We’re delighted to announce we have a new digital marketer on the Tomango team, helping us take our client’s online activity to new levels.
Please meet our Digital Marketing Lead, Glenn Davidson.
Glenn joined us in March and is already making an impact by elevating the online profiles of our clients, and improving Tomango’s own digital marketing strategy. Having previously worked with household names such as Tesco, Accor and Netflix, Glenn brings a wealth of experience across the full marketing-mix to Tomango and we’re very excited to have him joining the team.
After a few weeks in the role, we sat down with Glenn over a coffee to talk about all things digital and find out how he’s fitting into life with Tomango.
”Hey Glenn, thanks for taking the time to chat. How have your first few weeks been?
So far, the time’s flown by. It’s been very fast-paced getting to grips with our range of clients and understanding their unique requirements, USPs and objectives. Thankfully you, James and Mike have been incredibly accommodating and all helped me settle in quickly.
It’s also been an adjustment coming back into an office after years of remote working, but it’s been a breath of fresh air… and I’m starting to think my dog was getting sick of me ranting to her about GA4!
So that all sounds very positive; have you come across any particular challenges so far?
It’s clear Tomango functions like a well-oiled machine and – like with any job – it takes a bit of time to figure out how best to fit into an established business with procedures that are slightly different to what you’re used to.
That being said, there’s a brilliant mix of talent in the team and I’m excited to see what we can all achieve going forward.
At the moment I’m just working on getting everyone’s hot drink orders memorised.
Ha – yeah, it’s all about priorities right? Now, you’re in quite a privileged position in that you’ve worked in agencies and client-side in the past…
Yeah, I started my marketing career working in agencies and absolutely loved it. Like a lot of marketers, I thrive in a creative and fluid environment, and agencies – like Tomango – have a unique way of bringing a group of experts together to channel their different skills in solving a wide variety of business challenges.
But more recently I applied my skillset to working client-side as a Marketing Manager in a few different national multi-site businesses, which I think gives me a unique perspective when communicating with clients. I’ve sat on their side of the table and understand the objectives and barriers they’re often dealing with.
You’ve certainly got plenty of experience across the board, so what areas of Digital Marketing have you covered?
Well, I started with content copywriting for a graphic design and website development agency, which naturally led to me developing a solid understanding of search engine optimisation. Since then I’ve created a plethora of digital strategies from scratch, so you’d be hard pushed to find an area of digital marketing I haven’t got quite a bit of experience in.
If I had a specialism today, it would probably be PPC, but my brain works best when developing strategies, creating campaigns and solving challenges across the whole marketing mix.
So, what would you say was the most exciting campaign you’ve worked on so far?
I’ve worked in lots of different sectors over the years – from pharmaceuticals and healthcare to retail and property, and each industry has its own unique challenges and rewards. I’m also lucky enough to have been involved in some very exciting projects with the likes of Samsung and Mercure, so choosing one campaign is difficult…
The one I have the fondest memory of was developing the UK affiliate retail campaign for season one of Stranger Things. At that point in time no-one had any idea how popular the series was going to be and to have worked with some incredibly talented designers, developers and marketers on that campaign was a very formative part of my early career.
Speaking of your early career, what led you to working in marketing?
Funnily enough I had no plans at 18 to go into marketing; instead I was pursuing my dream of being a music producer. However, halfway through my degree I started to realise I had a flair for business and turned my ability to write lyrics into writing advertising copy. After eventually doing my dissertation on “The economic viability and sustainability of record labels in current markets”, I realised I really enjoyed analysing sales patterns, reviewing marketing campaigns and applying my creativity to the business world.
Following that lightbulb moment, I started looking for a junior role in marketing and thankfully found one within a small but innovative creative agency.
What developments in digital marketing do you think will change the most over the next few years?
I’m really excited to see where augmented reality takes us. I think a lot of marketers tend to see a lot of things as too “sci-fi”, but when we do that, we also make those things feel unobtainable.
Augmented reality is one of those topics that seems unlikely now, but Google, Microsoft and Apple are all currently working on some form of augmented reality product, so I think it’s only a matter of time before I’ll be creating interactive posters, which will be tailored to a person’s recent shopping habits and can only be seen by that person when wearing their AR glasses.
Digital Marketing certainly is fast-moving – How do you stay up to date, have you got any blogs or podcasts you’d recommend?
Not to be too on-the-nose, but there is a fantastic podcast I listen to called “The Digital Marketing Podcast”. It’s a great overview of the industry released every few weeks that manages to cover the entire scope of digital marketing, from Influencers to artificial intelligence. I’d highly recommend giving it a listen.
My favourite work-related blog is called “Digital Synopsis” which looks at the creative side of design and marketing. They publish lots of humorous content which is well worth taking the time to look through. It can be refreshing to remember there’s a lighter side to what we do.
So, assuming you don’t think about SEO 24/7, what do you like to do outside of work?
I like to keep busy so have quite a few hobbies. I play guitar and sing in a pop-punk band called Penelope Tree, play 7-a-side football every week and in the pandemic, I started a small side business selling men’s bath products. I also try to do one charity fundraiser each year; this February I raised money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital by “Gaming for GOSH”.
When I’m not doing all of that I’m currently planning my September wedding to my lovely fiancé Sarah, or being pestered for treats and walks by my dog.
Ah, yes – now we’re getting to the important stuff, tell us about your dog?
She’s a 2-year-old Sprollie (Border Collie and English Springer Spaniel mix) called Nala. We rescued her on the Queen’s platinum jubilee so the name comes from the Swahili word for Queen, as well as being a character from Sarah’s favourite film, The Lion King.
She’s a bit bonkers and an absolute people-pleaser. She completely ignores other dogs if there’s a person around to play with, but loves nothing more than a long walk, especially if there are plenty of chances to swim.
Finally, if your house was on fire and you could only save one possession, what would you save?
It would have to be one of my eight guitars. Choosing a specific one is a bit like choosing which one of your children to save, but it would either be my Fender Jaguar or my Epiphone ES 333 Tom DeLonge signature, which I worked very hard as a 16-year-old bartender to save up for, and these days it’s quite rare to find one.”
So there you go.
If you want to know more about the future of digital marketing, or even just want a guitar recommendation, Glenn’s your guy.
Catch him touring in a venue near you or contact us to find out how he can assist with your marketing strategy.