Ralph Barker

Hi! I'm Ralph - I have a passion for creativity and applying it to achieve client KPIs, a broad knowledge of the immersive industries and an unquenchable hunger to achieve creative greatness every day. I won't relay all my skills and experiences here, that's what the CV is for. What I will say is that I'm a people person, naturally comfortable selling ideas and have a Masters degree in Imagination. If that sounds like someone you want for your company then let's chat.

As Client Lead at Swamp Motel, I worked with a number of global clients to deliver on creative briefs I wrote and managed, based upon client objectives and targets. Developing the creative direction of each project with a team of Creatives and Producers, my role centred around delivering well-orchestrated experiential products between £500k-£1million for clients such as Twitter, Pernod Ricard, Amazon UK, Beavertown and Deloitte.

In my previous role as a freelance Marketing and Communications Manager/Creative Strategist, I worked on the relaunch plan for Layered Reality UK, securing 2-3 million leads via 3rd party outreach and display campaigns that resulted in >£250k ticket sales, working with mainstream media alongside more independent promotional opportunities, as well as negotiating a variety of partnerships and managing and managing a small team.

During the early days of the pandemic, I was also brought on as Artistic Director for an upcoming piece of large-scale immersive opera, Sanctum Cyborgia. With a focus on promoting the crossover between art, accessibility and emerging technologies, this involved working with the Creative Director to create opportunities for growth and manage creative pitches for fundraising applications up to £500k, alongside developing relevant relationship opportunities and script editing.

For the last nine years, in addition to my permanent contracts, I have worked to support young artists and deliver mid-size events at University of the Arts London as an Associate Lecturer in MA Applied Imagination for the Creative Industries, and am particularly proud to have curated a Subjectivity UK discussion on Black History and the BAME community with award-winning poet and TEDx speaker, LionHeart. 

During my career I have learnt to make quick strategic creative decisions, often having to reassign budgets and expand into new areas of revenue as well as being ‘creative to order’. I have managed both external and internal comms, working closely with agencies and freelancers to achieve commercial goals and brief appropriate, engaging media for a variety of channels. I am well versed in creating experiential campaigns, Google Analytics, product photography, sales, and use of CRM/CMS systems, alongside practical knowledge of Adobe CS. I am a firm believer in excellent communication being the key to great strategy and believe that my skills highlighted above would contribute to the growth of both your company and clients.
 

Master of Arts: Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries
Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (2013)

• Course Representative

Bachelor of Arts: Humanities
University of Essex (2009-2012)

• BA Humanities Award for Highest Overall Mark 
• Course Representative