feb 2018

Digital Marketing Manager & Digital Development Strategist
Canada Life is the largest Pension, Annuity and Insurance company in the world.

Provide expertise and insight to Canada Life in digital marketing strategy, website design and development, change management. Lead implementation and adoption of digital marketing best practices, customer insight, marketing intelligence, content and digital campaign management functions. Define digital strategy across content, social media, SEO, PPC, CMS, email marketing and managed external agencies.

Key Achievements

Change Management: under guidelines from the executive board, I was requested to assist within the
companywide business restructure. Specifically tasked with the marketing department. I presented my
findings to the executives, which was then activated.

Created digital marketing strategy: this was implemented across the whole business; worked closely with key business stakeholders for the adoption this strategy.

Other notable wins

- CRM/Email System: worked with IT to create an integrated CRM for Sales & Marketing using Salesforce.
- New website: Created all the customer journeys & presented to the stakeholders/executives.
- Project management:  the website build, time & budget: delivering on time and in budget.
- Savings: through product discovery, I saved Canada Life £700k in licensing fees.

Tools introduction: Google analytics, Tag Manager, Search Console and Data Studio, these tools have
enabled my teams to produce stronger MI and advance our digital marketing practices.

Overall Growth by Percentage
- Website views by 30%
- Lowered Customer Service Calls by 18%
- Webinar attendance by 172%
- Video views by 36%
- Email CTR by 60%
- PDF downloads by 83%

Aviva Investors

United Kingdom
Oct 2011 - Apr 2012

Digital Marketing Manager
Aviva Investors is the daughter company of Aviva Group, which is a major Insurance business.

Directed the digital marketing team whilst creating the Centre of Excellence for Aviva Investors digital
activities. Conceptualised and implemented global digital strategy, encompassing: client acquisition and client retention activities. Supported Thought Leadership program through digital technologies and online delivery.

Key Achievements

- Savings: reduced cost of video production by £100k and introduced internal video capabilities.
- Procurement: new email marketing tool, which extended on email and social media capabilities.
- Team: managed six digital marketers.

Due to Aviva’s restructuring, 300 positions were closed, which included the Aviva Investors Marketing teams.

Jupiter AM

Full-Time Contractor to Perm
United Kingdom
Mar 2004 - Sep 2011

Digital Marketing Manager / Web Technical Lead
Jupiter Asset Management is one of the top financial houses in the UK. Specialising in: Equities, Fixed Income, Multi-Asset, Absolute Return and Multi-Manger portfolios.

I fulfilled roles of increasing scope and responsibility, initially tasked with rebuilding Jupiter's websites and subsequently building an internal digital and creative team. Co-managed the channel marketing team, developed digital marketing capabilities and delivered advice on Web content creation to supported SEO. Developed and implemented innovative business strategies for new eBusiness and digital marketing (including social media, SEO and PPC) to support improvements in sales performance.

Key Achievements

- Website & CMS: coordinated and project managed development of both.
- Video: built an internal video and photography studio, enabling the creation of fund manager video
updates and other digital branded material.
- Change Management: assisted the Marketing Director in restructuring the marketing team, to include a digital marketing team, web team and creative team.
- Team: managed and coached six direct reports and eight jointly managed channel marketers.
- Coaching: coached sales teams and fund managers in vocal and video presenting.

Fidelity Investments

Full-Time Contractor
United Kingdom 
Feb 2001 - March 04

Digital Designer / Online Marketing
Fidelity Investments is one of the largest financial institutions in the world. Specialising in financial investments for businesses, institutional and clients.

My task at Fidelity Investments was in developing digital projects as part of in-house design agency, including digital strategy and style guides, management and implementation of designs across Fidelity websites. I also created video stings for high profile corporate events, supporting promotion of the Fidelity brand.

Key Achievements

- Video: introduced video capture and editing capabilities, which led to the construction of digital video-editing studio and further resources to assist in the digital output.
- Website: designed and engineered their online forms functionality. Designed.
- Digital Style guide: implementing best web practices into the Fidelity style guide.
- Training: Provided training in implementing best Web practices while following digital style guide.
- Team: Managed two indirect reports and coached fund managers in video presenting.

SKILLS
  • Brand Strategy Marketing
  • Advertising (Creative & Strategic)
  • Media Planning
  • Digital/Social/PR & Event Marketing
  • Narrative Creation & Storytelling
  • Stakeholder Engagement & Management
  • Marketing Operations
  • Building Marketing Teams & Mentoring them
  • Influencing Skills
  • Analytic & Inquisitive Qualities
  • Creative Flair
  • Persistence in Adversity
  • Flexibility & Adaptability
  • Using AI for competitive advantage

Professional Development

- Effective Management and Strategies
- Managing a Team for Commercial Growth
- Video Editing
- Video Lighting
- Penetration Testing

Education

London School of Journalism
Writing News and Features
University for the Creative Arts
Degree in Design and Illustration
Sussex Cost College Hastings
Foundation Degree in Design

Honers & Awards

Clutch Top B2B Services UK
The Manafest Most Reviewed Digital Marketing Agencies
Overture (Yahoo) Best SEO of UK Financial Sites
Kasina Top 10 European Websites for Fidelity
Money Marketing Best designed financial site in the UK for Fidelity
DTI Award for Excellence Most Original Concept for CMYSELF payroll extranet
Computer Weekly Best Designed Online eCommerce Site for China Craft
.net Magazine Award Most Original Designed Site for Sytner UK

Video Creation by Mark Hebblewhite

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Uncover the Journey of Creative Innovation with Mark Hebblewhite

Throughout the dynamic realm of digital marketing, few things are as impactful as a track record of diverse experience and consistent success. My professional journey, spanning over two decades across multiple disciplines and industries, stands as a testament to the power of creativity, innovation, and results-driven strategies.

Whether it's brand strategising, graphic designing, website designing, podcast producing, or video creation, my career is characterised by a boundary-pushing approach and an unrelenting passion for all things digital. I've garnered awards and recognitions, driven significant growth for companies, and delivered transformative business solutions, all while weaving a rich tapestry of creative and strategic expertise.

This page offers a window into my professional history, illuminating the wide-ranging scope of my skills and experience. It's not just a catalogue of my work—it's an exploration of the creativity, strategic thinking, technical prowess, and unwavering commitment to excellence I bring to every project.

Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration, an established company in need of fresh perspective, or simply curious, I invite you to delve into my journey. Let's embark on a shared adventure into the exhilarating world of digital innovation!

Ready to collaborate or learn more about my professional journey? Fill out the contact form below, and I'll be in touch to discuss how we can chart a course towards digital excellence together.

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 HEBBLEWHITE

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