Profile

Oxford University graduate with more than 18 years international communications experience.

I've lived in a mud hut in Africa for six months, I was instrumental in the launching of a national newspaper in the Middle East, I've worked on four continents during my career, and I love climbing and mountaineering.
In short, I'm up for most challenges.

Key Skills

Values: I have them
Leadership: A fundamental belief in equality coupled with an ability to see the big picture and a tendancy for rolling my sleeves up
People: Empathy, the ability to listen and a good dose of humility generally make for a winning combination
Communications: A comprehensive knowledge of corporate communications, print and digital media

Languages

  • English - Native
  • Italian - Intermediate

Hobbies

Mountaineering, politics and any strategy game.

Exploring: If I haven't been there, I want to go.

Technical Skills

My core skills are the development of rich and engaging cross-media content; integrating strategy and tactics; and managing and successfully delivering on stakeholder expectations within budget and on time.

PR & Media Relations
Content, Editing & Digital Solutions
HR, Management & Leadership
Stakeholder Relations
Project and Change Management
Integrating Strategy & Tactics
Finance, Legal & Sales


Moving forwards, I want to use my strategic communication and leadership skills to drive and deliver results for organisations and institutions with similar values while continuing to develop and refine my skills and knowledge.

Work Experience

Vice President Marketing

Oct 2015-Present
Qatar Airways, Qatar
Heading up Qatar Airways Global Marketing team of 40 with responsibility for managing the day-to-day marketing operations including global brand, media buying, commercial, creative, digital, and research teams; overseeing the advertising and media buying agencies; developing all ATL and BTL collateral; and accountable for a multimillion dollar global marketing budget.

Global Communications Manager

Jan 2014-Oct 2015
Qatar Airways, Qatar
Heading up Qatar Airways Global Corporate Communications team with responsibility for day to day PR and media relations, oversight of regional PR agencies, managing 13 social media platforms with a fan base of more than 6,000,000, and directing messaging for Qatar Airways 14 subsidiaries.

Managing Editor

Jan 2013-Jan 2013
Saudi Aramco, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Responsible for managing the Saudi Aramco website, overseeing the development and implementation of its social media roadmap and assisting with the development of mobile applications.

Managing Director

Jan 2012-Present
Fuzzy Memes, Italy/Uganda
Growing and developing Fuzzy Memes, a boutique digital communications agency focused on the rapidly evolving mobile communications sector in East Africa.

Volunteer

Jan 2011-Sept 2011
Edirisa, Uganda
Volunteering with Edirisa, an NGO focused on educational capacity-building in southwest Uganda, and assisting with the development of tourism activities and all associated media collateral.

Managing Director

Mar 2008-July 2010
SAB Media, Dubai
Operational and P&L responsibility for SAB Media, News International's Middle East licensee for The Times and The Sunday Times.

Head of Editorial (Online)

Mar 2005-Mar 2008
Arab Media Group, UAE
Responsible for the editorial development and launch of 22 integrated websites, including three national newspapers and eight radio stations, for Arab Media Group.

Deputy Editor

Mar 2005-Mar 2008
Arab Media Group, UAE
Deputy Editor during the set-up and launch of Emirates Today (now emirates247.com), the UAE's fifth national English-language newspaper.

Senior/Managing Editor

Aug 2002-Feb2005
The Media Factory, UAE
Managerial, editorial and financial responsibility for all TMF publishing - client, B2B, consumer magazines and books.

Deputy Editor

Jul 1999-May 2002
Motivate Publishing, UAE
Managed the production cycle and flatplan for Emirates TV & Radio, Gulf Business and Dubai Airport magazines

Sub Editor

Jul 1998-Jun 1999
Reed Elsevier, UK
Subbed medical news and features, designed and laid out pages and managed the corporate intranet.

Jnr/Snr Reporter

Aug 1996-Jul 1998
Oban Times/Campbeltown Courier, UK
Wrote news and features, and subbed and designed news, features and sport pages.

Feature Writer

May 1995-Oct 1995
Deerbridge Publishing, Taiwan
Wrote short fictional stories for children based upon popular Chinese folk tales.

Researcher

Oct 1994-Apr 1995
Blackwell Publishing, UK
Carried out publishing data research and analysis.

Education

Cornwall College, England - PG Dip
1996

After working for two years, I took the NCTJ Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism.
  • Local and National Government
  • Law
  • Shorthand
  • Journalism
  • Newspaper Operations

Oxford University, England - BA Hons 2:i
1991-1994

At Lady Margaret Hall I studied Human Sciences, one of the broadest courses available in Oxford. Simultaneously, I played Lacrosse for the University winning two Half-Blues and was elected college undergraduate president.
  • Animal Behaviour
  • Human Genetics
  • Human Ecology
  • Demography and Population
  • Social Anthropology
  • Human Evolution
  • Health and Disease
  • Thesis: Sport & Race

Featured Projects

Digital


I designed, developed and produced an entirely new multilingual website for this luxurious hotel on the banks of the River Nile in Uganda; I organised a complete redesign and overhaul of the Saudi Aramco website and social media platforms; and currently I am heading up Qatar Airways global corporate communications team.

Print


Gulf Business, a pan-Middle East business title, was the first magazine I edited back in 2000. At SAB Media as Managing Director, I was responsible for the Middle East editions of News International's The Times and The Sunday Times. And while with Arab Media Group, I was instrumental in the launch of Emirates Today, the UAE's fifth national English-language daily newspaper.

References

Jason Leavy
Managing Director - Dabo and Co

Brian is simply one of the most talented individuals I've had the pleasure of working with. His keen intellect is matched only by his ferocious work ethic and both are underpinned by a high level of integrity.

Tamara Pitelen
Editor - CPI Financial

I loved working with Brian. He is super efficient, driven, highly professional, accountable and very intelligent. If something needs doing, Brian won't wait for someone else to do it, he'll roll his sleeves up and get stuck in.

Greg Irwin
Director - Weird Beard Brew Co

Brian implemented a revamp of our website in the summer of 2012 and the whole process from writing the specs to final implementation worked smoothly. He also had some great ideas about marketing and social media and their integration into the website.

Philosophy

I was nine when I first read Animal Farm and I simply thought it was a sad story about farm animals.

Several years later it was set as a school novel and I thought, great, I know this, no homework...



Then along comes the first exam question: "Which character most closely resembles Stalin and why?" Uhh? What's an allegory?!

For the first time in my life I realised the significance of multi-layered communication - and my need to learn about it.


A picture tells a thousand words

Mantras are usually propagated for one reason - they contain an essence of the truth



It's 10 years old and I still believe it's the best cover I've ever seen. Accurate, precise, arresting, powerful, funny and memorable. Critically, it demonstrates the essence of effective communication because it does exactly what it's supposed to do - it catches our attention.


My Aim

Less is more; listen more than I speak; constantly learn - and deliver what I say. Try me.

Contact

For more detailed information, please check out my LinkedIn Profile, or contact me directly, below.

Download: My resume
Mobile: 0097433710395
Email: brian.ashby [at] agenda1789.com