Duncan Blair Email & Phone Number

Vancouver, Bc, Ca

Vancouver, British Columbia, Ca

As VP Marketing my portfolio grew to include marketing strategy, brand creative, research & insights, media buying, e-commerce, communications, customer service, and B2B sales functions. My team included more than 70 full-time employees. I had significant accountability for delivering brand health and customer satisfaction to ensure the long term growth of the brand, as well as revenue and contribution margin.As a member of the senior leadership team, I continued to champion an obsession with understanding and delivering on customer expectations, and ensuring that we continued to develop and maintain a culture in which this was both recognized and celebrated.During my 8 years at Article we grew revenue more than 15x. We were named Canada's fastest growing company 2 years in a row (2018/2019), and in the top 5 again in 2020. We were frequently recognized as an e-commerce and/or direct-to-consumer success story. We went from a relatively obscure startup with a brand that was in conflict with an existing company, to a legitimate challenger brand in the North American furniture market, winning and delighting more than 1.5 million customers.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Ca

In 2016, I joined Article as the first head of marketing. Significant contributions and achievements included:Building the brand, from scratch - less than 3 months after joining Article I led a full rebrand to avoid a conflict with an existing furniture business trading under a similar brand name. This was a complex, high-stakes project, carried out during a period of explosive growth. Beyond renaming the organization, I also drafted the first set of values and led the positioning of the brand in the market. Building the marketing team - as the first head of marketing, I structured the marketing function, making key decisions around skillsets and capabilities we would build internally to give us a competitive advantage. These included investing in in-house media buying and creative capability. I hired for the key positions to build this capability. I put in place and subsequently refined the foundational measurement systems to ensure we were delivering results. Cultural leadership - beyond defining the organizations values, I led by example and ensured they were reflected across the business. This included making significant changes to our customer service approach that helped us win word-of-mouth and repeat business, co-creating a measurement system to track our delivery on promises to customers, and creating a peer-to-peer recognition program that continues to operate today.Building one of Canada's fastest growing companies - In both 2018 and 2019 Article was named Canada's fastest growing company in the annual Canadian Business rankings.In 2020 I was promoted to Vice President, Marketing.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Ca

Following the decision to merge Invoke Labs (focus on emerging brands) and Invoke Media (focus on established brands), I took on the marketing leadership role for the combined organization. In this role I worked on client business as well as being a key member of the Invoke leadership team. I worked with brands including the NHL, the Rick Hansen Foundation, Modo (car-sharing), Mojio (connected car platform), Wireless Wave, and Save-On-Foods helping create and refine campaigns, digital products, and brand platforms. I also helped drive agency growth, leading on large new business initiatives, including winning the largest retainer agreement in the organizations history.

Vancouver, B.C., Ca

Invoke built on their experience having created social media management platform Hootsuite, and launched a startup studio to provide services to other startups, as well as continuing to incubate their own ideas. In this role I got to work with some of Vancouver's most promising startups, helping them to identify and understand their customer segments, define their brand, and communicate their offering in a clear and compelling way.

Vancouver, B.C., Ca

Vancouver, British Columbia, Ca

Created and executed a comprehensive brand and communications strategy, pitched and worked with media to generate positive coverage in high profile industry press, wrote and oversaw production of marketing content (including data sheets, promotional videos, instructional videos, trade show materials, blog posts, guest blogs, infographics, and presentations), and managed the social media presence across all channels.

I joined &some, a digital communications agency, on a short-term contract (which was subsequently extended). I led the team through the development of their brand strategy, as well as I working on client projects for HP, Microsoft, IBM, New Zealand Post, and Splore-City. I was also involved in recruiting new staff, and establishing relationships with key partners in New Zealand and abroad.

Auckland, Nz

Oversaw the development and implementation of a new brand strategy, look and feel. Ran an innovative competitive pitch to select a new advertising agency. Worked with the new agency to develop the ‘You & Orcon: Together Incredible’ campaign, featuring Iggy Pop. This campaign went on to be incredibly successful, substantially increasing brand awareness while exceeding customer acquisition targets and lowering customer acquisition costs. It was also the most awarded campaign at the 2010 Communications Agency Association of New Zealand Axis awards, picking up 7 gold awards, and went on to win a Direct Grand Prix at the 2010 Cannes Lions. Successfully launched the Orcon Mobile service, exceeding sales targets by 12% for the first 6 months on the back of strong media coverage. Developed, implemented and managed the Orcon digital strategy, recognised as one of the most successful in New Zealand. As a result I was regularly invited to speak at events around the country about our social media strategy alongside other local and international speakers.

Auckland, Nz

Developed and managed a portfolio of broadband internet and fixed-line telephony products. Drove innovation in our product portfolio, introducing wildly popular products like New Zealand's first combined broadband and fixed-line telephony packages, as well as New Zealand's first unlimited national and international calling packages.

Auckland, Nz

Asked to take on the marketing manager role in an interim capacity after the departure of the previous marketing manager. Remained in the position during Kordia's acquisition of Orcon.

Auckland, Nz

Sydney, Nsw, Au

Steinlager Pure invited young New Zealanders to submit their visions for a 'pure future'. Part of the prize package for the top ideas was time with a mentor who had excelled in their chosen field. I was asked to participate as one of these mentors, both judging entries and offering the winners advice on their brand and communications strategy.

London, England, Gb

VisitBritain ran a campaign encouraging young New Zealanders to consider the UK as a holiday destination. They invited 8 successful young New Zealanders from a variety of backgrounds to travel throughout the UK for 10 days and document their whirlwind tour. I was responsible for blogging during the trip describing my experience, creating and editing video, and writing for several print media publications following the trip.