Tech-Savvy Marketer Lands Job in Two Weeks

Tech-Savvy Marketer Lands Job in Two WeeksTech-Savvy Marketer Lands Job in Two WeeksMarketers in-demand skills make for a brief search. Co-founder of Colorado-based branding firm finds director position with greater growth possibilities in Dallas, Texas.David P. Warren, of Littleton, Colo., began his career as an artist. He earned a bachelors degree in graphic plan and worked as an artist.He welches the third employee after the founding of BrandSavvy, a small brand consultancy firm, near his home, where he served as director if digital media. As his job evolved into a Web design specialty, he added technical skills, teaching himself programming languages to design and build web applications. When the job demanded he understand business, he returned to school and earned an MBA. He sat in board meetings with clients until he felt he had the experience to perform as a business leader on his own.At that point Warren considered himself experienced in three separate disciplines graphic de sign, technology and business.At the same time, the market welches shifting. Employers no longer sought single-track employees to manage segmented aspects of Web absatzwirtschaft. Companies that want to thrive in a new Web 2.0 economy werent hiring Web masters who only focused on technical know-how and lacked marketing knowledge, Warren said. They need them to understand marketing from a consumers point of view while leveraging the technology available to draw and retain savvy Web customers.What Ive seen is a lot of need for a cross between a marketing person and a technology person. Companies have finally figured out that the Web sites are the front lines of marketing efforts and if they want to be successful they must understand this, he said.Warren was poised to take advantage of his three-track career and the market shift just as circumstance and geography made it necessary to do so.Limited growthWarren had experience in graphic design, technology and business, but at BrandSavvy his role was fairly limited.He wanted to make use of his technology, marketing and business skills and the economy was making it difficult for advertising, marketing and brand consultancy firms to find new business.The end game at a consultancy is having your own firm, he said. I couldnt and didnt want to do that, so it was time to leverage both my new and existing skill sets and see what else was out there.A fast-tracked job searchWarrens triple punch arsenal graphic design, technology and business skills turned out to be a hit. The MktgLadder member had two interviews in two weeks before he accepted an offer as technology marketing manager at Dal-Tile, the largest manufacturer of tile in the U.S.He had already made up his mind that he needed to leave Colorado where he saw limited opportunity for his talents, so it was no problem when he was approached by two companies outside the state.One catalog-based company was looking to shift 75 percent of its business to the Web in the n ext three years. The job was a fit, but Warren feared advancement at the company would be limited once the project was complete.Dal Tile was a different story. The company, a subsidiary of Mohawk Industries, was based in Dallas, his wifes hometown, and Dal Tile was making a long term commitment to Web marketing, he said.After two phone interviews on a Tuesday and Wednesday, Warren flew to Dallas for an onsite interview on a Thursday and had an offer of employment by the following Monday, he said.Warren will oversee eight product-marketing Web sites and all electronic marketing campaigns for Dal-Tile, a role that takes advantage of all three of his skill sets. He said the team hell head will also be tasked with the support and maintenance for Dal-Tiles online marketing applications.So, at 35 years old, Warren is poised for a move to Dallas, a new role and what he believes will be an extraordinarily fulfilling career that takes advantage of all hes learned and done in previous marketi ng and technology jobs.This kind of melding between technology and business is the future, he said. Im so thrilled that I can be part of that.