UK2 Group
Proof points: 3
| Role | Product | Situation | Task | Action | Result | Year | Skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acting Marketing Manager US, UK2 Group | US Marketing department Managed all online and marketing activity across 5 web properties | Run remotely from the UK, with a team never met in person. | Rebuild the underperforming US Marketing department before recruiting a US-based successor. | Created the marketing strategy, implemented a reporting structure, set and met budget targets. | Bounce rate down ~15%; sales conversion nearly doubled; product roadmap created and 8 products launched in 10 months. | Feb 2009 - Feb 2010 | turnaround, growth, conversion, roadmap, launch, marketing, team leadership, remote, international, budget |
| Head of Group Strategy, UK2 Group | new domain platform One platform replaced them | 6 brands on 3 different providers, some going direct to the registry, each with different APIs, rules and management fees. | Manage development of a new domain platform. | Owned the business case, budget, specifications, contracts and migration strategy. | One platform replaced them (500,000+ customer domains). | 2008-2010 | turnaround, retention, launch, brand, marketing, ecommerce, domains, web hosting, team leadership, remote, international, budget |
| Head of Group Strategy, UK2 Group | Midphase pricing Midphase, UK2 Group's underperforming US hosting business unit | The US unit had a downward revenue trend: two flat-rate monthly accounts, very few customers on the top one, high churn. Tom was the CEO's troubleshooter across the UK, US and Ukraine offices, working remotely from the UK. | Diagnose the unit and reverse the trend without a new product. | Lifecycle analysis of the customer base. Restructured the two flat plans into tiered accounts with term-based pricing (3, 12 and 24 months), framed so longer commitments were visibly cheaper per month. Ran an anti-churn programme for existing customers: free upgrades to the new plans, added features such as backup to justify the structure, and switching costs such as losing the free domain on downgrade. Repositioned the brand and marketing and created a product roadmap. | ARPU up, customer lifetime extended, recurring revenue locked in. Downward revenue trend reversed in 6 months. 8 products launched in 10 months. | Sep 2008 - Sep 2010 | turnaround, retention, roadmap, launch, brand, marketing, ecommerce, domains, web hosting, team leadership, remote, international, budget |
Tell me about UK2 Group
source: Tom's own account
UK2 Group is an international web hosting company with offices in UK, US and Ukraine.
I joined as Head of Group Strategy - working across all brands and markets troubleshooting for the CEO.
Key work included:
- Linked people, products and projects across UK, US, and Ukraine offices
- Acting Marketing Manager US: rebuilt underperforming US marketing department
- Business unit turnaround: reversed downward revenue trend in 6 months
- Managed development of new domain platform (500,000+ customer domains)
Direct answers
- Midphase (UK2's US hosting unit): restructured two flat-rate plans into tiered accounts with 3, 12 and 24-month pricing and ran an anti-churn programme with free upgrades and added features; ARPU up, customer lifetime extended, the downward revenue trend reversed in 6 months, 8 products launched in 10 months.
- The domain platform: we had 6 brands using 3 different providers, and in some cases going direct to the registry, each with different APIs, rules and management fees. One platform replaced them.
- For the domain platform I owned the business case, budget, specifications, contracts and migration strategy.
- Troubleshooter for the CEO across London, Chicago & Utah offices. Owned strategy across pricing, product and marketing. Diagnosed underperforming brand, created product & ecommerce strategy.
- Product work at UK2, formally, under the title Head of Group Strategy.
- Company context: UK2 grew from about 100 to about 200 people while I was there.
- Scope: in effect head of product for the US parts of the business I worked on.
- Two product teams at UK2: the group domain platform (business case, budget, specifications, contracts, migration) and product for the US unit, led remotely from London, with pricing in scope[UK2].
source: Tom's own account, direct answers
Related
- UK2 Group: how did you turn around the US marketing UK2.R1.USTURNAROUND
- Turnarounds: tell me about other turnarounds THEME.TURNAROUND
- International and remote: have you worked internationally THEME.INTERNATIONAL
Tell me about the UK2 marketing role
source: Tom's own account
Rebuilt the underperforming US Marketing department before recruiting a US-based successor (Feb 2009 - Feb 2010).
Created marketing strategy, implemented reporting structure, set and met budget targets. Managed all online and marketing activity across 5 web properties.
Also ran a business unit turnaround in parallel: reduced bounce rate by ~15%, nearly doubled sales conversion, created product roadmap and launched 8 products in 10 months.
The challenge was doing this remotely from the UK, with a team I'd never met in person. Required building trust fast and being very clear about expectations.
Related
- EuroDNS: how did you reverse the traffic decline EURODNS.R1.TURNAROUND
- TREAT: how did you bring the TREAT team onside LEO.R1.TURNAROUND
- UK2 Group: tell me about UK2 UK2