Bradford Barker

about.me/bradfordbarker | Linkedin | @bradcbarker

Seasoned and highly-qualified digital marketing professional, demonstrating solid leadership, creative, and communication skills. Adept at weaving together digital and traditional marketing techniques into integrated campaigns and strategies, positively affecting the bottom line.

EXPERIENCE 

Banyan Branch

Associate Creative Director | Seattle, WA | Nov. 2011-Present

Lead the concept and development of content and campaigns that strategically align with client needs. Manage and develop content for client presentations and pitches, also participating and presenting in client meetings.

• Work closely with Sales, Interactive, and Account Teams to develop innovative marketing strategies, campaigns and interactive content ideas.
• Lead the creative role of generating new business ideas, developing business proposals, and project initiation.
• Manage the concept development while integrating brand and business requirements
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously from inception to completion, reviewing project plans, designs and deliverables, and provide guidance for the Interactive team’s creative work through both creative direction and hands-on ownership of key client-facing deliverables.
• Oversee and assist in creative output.
• Monitor and drive ideal balance in the available skills and personality of the team toward the needs of our customers.
• Monitor and drive the team to utilize the best and latest methods and tools to be competitive.

Microsoft Corporation

Marketing Consultant, Social Media | Redmond, WA | Aug. 2010-Nov. 2011

After joining the Bing social media team as a full-time consultant in August of 2010, I immediately began building and implementing robust social media engagement and content strategies.  In addition to strategy and planning, I played the key role in transitioning the Bing Twitter account to a more consumer-centric voice, eventually becoming the main voice of the channel. I have become the trusted authority for social and community engagement within Bing Marketing and Product Teams.

Building on that trust, I spearheaded a customer service project that triages, categorizes, and prioritizes feedback from Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums, etc. as a feedback loop for engineering so they have a statistical and immediate way to see what customers are saying about Bing and react accordingly.

In addition to the responsibilities and projects noted above, I also manage budgets over one million dollars, agency relationships and execution, and provide creative and user experience direction for all social components of every integrated marketing campaign.

AREA203 Digital

Associate Director, Social Media & PR | Chattanooga, TN | Oct. 2009-July 2010      

Originally brought on to build SEO business, I quickly transitioned to become the agency’s first Social Media & PR Director after the demand for social media services warranted a dedicated team. As a founding member of AREA203’s social media team and building a team of 6 in just 9 months, I led that team in creating a successful social media strategy for AREA203 Digital to increase awareness and build industry trust.

Working closely with the account and strategy team, I drove the development of customized social media marketing packages based on clients’ individual needs with all campaigns and tactics firmly rooted in sound marketing strategies.

Kaiser Realty, Inc.

Sr. Marketing Manager | Gulf Shores, AL | Feb. 2007-Oct. 2009

The Kaiser Realty marketing department was in need of increasing the company’s digital presence, which is where I entered the picture. I was instrumental in developing an integrated digital strategy, which included a complete redesign of the company website and the company’s first foray in to social media. I was responsible for executing the 2008 digital marketing plan, which helped bring the company it’s best annual revenue report in company history, thanks to a 50% increase in online conversions driven from social media (Facebook), the TripAdvisor community, SEO/PPC, and targeted online advertising. This success continued into 2009.

In addition to driving the team’s digital efforts, I also drove the team’s creative efforts, which included print, TV, radio, and out-of-home advertising. I managed the creative process for the company’s annual Vacation Guide, a printed piece distributed to over 200,000 homes and tourism centers throughout the country.

Hope’s Cheesecake

Marketing Director | Gulf Shores, AL | Nov. 2005-Feb. 2007

Hope’s Cheesecake was in need of creating new streams of revenue and saw a clear growth opportunity in the digital space. As Marketing Director, I was the key player in developing the digital presence of Hope’s Cheesecake, including the company’s first ecommerce platform and its first official social media profiles (Facebook, MySpace, and Linkedin). As a result of these efforts, Hope’s saw a 300% increase in sales w/in the first year of launching.

Peach Fuzz Studios

Co-founder / Marketing Director / Producer | Oxford, MS | Aug. 2003-Nov. 2005

Fresh out of college and a short internship at a Nashville sound studio, I took my first leap into entrepreneurship, opening a recording studio in partnership with another local musician and producer. Although short-lived, we accomplished the rare feat of actually making a profit in the first year of operations.

During this time, I made what is perhaps the most important decision of my career, jumping into what was then a new and unexplored platform: MySpace, the first major social media platform. In addition to our presence on MySpace and other industry forums, I also used my industry connections in Nashville to not only bring up-and-coming Nashville rock acts to Oxford to record but also creating a bond between the cities of Nashville and Oxford that persists to this day.

EDUCATION & TECHNICAL SKILLS

University of Mississippi | B.A. in Political Science (Cum Laude, 2002), B.A. in German (Cum Laude, 2002)

SMX Advanced Seattle | Social Media Track (June 2011)

SXSW Interactive Sessions | Marketing Strategy & Social Media (March 2011)

SMX Advanced Seattle | Social Media & SEO Track (June 2010)

Bruce Clay SEO Workshop | Advanced SEO Techniques, Analytics (June 2010)

Search Engine Workshops | Certified in Search Engine Marketing/Optimization (SEM/SEO)

Technology: Microsoft Office, Adobe CS 4/5, HMTL 5, CSS, PHP

KEY STRENGTHS

Digital Strategy | Social Media/WoM Marketing | Creative Direction

Decision Making | Client & Public Relations | Leadership / Team-building

Campaign Management | Project Management | Budget Management

Market Research & Analysis | Consumer Campaigns | User Experience Design