Paul Woodhouse

Think First Communications is a freelance marketing services brand that I have created to help provide strategic and creative support to businesses and individuals. Specialising in marketing strategy, brand management and creative content I can use my near 20 years of experience in marketing leadership to help support organisations with support in many ways.

Please visit my website www.thinkfirstcommunications.com to find out more.

As Marketing Director for Today Digital, I headed up the marketing department for a B2B technology marketing services organisation that runs four digital publications for vendors, channel partners, and end-users specifically in unified communications and extended reality. The team is structured of a Marketing Manager, three Content Marketers, two Website Developers, two Multimedia Designers, and a Digital Specialist. During my time I helped to scale up the department reviewing brand, processes and people to ensure future success in delivering marketing both in demand and lead generation. We have also delivered changes in email marketing, content marketing, social media, data management, brand identity, and eight virtual events. During my tenure, I undertook a review of marketing and already instigated the following in terms of achievements. A brand refresh to ensure long term scalability. A restructure of the department to ensure a focus on brand, audience growth, demand and lead generation. The introduction of six additional virtual events now being run fully internally when the two already being run was was supported by external agencies. Increased engagement in all publication awards events. Created a strategy that has changed the way that our audience subscribes to newsletters with an increase in July 2022 ending an 18-month trend of numbers reducing that preceded my tenure with the company.

At Vindis Group I was responsible for leading the centralised marketing department, with management of three direct reports. My role is primarily the strategic planning and implementing of tactical marketing plans for the Group's 19 businesses, the national corporate Fleet division, as well as the overall Group brand strategy. I work closely with internal stakeholders and key external contacts from Bentley, Audi, Ducati, SEAT, CUPRA, SKODA, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. My work is focussed on progressive leadership, innovation, people development and customer experience at its core. I have a passion for strategic planning, digital marketing, writing and thought-leadership. I like develop my team to work together to deliver high quality marketing campaigns based on data and information driven insight to ensure both effective and commercially-focussed activity. I am focussed on delivering leads for our businesses that impact our sales targets and drive profitability for our businesses. However, I am a big believer in the value of brand and delivering a personalised and customer-centric approach and this has been central to the development of our overarching marketing strategy, values and departmental mission statement.