Tessa Lyons

Responsible and accountable for UCOL’s brand look, brand application experience, and the reporting and achievement of UCOL's domestic enrolment targets.

Redesigned UCOL's Marketing team to achieve best practise in market, audience and product targeting, using purposeful data driven strategies.

Created opportunity and implemented tikanga approach to event delivery and kaupapa Māori to marketing outputs.

Lead high-performing teams to achieve student recruitment targets and creating and implementing marketing strategies and tactics including; creation of new digital events, mass effective recruitment events and high impact OOH and digital marketing campaigns.

Gathering market data, monitoring and adjusting delivery to respond to market drivers, feedback and impact to create success and meaningful outcomes.

Successfully obtained budget and introduced new initiatives and team growth by providing data and analytical reasoning for implementation.

Implemented strategies to support organisational goals with purposeful and authentic relationships with internal teams, customers, stakeholders and suppliers.

Planned dynamic and innovative marketing initiatives and leveraged networks to promote UCOL's opportunities, including sponsorships.

Maintaining UCOL brand alignment to ensure maximum impact and brand experience from look and style, inclusive of brand behaviours of UCOL staff.

Ensuring gathering and responsiveness to feedback from internal and external stakeholders and from user experience.

Lead and implemented innovative strategies to accomplish marketing objectives and boost long-term goals.

Managed marketing budget and associated P&L to develop and execute marketing strategies and improve onboarding and user experience.

Leading and supporting staff during ROVE (review of vocation education), representative on multiple Te Pūkenga project streams.

Worked closely with faculty (product development teams) to create and maintain marketing materials and connect with audience opportunity.

Grew new business connections and sponsorship by accessing and using industry experts and data.

Developed presentations, trend reports, assets, and product and regional data insights, connected to product and market needs.

Key highlights:
Rollout, implementation, and maintenance of UCOL rebrand, including co- brand with Te Pūkenga.

Introduced tikanga and kaupapa Māori based event and marketing strategy, widely adopted across events beyond recruitment.

Mastered data reporting and insights in the absence of business intelligence to create precision application of marketing and resource, and forecast success.

Creation and launch of Virtual Tours, the only full campus tertiary virtual tours in New Zealand, and scaled to include two campuses in our rohe area.

Harnessing market forces, engagement tactics and opportunities to create the highest increase in enrolments in over five years.

Created attrition reporting processing to limit identify retention opportunities.

Mapped enquiry to application user journey to find improvements, pinch points and attrition factors.

Leading high-performing and stable teams during periods of high attrition in orgnasition and sector uncertainty.

Growth in market reach of UCOL within in rohe area, connectivity with industry partners, school leavers and all future learners using data insights.

Maintained volume in pipeline of enquiries, and enquiry to application conversion in highly constrained market.

Responsible for the strategic direction, engagement, messaging and delivery of flagship events that created brand awareness, regional profile and inward investment for Manawatū.

Directly accountable for financial and supplier management, sponsorship and partnership engagement, audience and speaker attraction.

Lead the delivery and coordination of national and regional media campaigns to support the events positioning CEDA and its vision for Manawatū to be New Zealand most progressive region by 2025.

Used data and gathered customer feedback data to create targeted engagement and curate content ensuring engagement via online and media platforms converted to audience attendance and maximized exposure.

Surveyed and analysed events and strategy success and orchestrated improvements that increased attendee satisfaction, sponsorship support, and engagement.

Managed the CEDA Event Team to deliver flagship events, Annual Public Meetings, Meet the CEDA Board and team events, Manawatū Growth Series, and provided strategic data driven insights to support the wider regional event scene.

Established clear objectives, metrics, and goals for each event, drove execution toward goals and measured and monitored results to track impact and areas of improvement.

Researched, managed and undertook due diligence for vendors and locations, liaised between event staff and facilities and arranged teams to coordinate event setup and packout.

Key highlights:
Managed event and media budgets totalling over $500,000.

Increased New Zealand AgriFood Week partners by 25% (from 15 to 20). Attracted an increase of $75,000 (15%) cash and in-kind sponsorship for CEDA Events.
Grew New Zealand AgriFood audiences by 60% across all CEDA led events.

Created CEDA Event business plan to ensure capability and capacity to successfully deliver engagement to its maximum potential.

Drove national campaigns across media and digital channels increasing. Audience and achieving large scale social media coverage and impressions.

Secured the New Zealand rights to the international science festival Pint of Science.

Director of Pint of Science New Zealand 2019, responsible for partnership, sponsorship and media campaign, resulting in national TV coverage.

Coordinated, planed, managed and tracked events for the multi-partnership project: Centenary History Programme of New Zealand and the First World War.

Prepared and maintained research presentation, assisted in preparation of research materials.

Supported the implementation and delivery of the Strategic Innovation Fund project to establish Massey University Press.

Managed relationships of key project stakeholders: New Zealand Defence Force, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association. Managed and tracked project budgets, responsible for budget reporting and reconciliation (>$500,000).

Liaised with project stakeholders: internal stakeholders, city councils, libraries, iwi, museums, government ministries, embassies, media and community groups.

Assisted and serviced project committee and steering groups.

Provide Human Resource administration for authors, supervision of project support staff.

Coordinated, planed, managed and tracked book launch events, create audience goals, engagement and supported sales targets.

Liaised with stakeholders: internal stakeholders, authors, publicists, media, suppliers, libraries, bookshops, iwi, community groups.

Maintained financial requirements of the University Press and book accounts.

Monitored consumer behaviour data via Nielsen and web sales.

During the period 2008-2013, various roles in Valladolid, Alicante and Barcelona, with private training providers and self employed.

Teaching conversational and business English to staff in government, recruitment, travel, tourism, and customer service environments.

Teaching English to young learners using bespoke methods.

Private tutoring.

Developed and delivered Spanish language programmes to Diploma of Tourism students.

Lecturing in Spanish language and culture across certificates, diplomas and degrees.

Teaching customer service and travel systems in certificate, diploma and degree programmes.

Effectively recruit and supply temporary and permanent staff for high value national clients (RBS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, HMRC, Police).

Client relationship management, client spend in excess of 3 million pounds. Manage Resource Team.

Manage temporary contract staff (+/- 350 pax) and second tier supply.

Liaison with stakeholders to implement and develop policy and systems in order to best deliver recruitment requirements. Prepare, implement and manage effect mass recruitment campaigns and events.

Communicate to clients: local market information, market trends, costs, and recruitment drivers.