Portfolio

Data, Strategy, Relationships, Results.

I am a 15+ years experienced marketing and creative leader with a strong track record of leveraging compelling narratives that drive brand impact. Skilled in leading teams and executing high-performing campaigns on time and within budget. A strong relationship-builder, ensuring seamless collaboration with clients and stakeholders. Focused on data-driven strategies, delivering measurable results and optimising ROI.

Before I went to university as a mature student in 2007 and then into the creative and marketing industries at graduation, I had started out in field sales as a wet-behind-the-ears 19-year-old in the then-recently deregulated energy market before working in sales and admin in national call centres.

Work History:
February 2023 – Present:	Experience Director, Ubiq Education
February 2020 – February 2023:	Head of Marketing, Canoports UK
August 2016 – February 2020:	Managing Director, Kent Creative Design
September 2013 – August 2016:	Manager, MAD Creative
September 2008 – February 2023:	Commercial Photographer, Self-Employed
September 2007 – December 2009:	Support Worker, Kent Autistic Trust
February 2005 – August 2007:	Claims Administrator, Lloyds TSB
November 2004 – February 2005:	Accounts Officer, Cabot Financial
July 2003 – January 2005:	Freelance Reporter, KM Group
October 2001 – August 2004:	Sales Consultant, Telewest Broadband
November 2000 – September 2001:	Sales Consultant, Lotus International
July 1999 – November 2000:	Sales Consultant, Seeboard
July 1997 – July 1999:	Decorator, Tim Cole Decorators

Please find below select examples of my work, representing the broad scope of my skill-set.

Canoports UK (AliDeck)

I joined Canoports UK, a manufacturer of extruded aluminium construction materials, as Head of Marketing in early 2020, just before the pandemic began. My focus was on their recently launched AliDeck brand, a range of aluminium decking boards for balconies, but I also worked across the company’s other brands, Milwood Group (B2B) and Canoports (B2C).

I had oversight of all marketing activities, including; writing press releases and advertorials for trade publications, managing the group websites, creating marketing materials such as brochures and videos, executing advertising campaigns, managing company brand positioning, product development and regulatory compliance, photography, managing external suppliers, organising trade shows, email marketing, and much more. I built a team of marketers, including specialist roles such as 3D/CGI animation, and my leadership contributed to year-on-year growth in enquiries and sales. I also developed comprehensive reporting strategies to optimise marketing spend and increase ROI.

AliDeck Junior Decking Board Datasheet – Download
AliDeck Product Wheel Poster – Download
AliPress Issue 3 (company newsletter magazine) – Download
AliDeck Print Advert – Download
Housing Management & Maintenance Advertorial Feature – Download
Housing Association Magazine Advertorial Feature – Download
Aluminium News Magazine Articles – Download
ABCD Magazine Advertorial Feature – Download
Housing Specification Advertorial Feature – Download

Young Gamblers Education Trust

I worked closely with start-up charity The Young Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM), when my team and I designed and launched their initial website and also created their first sets of classroom educational materials.

From those successful beginnings, we went on to deliver all of YGAM’s graphic design including; marketing materials; educational resources; training documents; presentations; annual reports; and much more. We also developed their website far beyond its original scope and specification, to include a staff/HR intranet and also a password-protected customer training and resource zone to support the charity’s work and goals.

YGAM Annual Report 2016 – Download
YGAM Annual Report 2017 – Download
YGAM Why People Gamble Data Sheet – Download
YGAM The Gambling Industry Data Sheet – Download
YGAM Education Manager Job Vacancy Application Pack – Download
YGAM Tri-fold Marketing Leaflet – Download
YGAM Training Documents Wallet – Download

Abacus Blinds

I worked very closely with the owners of Abacus Blinds, a blinds and awnings manufacturer and retailer in Maidstone. The initial project scope was to overhaul their web presence, rebrand their company, and relaunch their marketing.

The results were excellent, with a comprehensive website featuring a huge amount of process and product information driving a large increase in enquiries and sales volumes, in-line with expectations gleaned from ongoing detailed examination and reporting of website user data and Google Analytics. Coupled with steering on social media use and the creation of print brochures and leaflets, as well as semi-regular “top-ups” of commercial photography, my partnership with Abacus was satisfying and fruitful.

Abacus Blinds website: www.abacusblinds.co.uk
Abacus Blinds A5 Leaflet – Download

Combat Sports Academy

I provided commercial photography to Combat Sports Academy, shooting various classes, training sessions, and seminars and also capturing junior and adult students in action at martial arts tournaments and events around the country.

My photography was used to completely revitalise the look of their website and digital marketing. I also created and issued press releases regarding the CSA Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team’s exploits on the national competition circuit, securing much valuable exposure in the pages of the regional press. I also created a branded stand-alone website to host this content in order to achieve the most beneficial organic SEO gain for the gym as possible.

