Director.
Karen has a comprehensive background in marketing, having worked for a number of international blue-chip companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Royal Mail, Securicor Trakbak (see her Linked in profile for more detail). Whilst in the UK, she gained experience in market research, direct marketing, customer relationship management and marketing service firms. She is a graduate of both the Institute of Direct Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Heriot-Watt University’s MBA programme.
After moving to New Zealand in 2000, Karen commenced PhD study into measuring the usability of depression websites in New Zealand at the University of Otago. Her work examined the effectiveness of different methods of measuring website usability. She also worked in the Otago Medical School for two and a half years and led the development and implementation of a website to trial interventions for people experiencing depression.
Karen’s most important role in the business is to work with our clients to develop a brief for any work that we carry out. This ensures that both parties are working towards the same goal(s). Some of our clients find this process to be very beneficial as they have not thought about why they want a website or social media pages other than “everyone has one.” Once the brief has been agreed, Karen develops the look and feel of the site or page. She is also available to help our clients draft their content and help to ensure that it meets usability guidelines. She also works with clients to develop a strategy for their website or social media pages. This helps to take away much of the angst about what content to publish.
Karen has written and presents the majority of our training courses. She enjoys working with clients to achieve their goals and enabling them to go back to their businesses able to manage their own websites or social media pages. Alternatively, we can manage your social media for you.
Karen’s life-long love of dogs has led her to fostering dogs for several years and she is a board member of Retired Working Dogs. She and Phil developed the Retired Working Dogs website in September 2017 which had just over 1 million page views in last year!
Other charities that Karen actively supports include The Greytown Country Market, Greytown Trails Trust, Wairarapa Boxing Academy and K9 Search Medical Detection.
