Helen Hammond
The team at Elephant Creative starts with Helen Hammond… that’s me. I could go on about how I have over 10 years experience of professional services marketing and business development but my profile should have shown you that already.
So, who am I and why am I qualified to be Managing Consultant at Elephant Creative? I started out with my father on his exhibition stands at the big defense shows. By the time I finished getting a degree in rowing (officially, marketing and business) it was the height of the ‘dot com’ boom and I jumped straight in – juggling work for a number of charities (fundraising, strategy and events) with spells in IT start-ups (including as Head of Events at one of the most successful professional online communities still in existence).
Since then I’ve worked with a wide range of clients – from law firms, accountants and major blue-chip organisations through to start-ups, SMEs, charities and public bodies.
I set up Elephant Creative because I wanted to focus exclusively on delivering an imaginative, professional and totally unique service. I had worked in-house at some large law firms and I thought things could be done differently… and dare I say it better… where their marketing was concerned. Gone are the days of boring, theoretical marketing plans that sit on a shelf.
But it’s not all about me! What makes Elephant Creative really special is the wide network of consultant partners and suppliers that I call on. I’ve worked with all of them personally and only recommend people I actually trust to provide exactly what my client is looking for. It’s all about knowing the right person for the job, isn’t it?
Importantly we believe in common-sense… both in the advice we give and the way we phrase it. Some consultants “talk” and others “do” and we most definitely “do”!
Julie Parmenter
Julie lives the rural idyll in deepest darkest Herefordshire, balancing this with a busy career as an independent PR consultant. She has nearly 20 years’ agency and in-house experience, directing campaigns for wide-ranging b2b, consumer and public sector clients. An experienced strategist, planner, campaign director, practitioner, writer and trainer Julie works with clients ranging from the public sector and Government, through to her local Primary School and an amazing little-known (but not for long when Julie works her magic), Herefordshire secret art-gallery.
Other clients have included Children’s Workforce Development Council, Learning and Skills Council, Home Office, The Electoral Commission, Royal Navy, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, National College of School Leadership, Training and Development Agency for Schools, City & Guilds and such corporate heavyweights as Ernst & young, BDO Stoy Hayward, CMS Cameron McKenna, RBS/Natwest, Zurich, NFU Mutual, Honda and Tiny Computers.
Julie’s work with Elephant Creative focuses on her education and public sector expertise, and she’s already working with a number of education clients to help them clearly articulate their messages and develop their brands.
www.bramptonpr.co.uk
Claire Thatcher
Claire is one of our super marketing guru-type consultants. What she’s really great at is helping organisations to understand how marketing, communications and (in particular) social media work. That means being there at every step – right from idea through to training, mentoring and implementation strategies.
She’s been involved in marketing and communications for fifteen years and has been fortunate enough to work for some of the world’s leading global brands, including IBM, Oracle and Sony Europe, as well as a number of professional services organisations.
Most recently Claire held the position of Senior Marketing Manager, International at a company that provides email marketing and marketing analysis and automation software to some of the world’s most respected consumer brands, a position which developed her understanding of consumer marketing and the challenges that they face.
Claire is now working as a freelance marketing consultant to businesses of all shapes and sizes – ranging from large law firms and consultancy practices, through to small independent SMEs.
Claire holds the Institute of Direct Marketing Digital Marketing Certificate (Cert DigM).
http://www.loudandclearmarketing.com/
Neil Fraser
Like many a PR consultant before him, Neil began his career as a newspaper journalist. After leaving university with an honours degree in History he earned his spurs at the Evening Herald in Plymouth followed by the Evening Post, in what became his adopted home city of Bristol.
In his three years with the paper he combined shifts on the news desk and business desk with his role as a senior news reporter, combining the usual round of court, council and crime reporting with major stories such as the Southall train crash and the murder of Jill Dando.
Neil moved into PR with Strategy Communications before its merger with Harrison Cowley and then joined Sturgess Van Damme as a director in 2005. After five years there he set up Inform Media last year.
