All posts by Robert Payne

Multichannel marketing and communications professional with a proven ability to deliver award-winning campaigns that inspire action from difficult to reach and discerning audiences. • I’ve exceeded benchmarks time and again across programmatic and social media buys. • Empowered sales teams with tightly integrated lead funnels and lifecycle management solutions leveraging Salesforce.com. • Know how to craft a compelling narrative and have won over a dozen video production awards in the past 5 years. • Served on both the interactive agency and client side, and I am a highly capable sparring partner for any marketing professional whether B2B or B2C. Most recently, I helped the Georgia Department of Economic Development attract new business both domestically and in 12 strategic markets around the globe. In the 7 years I ran Georgia’s global marketing efforts, we were selected as the #1 State for Business by Site Selection magazine, and its database of site consultants, for an unprecedented 7 years in a row. Jobs and investment grew steadily YOY due to a healthy pipeline of prospects. In addition, the Department’s commitment to marketing over that same period of time grew more than 300% because the ROI was clear and measurable. I also managed a team of 5 and 4 agency relationships for interactive, pr, traditional and video production. My online marketing career started with the direction of email marketing and web campaigns for Mandalay Resort Group, resulting in several awards for creative execution and exceptional return on investment. This caught the attention of the interactive marketing company, Twelve Horses where I directed their corporate marketing, advertising, and public relations efforts, as well as provided strategic consulting for travel/tourism clients such as Park City, Heavenly Mountain Resort, and America’s Adventure Place. Leveraging my experience with media and multi-channel marketing technology, I went on to lead the marketing and branding initiatives for SAXOTECH (now NEWSCYCLE), a global provider of content management platforms, circulation systems and advertising solutions for the media industry. I’ve worked in sales, marketing, advertising and public relations for a variety of other companies, including Switchback PR & Marketing, Stoel Rives LLP, Preferred Capital Corporation and Patagonia. I have an MBA with a specialization in Marketing and a BA from Clemson University. Side hustle: My photography has appeared in countless ads, brochures, and marketing campaigns.
Professional

Uncommon Thinkers Welcome

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Anyone who has gone through the process of developing a brand position that encapsulates the unique values and spirit of a company or themselves knows it’s not easy, especially in a crowded and competitive marketplace. Even more so for a region that does not like to be defined or put in a box. That is why I like to think of Uncommon Thinkers Welcome, my latest brand development project, as more of an invitation than a label.

It has definitely been a journey moving through the various phases of stakeholder engagement – regional, domestic and international research – brand development and trademark – and final production. GeekWire does a great job of laying it out in this article, and I really appreciate their partnership in helping me launch the brand out in the world.

There are a lot of  fun but smart elements to the campaign.

I worked with each of these partners to provide social guidance and assets to amplify the launch. Of course, there were multiple channels involved to launch the campaign:

It has been an honor to work with so many amazing companies and partners to breathe life into this. I worked with more than 22 companies and partners to pull this off, including a 4-day video and photo shoot across Snohomish, King and Pierce County.

Paid media and much more to come!

Musings

Harrison Hot Springs

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A nice little jaunt from Seattle across the border to Canada and up through the Fraser Valley to Harrison Hot Springs. Feels a little bit like a throw back to the 1920s, but the pools are varied in temperature and relaxing, and there are plenty of lodging and food options.

The Village of Harrison Hot Springs has been a small resort community since 1886 when the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought the lakeside springs within a short carriage ride of the transcontinental mainline. In its first promotion as a resort it was known as St. Alice’s Well, although Europeans had discovered it (not new to indigenous communities) decades earlier when a party of goldfield-bound travelers on Harrison Lake capsized into what they thought was their doom, only to discover the lake at that spot was not freezing, but warm.

Starting in November, over 35,000 eagles will pass through the lower Fraser Valley until February, with thousands of the birds accumulating on Harrison River daily to feast on spawning salmon. White Trumpeter Swans also winter in the valley.

Musings

Emmons Glacier

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I love returning to the Glacier Basin Trail because it offers incredible views of Emmons Glacier, the largest sheet of ice on Mount Rainier, and a milky blue-green glacial lake below. It is also a powerful example of global warming, and the dramatic retreat of ice. As you hike along the White River, you can observe the scale of the erosive powers of the mountain. The stark line between the trees and the raw river bank towers above you, and illustrates how destructive the raging mud and water once was as it swept through the canyon.