MARKETING
Top team - Liam Dawson , pictured with directors Chloë Clover and Lou Tonner , says Wander Films is a “ standout brand ”.
World of
Wander
New head of marketing aims to help Wander Films go global
The leadership team at Wander Films is thinking big , with plans to go global – and they believe the appointment of a senior member to the team will accelerate their ambitious growth .
The award-winning video marketing agency has appointed Liam “ Digital ” Dawson , former MD of Leeds digital marketing agency Grapple , as its head of marketing to propel the ambitious company forward .
This is a new permanent role for Middlesbrough-based Wander , and one which director Chloë Clover and partner Lou Tonner hopes will move them to the next level .
“ The huge organic growth of Wander in the past few years has blown us all away , and we realised that we needed someone with tons of agency experience to come in to lead and develop our marketing team ,” says Chloë .
“ Liam is just that person . He ’ s not only run his own successful agencies , but as former MD of Grapple , he ’ s worked with some of the biggest brands on the planet .
“ We are wildly ambitious . Our five-year plan includes growing a number of brands within Wander and expanding globally . Fortunately , Liam ’ s appetite for helping companies grow was enough to inspire him to join us . With him on the team , the sky ’ s not even the limit . We ’ re totally stoked to have him on board .”
Teesside-born and bred , Liam graduated from Teesside University with a degree in media , technology and production .
Ambitious and talented , he launched Yuzu after a stint as a graphic designer and courseware developer for Royal Sun Alliance . The company worked out of offices on Bridge Street East in Middlesbrough , dealing primarily with e-commerce websites and gaining several huge clients including Virgin Atlantic , which continues to work with Liam to this day .
After seven years of success with Yuzu , Liam decided to expand his knowledge across marketing and in 2007 became an account director at Leeds full-service agency , england , which had a team of 60 in the north and 30 more in Kent . For the last 12 months of his three-year tenure , Liam ran the agency before being headhunted by Digital Welly , which later rebranded as Grapple with Liam as MD , creating memorable digital experiences for some of the biggest brands in the world , including Danone , Sony Music and Crabbie ’ s .
After 10 years , Liam felt it was the right time to exit , and he returned to his Teesside roots , setting up a consultancy firm – and having an auspicious run-in with the Wander team !
“ I remember sitting in my office in Boho 5 and hearing the clatter of skateboards ,” he laughs . “ I thought , ‘ Who are these ?’
“ Wander were a year old at that point and their office was full of mismatched furniture and bits of computer equipment , but they were a very friendly bunch . It ’ s been a joy to watch them grow over the last four years . I was brought in as a consultant to help them structure their team , develop their website and work on their soft rebrand .”
Coming on board as a full-time Wanderer was a no-brainer for Liam .
“ They ’ re a standout Teesside brand , memorable and refreshing , and that ’ s really important in this industry ,” he says .
“ Having worked alongside Clover and Lou as a consultant , I have a real understanding of their ambitions and I have seen the sheer amount of talent within the Wander team . There ’ s nothing holding them back . Wander will be worldleading and , of course , I want to be part of their ongoing success .
“ There ’ s a whole world out there and we can ’ t wait to conquer it .”
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