Brian Ashby
Communications Specialist
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.
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
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
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
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
Growing and developing Fuzzy Memes, a boutique digital communications agency focused on the rapidly evolving mobile communications sector in East Africa.
Volunteer
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
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)
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
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
Managerial, editorial and financial responsibility for all TMF publishing - client, B2B, consumer magazines and books.
Deputy Editor
Managed the production cycle and flatplan for Emirates TV & Radio, Gulf Business and Dubai Airport magazines
Sub Editor
Subbed medical news and features, designed and laid out pages and managed the corporate intranet.
Jnr/Snr Reporter
Wrote news and features, and subbed and designed news, features and sport pages.
Feature Writer
Wrote short fictional stories for children based upon popular Chinese folk tales.
Researcher
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.
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.