G'day! I'm Dane Sharp.
Hi, I'm Dane Sharp. I'm a marketer with over 20 years of experience helping businesses engage their customers and grow their revenue through strategic marketing campaigns and digital strategies. I believe that marketing is essential for businesses of all sizes, and I'm always ready to work on innovative projects that deliver sales results and special customer experiences.
In addition to my marketing skills, I'm also a strong creative thinker and strategic planner. I'm able to understand the needs of businesses and develop marketing campaigns that are aligned with their overall goals.
Here are some of my accomplishments:
- Helped a small business increase website traffic by 500% in one year.
- Generated over 10,000 leads for a B2B company in six months.
- Drove $1 million in sales for an ecommerce retailer in one quarter.
- Launched a podcast that ranked #1 in the Apple Podcast Store for its category.
- Spoke at the Marketing World Conference on the topic of "How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy That Works."
A Look Back At My Career
Over 20 Years of Dream Jobs
It's crazy to realise that I've been working professionally in the media and marketing industry for over 20 years - time truly flies!
I started my career as a magazine journalist and website content creator in Sydney after graduating from university with a media degree in 2001. I worked on Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine and Roost Mag with EMAP Publishing for three years, along with freelancing at FHM, Kerrang! Magazine and the Illawarra Hawks basketball team.
My career highlight still to this day was working as a basketball reporter at the 2000 Olympics Games in Sydney, Australia. (See photo)
I am sport-obsessed, so that was a dream start to my career!
Living The Search with Rip Curl
I left Sydney and my journalism career in 2003 to relocate to Torquay, Victoria and take a job with Rip Curl - the ultimate surfing company.
I worked at Rip Curl for nine years, starting as a Content Creator and Online Editor and eventually becoming the International Media and Digital Marketing Manager.
During my time at Rip Curl, I was responsible for developing and executing marketing and media campaigns across a variety of channels, including digital, social and print. I also played a key role in the company's digital transformation, helping to launch new websites, apps, e-commerce, and other digital initiatives.
Digital Marketing Transformation
What a job... I managed Rip Curl's global media and digital marketing strategies across retail, online, mobile, print, television, video and gaming - focused on our international product campaigns, design, team, athletes, events, retail, sales, brand, social media, sponsorships and services.
I used to run our event webcasting, host media events and press conferences, interview and create content with athletes, create mobile games, and develop marketing material for consumers and media alike.
Those years also saw the introduction of social media (remember MySpace?), mainstream adoption of media platforms like YouTube and invention of smartphones like the iPhone. It seems like a lifetime ago now, but we were on the cutting edge of technology and innovation with a host of projects and initiatives, and that creative and strategic drive stayed with me throughout my career.
Launching Under Armour - a Billion Dollar Brand
I started working with American sports giant, Under Armour, in 2012. Partnering with the Managing Director and National Sales Manager, it was my responsibility to define Under Armour’s brand position and go-to-market strategy in Australia.
This included but was not limited to:
• Creating B2B and B2C marketing plans
• Running promotions and product launches
• Meeting weekly sell-through results
• Managing our growing customer database
• Creating content for advertising and social media
• Managing partnerships with the AFL and Tough Mudder
• Setting marketing budgets and advertising spend
Marketing at eBay, McDonald's and Groupon
Deciding to leave the comfort of sports and sports apparel retailing, my career from 2014 to 2020 took me to marketing leadership roles at eBay, McDonald's and Groupon.
At eBay, working with the Brand, Sales and Account Management teams, I was tasked to liaise with marketing leads from Australia's biggest retailers, such as Target, Officeworks, Samsung, Dick Smith, BIGW, The Good Guys, Disney, Myer, SurfStitch and Woolworths.
Some of my highlight projects and campaigns included:
• Samsung retail launch on ebay.com
• Target's World's Biggest Toy Sale
• eBay Room Reno product promotion
• Officeworks "Flexible Working" and "Back To School" sales campaigns
• eBay Click & Collect with Woolworths launch
Food and Service Reimagined
I worked with McDonald's for three years, managing digital product strateges and customer experience for our commerce platforms, merchandising, web, mobile apps, and consumer technology.
It was my responsibility to drive digital transformation online and in McDonald’s restaurants by launching, scaling and commercialising innovation throughout the customer journey; identifying the most meaningful initiatives for customers and restaurants; and developing capabilities to bring them to life.
Highlights included:
• Launching the award-winning Monopoly at Macca's mobile app
• Launching the mymacca’s Ordering & Offers app
• Managing a $1 million photo and video shoot of McDonald's products
• Leading the launch and integration of digital screens inside 1000+ McDonald's restaurants and drive-thru (>$100 million project)
Groupon 24/7
During my rewarding one-year tenure at Groupon, I spearheaded the marketing and go-to-market strategy for the ANZ region, achieving remarkable success. By implementing a robust commercial marketing plan and skillfully merchandising a diverse array of merchant partners, offers, and campaigns, we consistently drove customer growth and enhanced retention rates.
Amidst a challenging landscape of declining customer and sales trends in other regions, we orchestrated 12 consecutive months of growth for Groupon ANZ.
One of my proudest accomplishments was the groundbreaking 'Groupon 24/7' sales promotion. The sales event achieved all-time results for customer acquisition, transactions and revenue for both Groupon and its retail partners.
Start-up Journey
Covid was a strange, challenging, and very complex time for all of us... but for me, it was also the most memorable time of my life, as my wife and I welcomed our son into the world in March 2020 - just as offices around the world started closing up shop and forcing everyone to work from home to monitor Covid-19.
It was also a period when I embarked on a tech start-up journey with some like-minded peers in Sydney - launching togetherAI with the mission to impact kids' mental health with preventative services and empower families to gain control over their wellbeing and lead happy, healthy lives.
We launched the Always Here Kids and Always Here Parents apps and helped over 50,000 families worldwide have conversations and discussions about their health and emotional challenges and difficulties.
Consulting and Freelancing
This is where I partner with you and your business, so we can craft and execute a story to remember!
If you want to know who I've worked with or talk about what freelance services I've helped businesses with, please message me so we can chat! We can discuss some of the work I've completed with companies such as Salty Crush, ECS Boards, Seabreeze Air Conditioning, Polasports, J-Train Athletic Performance, Howe2Golf, and others.
