Here are my reflections on the work and experience I had with every one of my employers. I've listed them chronologically, from most recent to oldest. If you'd like more information or references, let me know.

Freelance

I've been freelancing since June of 2019, providing brand marketing and content creation support to clients. My job, for the most part, has been to make the client's life more comfortable and their processes more streamlined. To do this, I've created presentation decks, guides, and a Tone of Voice for other freelancers to follow. I've produced content in the form of articles, social media captions, listicles, as well as presentation decks. I've also directed content, collaborating with photographers and graphic designers to produce visually appealing photos and videos.

I've included edited versions of some of the articles I've written for clients in my blog here.

Freelancing has been fantastic. I've reconnected with friends and family who, admittedly, I hadn't been dedicating enough time to for many years. Remote work allowed me to travel and spend time with my loved ones, and most importantly, to work on myself. To know more about what I've been doing with my time, check this out.

AL TAYER GROUP

For the uninitiated, Al Tayer Group, or ATG, is a retail behemoth in the Middle East, spanning various sectors including fashion, automotive and real estate.
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At Tayer Digital recruited me as their first copywriter for the lifestyle copy team. In my first week there, I was involved with the launch of GAP in the Middle East and ensuring that it went smoothly. At the time, Al Tayer Digital already had Ounass for women and Mamas & Papas in their roster and had recently launched Nass.com (which functioned kind of as the Outnet does for Net-a-Porter). The company then went on to expand their online portfolio to include Nisnass, Ounass Kids, and Ounass Men's. I was involved with these launches from the get-go.

I wrote brand bios and created a lot of copy for all kinds of products while adhering to a distinct Tone of Voice for each channel. I also worked closely with the localisation team, buyers, merchandisers, and the studio team to ensure a streamlined workflow where everyone was on the same page. Communication was vital, especially when troubleshooting. It helped me identify errors, missed SKUs, and in general, reduce studio costs and go-live time.

My role required me to maintain effective team relationships. Aside from our internal teams, I also worked hand-in-hand with vendors, including freelancers, agencies, and third-party providers. We had a bespoke CMS and a team that tailored it to our specific needs. With the feedback that I gave them, they were able to develop features that helped increase the copy team's speed and efficiency. I took freelancers and recruits under my wing, training them on brand guidelines and best practices.

Jumping from one launch to the next kept me on my toes. It was an exciting time to be part of the Al Tayer team, and e-commerce, in general, was fascinating to me.

I learned how to work well in and with different teams, communicate effectively and manage my time efficiently. I identified areas outside of my direct line of work that interested me but that I didn't know enough about, and took the time to educate myself. Case in point - I learned SQL to understand better how we could improve our CMS.

Noon

I joined Noon before it even had a name. It was called "Alabbar's secret project" by people and perhaps sounds a little bit sketchy in retrospect! It was a venture by Mohamed Alabbar, one of the most influential Arab businessmen in the world, founder of Emaar Properties and, in effect, The Dubai Mall. Noon is his vision for a more technologically-forward Arab world. At the time, Amazon had not yet entered into the GCC (though not for lack of trying). Touted to be the e-commerce giant of the Middle East, Noon had much to deliver.

Armed with that info, and excitement at being headhunted for the first time, I was ready to dive in. I wanted to get stuck into the world of online retailing and get into the nitty-gritty, helping build the company from the ground up. As employee number 60-something of this large company, I was pleasantly surprised that I was part of a 4-person team in charge of copy creation.

We worked closely with other content detailers, freelance agencies and even experimented with cutting-edge data collection software. My team and I regularly met with the buyers to make sure that we had a mutually respectful relationship where we understood each other's needs and delivered accordingly. We organised training sessions with the internal SEO team so that our team stayed abreast of the best practices.

There were a lot of moving parts in an organisation of this magnitude, and excellent collaboration and teamwork were imperative to keep track of and maintain the quality of work.

Though my tenure at Noon was short, it was a memorable one from which I learned so much. It was my first glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of e-commerce sites, and it piqued my interest in web development and good UI/UX.

SKECHERS

Footwear brand, SKECHERS, is managed and distributed by Brand Folio LLC in the Middle East, parts of Africa, and the Levant.

I joined the team early in 2015 as their Grassroots Marketing Manager. SKECHERS was already popular in the region for its slip-on walking shoes. Our objective was to get people interested in the Performance range of shoes the brand had to offer, and it was my role to grow the audience organically.

