Technological University Dublin

BA Hons Journalism

Marketing Director UK & Ireland at Benefit Cosmetics

Marketing Director for Benefit Cosmetics, UK & Ireland, the UK's No 1 Prestige Beauty brand. Leading a high performance cross functional department with responsibility for Brand, eCommerce, VM, Digital, PR, Experiential and Retail. I have extensive proven success in beauty, fashion and retail, eCommerce, loyalty implementation, innovation, experiential, and more.

Benefit Cosmetics

Marketing Director UK & Ireland

Head of Marketing for Benefit Cosmetics in Ireland, one of the world’s top premium beauty brands, and part of the LVMH group, I oversee all responsibility in the Irish market for marketing, brand activation, ecommerce, PR, digital and social strategies. I have responsibility for a team of 4, with additional agency management, and together with the Country Manager and Regional Sales Manager, manage the customer experience in our 63 doors nationwide.

Head Of Marketing

My role here is to revitalise The Irish Times brand in the B2B space. This is an area I have developed within the business, with the view to driving the business forward commercially through trade press, trade marketing initiatives, innovations, sales team support and up-skilling, and market knowledge.  Influencing, and leveraging relationships are critical.  I also head up the Event Management function on the B2B side, having developed this significantly in the past 12 months, and support on some of the major B2C event initiatives. Commerciality is key, as is the ability to build and grow our database, leveraging it for the financial success of the business.

The Irish Times

Trade Marketing  and Events Manager

As Head of Marketing, my critical priorities within the business were:
Brand Guardian
CRM - which I launched within the business, investing 18 months into building and launching this bespoke platform. 
The Multi Channel Customer Experience
Cross Departmental Participation & Cooperation
Innovation across traditional Marketing platforms 
Conversion & measurable uplift from all marketing executions both in-store and online
Leveraging relationships with key partners internally & externally 
Leading, coaching & motivating my team, with a focus on each individuals personal development

Arnotts

Head of Marketing

As Marketing Manager for Arnotts, my key focuses at the time were:
Initially re-build a team at the period when I joined the company
Manage a team of 4 marketeers
Manage the media, advertising & creative agencies
Customer Experience
Cross Departmental Participation & Cooperation
Innovate across social media & digital platforms
Lead an annual marketing strategic & tactical calendar of campaigns & activities 
Deliver measurable conversion from each campaign / marketing activity executed
Finalise & approve all collateral, both internal and external
Oversee the production of the Arnotts Magazines -Homewares & Beauty
Leverage & build key relationships with internal & external stakeholders

Marketing Manager

During my time at Dundrum Town Centre, my highlights included:

Overseeing the redevelopment of the website, <a href="http://www.dundrum.ie">www.dundrum.ie</a>
Developing a new ezine communication strategy, including agency appointment for creative production, and implementing the strategy for same 
Lead the mobilisation process of the website, <a href="http://www.dundrum.ie">www.dundrum.ie</a>
Introduced and content managed the Social Media channels - Facebook & Twitter 

I was also responsible for:

Creating, managing & leading the annual calendar of activity, strategic & tactical, including the now annual 'Shop & Rock' event. 
Overseeing the implementation of all campaigns, ensuring measurable results 
Liaising with all tenants, including the anchor tenants, to support their individual seasonal strategies
Providing a programme of marketing initiatives for each tenant to support their individual focuses 
Managing the PR & Media agencies, weekly meetings, all initiatives 
Meeting with potential new tenants and taking part in any pitch projects to secure new tenants 

During this role, I managed one junior marketing executive.

Dundrum Town Centre

Senior Marketing Executive

When I completed my studies in the Dublin Institute of Technology, I was head-hunted by the Institute to produce for them Ireland’s first ever Postgraduate Diploma in Fashion Buying and Merchandising.  I spent 18 months researching leading programmes in the world and meeting leading industry experts. I compiled the programme syllabus, launched it in the Irish market, recruited the first 18 students, lined up industry experts to lecture and organised work placements with key Irish fashion buying offices.

Dublin Institute of Technology

Fashion Project Manager - creator of the Postgraduate Diploma in Fashion Buying

Whilst studying in college in DIT, I created the now annual and award winning DIT Fashion Show which takes place each spring in Vicar Street. I was responsible for starting the event, and taking to a very high level over 7 years, with over 100 students involved each year.  I convinced industry experts to work on this event FOC, ensuring production was of the highest level, and serving as invaluable experience.

Lou Bennett