Topher Alford 

Director of Marketing

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QUALIFICATION SUMMARY

A skilled and versatile marketing veteran with a proven track record for some of the largest brands in Pop Culture and publishing; with over 15 years experience in digital, print, and experiential marketing, project management, innovative design, vendor relations and people administration. 

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KEY SKILLS

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CAREER HISTORY

 MARVEL / D23 - Experiential Onsite Manager -  The Hellfire Gala at San Diego Comic Con 2023​

• Implemented The Green Carpet with X-Men characters and photo opportunities throughout the event via contract with Promo360 resulting in an epic mutant party for over 1500 fans.

 

  IDW PUBLISHING - Senior Digital Marketing Manager - Feb 2021 to May 2023​

• Directed consumer facing marketing including social media, digital asset production, newsletter, web site merchandising, branding, and large scale custom experiential activations. 

  • Social Channel Authority on TikTok / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube 

    • Oversaw multi-channel double digit growth year over year with sustained engagement rates over 10% including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog and Locke & Key brands

  • ​Project Management – Proficient in Asana, SalesForce, Basecamp, Monday, and BOX

  • Reporting – Tracked, analyzed, and reported various digital, web, social, and influencer KPIs for company-wide reports that influenced executive decisions and company direction

  • CRM / Newsletter – Implemented templates, campaigns, and contact management resulting in 25% increase to open rates and click through year over year

  • Consumer Conventions – Created, developed and managed custom big brand consumer experience booths with multiple activations, sales and fan touch points

    • ​On site team leader for set up, staffing and tear down with over 20 staff

 

  DC ENTERTAINMENT - Manager, Marketing Strategy - June 2016 to Nov 2020​

• Developed consumer facing marketing campaigns and strategy, including digital, print and experiential marketing for both local and large scale events along with promotional item and project management. 

  • Video – Produced cohesive content optimized by channel with live, long, and short form content resulting in peak content at over 2.4M views with custom Batman trailer

  • Media Buys – Supervised web, broadcast and SVOD buys for Suicide Squad, Shazam and more

  • Print Marketing – Produced print ads, advertorials, and editorials for over 400 books per year in circulation of over a million units per month

  • Promotional Items – Managed production life cycles from general to custom items including Doom Patrol, Batman, Superman and more

  • Event Planning – Oversaw talent management, location coordination, and staffing for localized book store events with Batman Day, Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman

  • Budget – Oversaw multimillion-dollar yearly budgets

 

  DARK HORSE COMICS - Senior Marketing Manager - Oct 2010 to May 2016​

• Managed consumer facing marketing efforts including social media, newsletter, publicity coordination, web and app merchandising along with consumer fan shows and various asset production.

  • Sales Planning – Developed comprehensive online, in-app, and social merchandising resulting in campaigns with triple digital sales growth, including Star Wars and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

  • App Development – Managed beta testing, consumer launches, and developer relations exceeding launch goals by over 300%

  • Web Design – Regularly produced unique sites for custom campaigns including SEO and digital ad buys resulting in increased sales and discoverability including Fight Club 2 and World of Warcraft

  • Business relationship management – Point of contact for numerous industry prominent companies such as Microsoft, FOX, Lucas Film, HBO, Sony, EA, and more

  • People Administration – Led a team of 4 direct reports, developed career plans & yearly reviews

  • Hiring – Oversaw hiring of full-time and part-time staff, interns, and temps

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ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Marketing Coordinator @ Zango ad agency (2008-2009)

• ​Marketing Coordinator @ AdOn Network ad agency (2004-2008)

• Freelance Web Site Developer and Graphic Designer for small business (2004 – current)

 

Education – Honor grad

• BA in Multimedia & Web Design from The Art Institute of Phoenix with 3.8 GPA 

• AAS in Multimedia Marketing from Iowa Central with 4.0 GPA