Welcome, Alistair! It’s great to have you on board! Can you tell us a little about your career journey so far?
Hello! This is a story all about how my life took a trip from north to south. I’d like to take a minute – no this isn’t a joke – I’ll tell you how I got into marketing at Peek & Poke…
Originally from a small town in Scotland, I’ve been in the wonderful city of Sheffield for over eight years now. I suppose my career really began with a love of foreign languages at high school, which in turn led to a university degree and my first full-time job working as a German translator here in the Steel City.
A few years ago, I side-stepped from translation into the world of B2B marketing as I took up the role of Content Marketing Executive at a multinational software solutions provider. This role, together with the blog I run in my spare time, allowed me to discover a passion for creating content and driving growth in online spaces.
Fast-forward to April 2021, and I’m delighted to say I’ll now be applying all that I’ve learned in an exciting new role here at Peek & Poke.
What is your job title at Peek & Poke and what does it mean?
As Digital Marketing Executive, I’ll be supporting all of the ongoing marketing activity while helping to further increase our digital footprint. From producing blog posts, landing pages, and email newsletters, to maintaining social media channels and optimising our paid activity, it’s my job to get more eyeballs on what we do.
In other words, I want to show marketers how branded games offer a fun way to help them achieve their goals within their own organisations.
What are you looking forward to?
First and foremost, I really look forward to meeting my new colleagues face to face! At the time of writing, we’re only just starting to come out of lockdown in the UK so I hope it won’t be long until we can get together in person.
Besides that, I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and adding to the great work that’s already been done here. I’m joining the company at an exciting stage of its growth, so I’m keen to get the creative juices flowing and think about how we use content and SEO strategies to raise awareness of the brilliant products on offer.
Tell us about you – what keeps you busy when you’re not marketing?
After going vegan a few years ago, I decided to launch a food blog (because if there was one thing the world needed in 2019, it was another food blog…). Anyway, this occupies a lot of my spare time and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
When I’m not blogging about plants, you’re likely to find me cooking, reading, running, climbing, walking, strumming the guitar, or hitting up a few of the finest pubs in the surrounding area – often with my partner Vicky and our four-legged companion Marv.
What is your current / all-time favourite game? Digital or physical, there are no rules!
I LOVE BOGGLE AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT. Sounds a bit geeky, but I’ve been obsessed with word games ever since I was a child. Come to think of it, that might explain why I’m so interested in languages, content creation, blogging, and song writing…
Video games are also a very nostalgic thing for me. I’m a big fan of the old-school Nintendo stuff, with my roots in Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Star Fox. Other favourites of mine include Tetris, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and good ol’ FIFA.
Last but not least, and what we all really want to know is, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, what’s the plan?
I reckon I’d escape with friends and loved ones to the nearby Climbing Works, carrying as many canned items as possible – food and otherwise. I’d then lock us in, play The Cranberries on repeat through the speakers, and use the time to regain some of those pre-lockdown fitness levels. If the undead do manage to break in, it’ll at least be entertaining to watch them try and chase us up and down the walls.
Failing that, I’ll do my best to get back up north on the other side of the tartan curtain. Just as the Romans couldn’t be arsed to deal with the savage Scots, I reckon the zombies would also leave us alone as a desperate last resort.