Neil has developed a wide range of PR programmes but his specialism lies in B2B PR and in generating ideas for professional and financial services clients, and these have included Deloitte, Grant Thornton, Lloyds TSB Corporate, Clifton Asset Management, Clarke Willmott, King Sturge and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He has also acted for the likes of Spire Bristol Hospital, Cardiff Airport and Bristol Chamber of Commerce.
What makes Neil different? Well, what you see is what you get - experience, knowledge, expertise and understanding – something which is all too rare amongst PR consultants
Rebecca Hunt
Rebecca is a Freelance Copywriter living in Sheffield with her photographer boyfriend and very photographed cat. She started writing in February 2011 when she decided to rebel against the stereotype of a graduate not being able to find work. With a degree in English Language and Linguistics from Lancaster University in one hand and a novelty pen in the other, she took on her first job.
Since then she has developed an extensive portfolio of clients ranging from local magazines to household name holiday companies. She does interviews, press releases and everything in between. She’s even had to write a 300-word answer to the question ‘how many quarters are there in a half?’ She’s pretty good at making something out of nothing… Which leads nicely onto her expertise in impressive social media content. She’s got great experience managing Facebook and Twitter accounts, either from the very beginning or taking them on halfway through.
www.rebeccawrites.co.uk
Jessie Allen
Jessie is Founder and Managing Director of Present Future Media. She’s worked with Helen for more years than both admit to in public, starting with the PR for a law firm.
What Jessie is really excellent at, though, is her understanding of Integrated Communications including B2B, B2C and online (making all your PR work together as a suite, to achieve your objectives). Most recently that’s involved working on online retail launches, fashion range launches, media, broadcast, professional services and B2C consumables.
Jessie enjoys all elements of PR but is particularly interested in joining up print and online communications – Helen usually calls on her when she needs help with tricky online brands, start-ups and those requiring ‘beyond the call’ imagination and sparkle.
Hilary Williams
Hilary actually has a mission… to help businesses reach their true potential through tailored sales and marketing programmes.
Having worked in IT and Telecoms for over 10 years, specialising in channel development and marketing planning, she finally made the leap from corporate life in 2009 and says she hasn’t looked back since.
Passionate about supporting growing businesses, she set up Bright Black Marketing to provide cost effective, outsourced marketing solutions, enabling companies to take on the expertise of a skilled marketeer, but without the often preventative overhead of employing full time staff.
Since then she has developed a wide range of clients from online retailers to agronomy (no, we had to look it up too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomy) but her real passion is working with online companies and local businesses… in particular, online retailers. As a result she does a lot of work with start-ups and small businesses, keeping on top of all the latest trends, hot topics and products.
Hilary is a real problem-solver. She thrives on a challenge and most importantly gets great pleasure from seeing well planned and executed marketing programmes deliver real results to clients. Hilary’s work with Elephant Creative focuses on working with small and innovative companies and start-ups.
www.bright-black.com
Rich Mehta
Rich, from Mehta Web, is a web developer who creates online software, builds websites, knows the social web (think Facebook & Twitter!) like the back of his hand and makes sure everything works the way it’s supposed to; if it doesn’t then he always conjures up magical ways to solve the problems. His focus is on making software that works for the user and he has the skills to make sure out of the box software does everything you need it to. From Facebook pages to full blown E-Commerce, Rich has the skills to get you online.
Rich speaks both computer and human equally as well so you won’t find it a struggle talking to him. Given the time, he thinks he can solve almost any software problem thrown at him. You see, he loves to help and make people happy and sometime that requires a bit of imagination!
mehtaweb.co.uk
Alexandra McArthur
Alex has worked with some of the biggest names on the high street, from John Lewis, WHSmith and the Carphone Warehouse through to Twinings, Fruitella and Mates condoms… by what we’re excited about here at Elephant Creative is her real expertise in working with social enterprises.