Selected PR examples:
– Joe Draper K1 Debut
Fight preview press release – Download
Press coverage – Download 1 & Download 2
Fight report press release – Download
Press coverage – Download 1, Download 2, & Download 3
– CSA BJJ Juniors at 2019 World Championships and Southend Open
Press release – Download
Press coverage – Download
– Mik Pereira MMA Bout
Fight preview press release – Download
Fighter portrait/headshot – Download
Press coverage – Download
Fight report press release – Download
Press coverage – Download
– Junior BJJ athlete Elliott Cole 2018 In Review
Year In Review press release – Download
Fighter portrait/headshot – Download
Press coverage – Download
TV coverage – Click

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

I worked with Medway NHS Foundation Trust on a number of outsourced graphic design projects via their marketing department. With a strongly defined brand guideline and established set of visual language practices, these were often highly technical projects with an absolute demand for precision.

Additionally, with budget constraints forming a major concern for the Hospital, all projects had to be delivered in the most cost-effective way possible whilst still delivering work of an exceptionally high standard. We delivered on this across multiple repeat commissions for posters, artwork, and digital items. These relatively straightforward graphic design projects then opened the door for us to pitch for and secure the production of the Trust’s KMPT “Connected” quarterly magazine, a complex and challenging production but one we delivered on time, on budget, and above expectations.

Medway Hospital “Smoke Free” campaign poster: Download
Medway Hospital “Smoke Free” campaign screen graphic: Download
Medway Hospital “Journey” campaign A0 wall poster: Download
KMPT “Connected” Summer 2016 magazine: Download

VintageAppleMac.com

This is a personal project, focused on my retrocomputing hobby, specifically relating to the Apple Macintosh platform. I created this website as I had accumulated a huge collection of 1990s Macintosh freeware/shareware games and utilities and wanted to share them with fellow enthusiasts. So, my web developer and I built from scratch a bespoke file-hosting back-end in Joomla (later recreated in WordPress) capable of hosting and serving 50GB+ of old software files.

We created an attractive front-end for the website and I began to write articles on various elements of my hobby and collection, sharing them to social media and web forum audiences and I quickly developed a growing and enthusiastic following on Twitter in particular, with healthy engagement levels and encouraging community feedback on my Tweets. I continue to use this project to enjoy and share my Macintosh interests and also to hone and develop my writing, producing articles in both long and short form; some of them deep dives on a particular topic, others being straightforward write-ups of software or hardware discoveries I have made, and so on. An important adjunct to the main website is my engagement with the Internet Archive in creating in-browser playable emulated Macintosh items, featuring Mac games, utilities, digital publications, and more. Building this relationship and curating this collection has resulted in a large amount of exposure for my work on VintageAppleMac.com.

VintageAppleMac.com website: www.vintageapplemac.com
– Example Articles
How God Makes God by Peter Small
The best way to preserve Macintosh software from floppy disk
Magazine cover disks aka shiny little plastic time capsules
Pucking Hell! The Apple USB Mouse; A design disaster or storm in a teacup?
Macintosh Error of Type -412

Music journalism

My earliest experience in professional writing came from my time spent as a freelance reporter covering the local music scene for KM’s Medway Messenger newspaper in the early to mid 2000s. I had set up a website to host my photographs and write-ups of the many local music events I was attending at that time and that site became relatively popular, catching the attention of the KM’s Senior Reporter.

I began to submit photographs and copy to the lifestyle/leisure team at the newspaper and soon was asked to produce weekly reports of Medway’s “Battle Of The Bands” tournament, leading to bylined articles. Alongside the weekly BOTB reviews, I continued to contribute copy for features on the Medway scene and also submitted bylined articles on key local music events.

Most notable of these was the reunion gig that The Libertines held at the Tap n Tin venue in Chatham on the day that lead-singer Pete Doherty was released from prison. This article (and the set of photography I shot at the gig) was republished on platforms around the world, and cribbed versions used in the UK national music press (Xfm, NME). For the 20th anniversary of this notorious gig, I was interviewed for a spread in the local press: View

– Journalism examples:
The Libertines Freedom Gig (byline)
BOTB semi-final (byline)
BOTB semi-final and final preview (byline)
BOTB semi-final, heat one (byline)
BOTB final – Screaming Keith win! (byline)
Launch of The Consortium (contributor)
“Band-aid benefit” Consortium feature (contributor)
BOTB Prelim round (byline)
BOTB Prelim round (byline)
BOTB Heat (byline)

Commercial Photography

I began to work as a freelance commercial photographer in 2009 whilst still at university. I quickly built a client list made up of small to medium-sized businesses across Kent, mostly producing editorial-style photography for use in their websites and/or print marketing material but I also regularly shot studio-style product photography.

My commercial photography practice forms the core of my creative understanding, with the lessons I learned with regards composition, narrative, fulfilling a brief, and story-telling informing the way I approach all aspects of my work today. In particular, I have strongly come to believe that people’s stories are the most fundamental part of any marketing or communications story and that telling these stories, whether in imagery or design or copy, is key to the success of any creative project.

My commercial photography website: www.stephenthomascole.com
– Commercial Photography Examples:
Gallery of key images – Click