Big Table Group
I worked with Mel at the Casual Dining Group for 4 years. During that time, we embarked on a digital transformation program for the group which encompassed new websites, SEO, social platforms and a dialling up of digital media spend. Mel was instrumental in making this program a big success and left us with a significantly improved digital platform and “best in class” for our sector. She worked very well with the wider marketing and commercial teams to deliver some very impressive results.
James Spragg, CEO
Eagle Eye
I've worked with Mel for a number of years and it's been an absolute pleasure. Collaborative, energetic, passionate, focussed and fun are just a few words that I'd use to describe Mel. Am absolutely convinced that she is an asset for any organisation with her mix of skills and experience ranging through Digital, Agency and Marketing. I hope our paths cross again and very much look forward to working together.
Al Henderson, Chief Sales Officer
Casual Dining Group
Mel is a seasoned, accomplished digital professional. She is a great team player, happy to get involved wherever she can, always with a smile on her face. She always strives for the best results and is unafraid to express how things can be done better to deliver improved results.
Celia Pronto, CMO
Yext
Mel is fantastic to work with. She is truly an expert in her field, and yet always remains open to learning, curious enough to ask all the right questions, and bold enough to challenge assumptions which are not backed up by data. All of these behaviours should be appealing enough, but when coupled with Mel’s razor-sharp wit and incredible warmth what you get is a leader with whom people (colleagues, tech partners, agencies) love to work. I’ve been fortunate to work with Mel in two different contexts already - long may it continue!
Charli Rogers, Vice President, International Client Services
3Radical
From the first conversation with Mel it was clear that she has excellent and genuine digital knowledge, expertise and application knowledge - and knows how to apply it for best outcomes for all parties. Mel is incredibly bright, sharp and adroit at all things digital, and a great curiosity coming from a real understanding of the full digital and customer experience, She was a pleasure to work with and the relationship was a partnership with open and honest conversations which enabled both parties to get the best out of each other and out of the software. This should be the norm but so rarely is - and it allowed innovation and product development to really take effect, again for both parties. I'd love to work with Mel again.
Rachel Swann, (then) Commercial Director
Tesco
Mel is a true digital marketing expert and within days of starting at Tesco had got to grips with a large and complex operation. Her extensive digital background showed as she quickly pinpointed opportunities to make improvements and challenge the status quo. This experience, combined with energy, passion, tenacity and a brilliant sense of fun make Mel great to work with and a real asset to the team.
Sam Walker, (then) Head of Brand Comms Planning
Melanie is great to work with. She has lots of energy and drive; and her deep knowledge of the online marketing sector makes her a highly credible leader with customers and peers.
Paul Coffey, Director, Google EMEA
Havas Media/National Lottery
There are good clients and bad clients and Mel is most definitely the former. She has the deep knowledge and experience from the agency world so she understands what is possible without being unrealistic. At the same time, when she lead the Havas-run Camelot digital campaigns, she helped to communicate the business needs clearly and consistently helped us keep that focus both with 'set piece' and 'always on' campaigns. She is both challenging and fun to work with, fair with criticism and quick with praise where it was merited. All of which helped to keep the agency team motivated to deliver excellent work in a sometimes brutal campaign cycle.
Chris Bland, Client Director, Havas
MediaCom
I worked with Mel during her time at MediaCom, collaborating across my key clients. She combined a flawless knowledge of search with the rare trait of managing to simplify an often complex topic for the generalist, a rare trait!
Jayesh Rajdev, (then) Group Business Director
Steak Media
Mel is a great personality to work with: full of ideas and enthusiasm, a no-nonsense approach and with a solid media background to draw on, she is able to add significant value to any team. I have no hesitation in recommending her.
Jane Latham, (then) Group Finance Director
Opticomm
Melanie worked for Opticomm to help us deliver the digital part of our through the line offering, her work was of an exceptional standard and as an employer it was a joy to be able to feel confidence and trust from day 1 that Melanie could do the job end to end (actually properly plan and buy). One of her major strengths is her can do attitude, an example of which was that despite having used most of the major advserving partners she had never used ours - but this did not act as a barrier and she quickly with no complaint became adept at dealing with it as if she had been conversant all her life. I t is worth noting that Opticomm is a relatively small business (even smaller when Mel worked here) and as such new people can have a disproportional effect on other team members and the overall morale - this was the case with Mel but only in a good way. Loud, vivacious, fun, sincere, diligent, my only wish it that she could have stayed for longer. I could not recommend Melanie more highly.
Spencer Stratford, CEO
EasyEverything
Melanie is fantastically intelligent, fun and hard working. In the time I have known her, she has always impressed me with her ability to grasp often difficult digital media opportunities, de-semble them, and re-build, into powerful and compelling advertising channels. She has an excellent and deep understanding of the complex digital media space, how to make it work commercially for advertisers and, perhaps more importantly, how digital can be strategically planned to engage the target consumer.
Mary Keane-Dawson, (then) Worldwide Managing Director, Spafax