She has over 13 years’ experience in providing PR support in a common-sense way. That means everything from good old traditional PR methods like media relations and copywriting through to helping organizations to showcase themselves online via their website and through social media channels.
She is passionate about debunking the myths of PR. It is not expensive, unnecessary, wasteful or fluffy. But it is insightful, creative and focused and can be the best investment someone makes in their business whether that’s a public sector body, private company, social enterprise or charity.
As a History of Art graduate and lover of the colour pink, Alex fits right in here at Elephant Creative!
Pip Finch
Pip Finch is a designer with real spirit… or at least an agency called Spirit. Based just down the road from us in Cirencester, Pip likes working with small and medium sized businesses in the consumer and b2b world. She’s a real one for making clients feel that she’s a part of their in-house marketing team, rather than just an outsourced service. We can assure you that considerable time goes in to making sure she really understands what’s important to you, and how you need her to help.
Of course we don’t expect you to take our word for all this. If you’re the sort of person that takes comfort from knowing a few of the “big names” Pip’s worked for then that’s fine with us… sometimes there is security in knowing that you’re in good company… Kraft Foods, Kenco, Toblerone, Carte Noire, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, B&Q, Somerfield, Sealine Yachts, SSP Rail, Dairylea and Triumph International Lingerie. Nowadays, clients vary from hypnotherapists to solicitors, cafés to sustainable energy companies, sports bra suppliers to hip joint suppliers, country clothing suppliers to mortgage advisors.
Pip is the person we recommend to companies looking for quick, simple design and print materials. She’s best at advertising, point-of-sale, corporate branding and literature but she’ll turn her hand to pretty much anything and does mean Twitter backgrounds!
http://www.spiritda.co.uk
Donna Hewitt
Donna speaks plain English, why use 20 words when 10 will do? Never afraid to ask questions, Donna will get to know your organisation and won’t take anything for granted.
She enjoys nothing more than getting under the skin of an organisation to find out what needs to be done to help them grow. It’s what she’s really excelled at over the past ten years, working both in-house and with agencies.
Although her real passion is for B2C marketing, Donna has gathered experience across a wide range of industries including education, telecoms, consumables, furniture, IT and manufacturing. Her focus is on multi-channel campaigns, ensuring that every channel is working as hard as possible to target the appropriate audience with the right message.
Donna is working with Elephant Creative as an education sector specialist, as well as helping a number of SMEs to put order in their marketing ideas.
Abby Wright-Parkes
Abby set up Optimist Consulting because she wanted to share her optimism (hence the name) and love of marketing. You can’t help but be inspired by her drive and determination… that’s why we love her, here at Elephant Creative. Abby specializes in working with voluntary organizations, membership organizations and social enterprises. She spent 15 years working in marketing and membership development and, most recently has worked for the influential ACEVO (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) as Director of Membership and Marketing, and then as Director of Membership for the Institute of Administrative Management, a professional body with 20,000 members.
Her work generally covers marketing elements from strategies to plans to social media masterclasses. Like the rest of the Elephant Creative team, is known for her pragmatism and easy to follow advice.
Gaynor Ferrari
Gaynor says “now sprouting at least two grey hairs, I can safely call myself a senior-level communications and PR consultant”. She provides expert counsel, strategy, and delivery across corporate communications, public relations and marketing campaigns. In plain English, she works with organisations to create winning strategies that get under the skin of the issue and meet true objectives, rather than simply generating column inches.
Gaynor cut her comms teeth in Local Government, working with tiny budgets and big issues. She then worked in a busy press office of a leading health education and research charity, launching some of
the biggest health stories going, before eventually moving on to manage the biggest and best government marketing campaigns at the Department of Health – including tobacco control, change4life, flu immunisation and the alcohol (know your limits) campaign.
She joins Elephant Creative as a Health and Social Enterprise expert (although her work is wider than that) and is currently working with the Royal College of Surgeons, Albert Bartlett potatoes, Zone creative and WCG Healthcare.
