Strategy and planning
The digital direction, the annual plan and the budget case, presented to the people who sign it off.
A fractional head of digital, without the full-time hire.
A fractional head of digital or fractional marketing director, on a part-time, interim or contract basis. Twenty years across client side, media agencies and consulting, most recently as National Head of Digital Strategy at 303 MullenLowe.
Senior thinking, sized to the job.
Plenty of businesses need a head of digital and don’t need one five days a week.
A capable coordinator can run the calendar and the channels. What’s often missing is someone above that, who can set direction, hold agencies to account, tell whether the numbers are right and explain it to the board. Hiring that person full time is expensive, and often there isn’t a full week of that work to do.
A fractional arrangement gives you that experience for the days you need it. You may also see it called a part-time digital marketing director, a freelance head of digital or an interim digital lead. The idea is the same.
This suits you if
- Your marketing team is capable and has nobody senior in digital to report to.
- You’re between heads of digital and can’t afford six months of drift.
- You’re spending serious money with agencies and nobody in-house can assess it.
- You’re about to bring digital work in-house and want it set up properly.
What I take responsibility for.
Agencies and suppliers
Briefing, choosing and managing agencies, by someone who has sat on their side of the table.
Measurement and reporting
Making sure the numbers are right, and turning them into a report leadership can act on.
Team and hiring
Structuring the team, writing role descriptions, interviewing and mentoring the people you have.
Technology decisions
Choosing analytics, advertising and marketing tools, and avoiding the ones you’d regret.
AI adoption
Working out where AI belongs in your marketing, and setting it up with rules and checks.
Four arrangements.
Fractional
Part-time head of digital
An ongoing, regular commitment. I join leadership meetings, own the digital plan and stay accountable for it.
Interim
Covering a gap
Leading digital between a departure and a hire, or through parental leave, so the function doesn’t drift.
Project
Leading one initiative
A defined job with an end date: a replatform, an agency review or bringing work in-house.
Advisory
A senior sounding board
A regular session for an owner or marketing manager who wants experienced counsel without a new hire.
For recruiters: the short CV.
Filling a senior digital role in Perth, and open to a contract, interim or fractional arrangement? This is what you’d be getting.
- 20 years in digital marketing, based in Perth
- Client side, web agency, media agency and creative agency experience
- National Head of Digital Strategy, 303 MullenLowe
- Hands-on in analytics, tracking, paid media and SEO
- Running an independent consultancy since leaving agency life
- iiNetClient side, in-house.
- Web agenciesBuilding and running websites.
- OMD/Marketforce and Carat (Dentsu)Media agency side.
- 303 MullenLoweManaging Director, Profero Experience Design.
- GrowthMadBack on the tools, working directly with businesses and agencies.
Clients and brands worked on
- Tourism Western Australia
- Road Safety Commission
- Lotterywest
- iiNet
- Alinta Energy
- Bankwest
- HBF
- Medibank
- Curtin University
- University of Western Australia
- Edith Cowan University
- Rio Tinto
- Seven West Media
- Crown Resorts
- Cash Converters
- HealthEngine
- Bedshed
- Westcoast Hifi
- Dankz Furniture
- Boomering Basketball
- Chematek
- Lime Industries
- Independent Mineral Standards (IMS)
Fair things to ask.
What’s the difference between a fractional head of digital and a consultant?
Accountability. A consultant advises on a question. A fractional head of digital joins your team, owns the plan and answers for the outcome.
How much time would you give us?
It depends on the size of the job. We agree a regular commitment that fits, and review it each quarter.
Do you still do hands-on work in this kind of role?
Yes, and that’s unusual. If the tracking needs fixing or the ad account needs rebuilding, I can do it myself or direct someone who will.
Do you work on site?
I’m based in Perth and will come in when being in the room helps. A lot of the work is done remotely.
We’re recruiting for a permanent role. Is it worth a conversation?
It might be. I work as an independent consultant, so contract, interim and fractional arrangements suit best. I can also cover the role while you search, or help you define it.
Is this the same as a fractional marketing director?
It can be. A fractional head of digital owns the digital plan, the numbers and the suppliers. Where a business has no marketing lead at all, the remit widens to a fractional marketing director or fractional head of marketing. It also works as an interim head of digital while you hire, or as a part-time digital marketing director for a set project.
Need someone senior in the digital chair?
Tell me about the business and the gap. I’ll tell you plainly whether a fractional arrangement fits, or whether you need something else.