My first order of business was to develop a partnership with several schools - particularly those with a strong sports program. The idea was to establish a brand presence at specific sporting events. I then seeded relevant products to the top athletes there and awarded discount vouchers to runner-ups. Alongside this, I worked with up-and-coming international athletes hand-picked as brand representatives. These included Ismail Ssenyange from the UAE, Weldon Kirui from Kenya, and Nick Quenet from South Africa.

Aside from schools, I also did this with local running clubs (ABRaS Athletics) and the competitive races they organised, identifying the best runners and seeding them product. It was essential to have the brand seen as a performance brand and not just as a lifestyle one. I got SKECHERS involved in more events, including Dubai Fitness Festival, Wadi Adventure Race, Westin Kilomarathon, the Unity Run and more.

Internally, I established the SKECHERS Running Club to promote a healthier lifestyle amongst my colleagues. We had a weekly newsletter and met up every Saturday for runs along the beachside and participated as a team in the annual Dubai Marathon. We had customised running shirts made, which certainly helped with upping brand exposure.

Grassroots marketing campaigns aside, marketing management was another significant part of my role. We had Apparel Group as an official retail partner in the Middle East as well as other multi-brand stores and local partners in the different regions managed by Brand Folio. As the main point of contact with SKECHERS USA, I had to make sure that all the retail partners received and implemented the most recent marketing assets. Along with my team of two other creatives, I provided marketing support to all the partners with their respective campaigns.

Advertising took a considerable chunk of the marketing budget. I had to find the best OOH spaces for several regions (not just the UAE) and negotiate the best rates. I did this for TV and radio too. I learned a great deal more on how to negotiate. Print advertising, though outdated in a lot of countries, still worked significantly well in the Middle East. Along with my team, we designed the ads based on different specifications.

Social media was another channel that was growing back in 2016. When I joined the company, they had only a Facebook page. I expanded their social presence to Twitter and Instagram - which I deemed essential for proving the brand's authenticity and, in turn, dependability.

The Brand Folio team was fantastic at identifying new avenues for growth, and I had the opportunity of helping the company expand. During my time there, the company established offices in Kenya as well as South Africa. The work environment was fast-paced and dynamic. There was a lot of jet lag, many sleepless nights, and a scary amount of coffee involved, but seeing the brand's signboard light up in a new place was worth it.

Though SKECHERS was my main focus, I also lent a hand with the other brands under Brand Folio. Namely, ANTA, Palladium, K-Swiss, Ria Maria and Brand Black. For more info on what I did with these brands, give me a shout.

STREAMLINE MARKETING GROUP

Streamline Marketing Group (SMG) is a boutique events consultancy in the UAE that specialises in creating innovative events with a global profile and reach.

After completing a Postgraduate course I detested, I immediately set out on the hunt for a job in marketing. I had read some classic marketing books from cover to cover, and I knew that that was the field I wanted to explore. SMG happened to be holding their assessment centre, and I made it through.

I worked directly under the Marketing Director as a Marketing Assistant on two of the most significant events under the company - The Outdoor Design and Build Show (ODBS), and The Global Aerospace Summit (GAS). Within six months, I was promoted to Assistant Marketing Manager.

We analysed pre-event data for previous iterations of the events to learn how we could make the next one better. I wrote the copy for various marketing and promotional collateral, including event guides, newsletters, email campaigns and even print ads. I would monitor the performance of the email campaigns through Google Analytics and make improvements based on my findings.

I got my first taste of negotiation in this role. I communicated with media publications and bartered deals to turn them into media partners for my events. I did the same with associations and research organisations as well.

Each event had a dedicated website for which I would make reasonable recommendations for the UI/UX design to increase registrations/sign-ups.

Though a small team, we worked like a well-oiled machine. There was constant communication between marketing, design, sales and production. As a result, everyone knew what was happening in each department at all times. There was a beautiful air of openness and transparency in this work environment which made us feel in tune with each other.

During the actual events, I provided on-site support with the visitors, sponsors, exhibitors and also the dedicated project manager. It was all hands on deck, which was both hectic and exhilarating. All in all, working in events was a fantastic experience.

Best of all, I got to see Buzz Aldrin in the flesh. He attended and spoke at the 2015 iteration of the Global Aerospace Summit. To put some cheese on it, I was over the moon.