Claire Marshall
Claire is a former senior news reporter who traded her role in the news room to work freelance. In plain English that means she helps businesses to get publicity in the local and national media. Having read thousands of sub-standard press releases during her time as a reporter she was inspired to offer her own no-nonsense service, using her contacts in the media and her knowledge of the industry. But it doesn’t just stop at press releases. Claire’s expertise spreads across the media with email marketing, blogging and online copywriting a real speciality.
The project she is most proud of is bringing the Nibley Music Festival to the attention of the whole country – the festival sold-out in 36 hours this year, over three months earlier than the previous year.
She continues to write freelance for lifestyle and food magazines… in whatever spare time she has.
Mark Stockley
Mark is web guru who has felt his way down more digital branches than you could shake a stick at. A qualified illustrator, he moved into the digital age in the late 1990s and since then, has followed the guiding star of “making websites better for everyone”. In short, shock-horror… that they might actually generate sales/enquiries.
Passionate about user-centred design, beautiful code, SEO, testing testing testing, and working smarter, Mark has led countless teams of programmers, designers, wordsmiths and business beans to deliver clever, honest websites and web applications for some of the country’s leading technology companies.
Mark has forsaken inhouse roles in line management, information architecture, and development to pursue his consulting career and join Elephant Creative as a web performance expert.
Simon Quance
If you’re looking for imaginative, strategic social media… rather more than just some random tweeting… then Simon is your man! He has worked in the entertainment and digital marketing industries for over 20 years including projects with major global brands including Universal Music, Warner Bros, Disney, Nivea and Allianz, plus household UK high street businesses such as Nationwide Building Society and WHSmith.
After 11 years of working in the music industry Simon was in need of a change and joined internet start-up Peoplesound. Once there he established one of the UK’s first online PR operations before moving on to award-winning Bristol agency Hyperlaunch, where he started another ‘first’ by way of a new-fangled social media marketing team. Subsequent developments saw him hold management and planning roles at agencies including Hyperlaunch DMG, 20:20 and latterly EquiMedia, where he established their social media and brand engagement division, 6th Sense.
We’re thrilled to have Simon on the team, bringing his extensive experience in social media marketing & reputation management, online PR and link building, as well as a thirst for technology & innovation.
Jessie Price
Jessie describes herself as ‘a reliable and conscientious Virtual Assistant’ but she’s so much more… in short, she keeps the wheels on the Elephant Creative vehicle, employing all her experience in a variety of industries including Insurance, Health Services, Charity Sector and Multi-disciplinary construction. Because she has previously worked in a variety of office-based roles, from administrator to management PA, she is able to herd the cats and tackle pretty much everything we throw at her – be that research or invoicing, VAT returns or arranging meetings..
We couldn’t cope without her!
Daniel Bourhill
Daniel is a CIM accredited marketer living in Port Sunlight village with his partner and a French bulldog called Bert. He joins the Elephant Creative team to help out with marketing strategy and branding.
After leaving university with a 1st class BA honours degree in Business and Marketing, he began his pofessional marketing career in the not-for-profit sector. Since then, Daniel has worked across a range of B2B and B2C sectors, including retail, professional services and FMCG.
Daniel says he has “a passion to show that marketing can demonstrate measurable returns” and is experienced in planning and executing marketing communications plans and brand development strategies… as well as being one of the most frighteningly organised planners and list-makers we’ve
ever met!
Tara Behan
Tara may just have graduated from Coventry University and come from a little town in Warwickshire, where she has lived all her life… but her grasp of social media and publicity is second to none. She has wanted to be a writer since the age of 8, and is currently writing a novel, a children’s story… and some poetry… and that’s in addition to the day job. She decided to do a degree in Journalism and Media, because she wanted to make a career out of writing and, as a result, has contributed to loads of newspapers and websites as well as arts and travel websites and online forums. Her favourite recent project has been working with a local art gallery to connect to potential visitors and supporters, using
social media and online competitions.
