Ben Harris

Experience

• Dec 2020 - Current | The Occasion Co. NZ - Creative Director
  My partner and I launched The Occasion Co. in late 2020 as a small laser engraving business that we operate out of our home.
  
  We are very creative and always enjoy making our own gifts, so we got started with competitor and cost analysis, researching products and equipment during New Zealand's first lockdown and got stuck in!
  
  I was tasked with creating the company brand and website. The store is run on Shopify and the site was custom tailored by me, including relevant SEO, titles, Alt tags, Geo tags etc. I have gained valuable knowledge on e-commerce and SEO, specifically since we began this venture, raising our Google rank and accessibilty has been a top priority since launching. My partner Amy is in charge of the business day-to-day now that we are up and running and I focus on our digital ad performance and enhancement in my spare time.
  
  Overall, it has been a steep learning curve but one which has certainly paid off, having hit our 6 month sales target in our first month.
  2020
• Dec 2014 - Current | Orangebox Ltd - Designer/Programmer
  Since starting at Orangebox, I have extended and grown my role from a communications programmer into the sole designer/digital guru for the company. Day to day I deal with all graphic design jobs whether its small amends or full creative concept and design. I am also responsible for all internal marketing from creative print to multi-channel digital campaigns, achieving great ROI across all campaigns (three of which have gone on to win Gold at the Pride In Print awards).
  
  I have overseen a huge increase in Digital Marketing demand in my time with Orangebox, moving from the occasional ad-hoc campaigns to fully automated marketing campaigns for a multitude of clients. I have experience using Mindfire Marketing Studio (similar to HubSpot, ActiveCampaign etc) I have seen over 800% increase in marketing emails and landing pages created and/or sent for our clients.
  
  I have built and maintained B2C and B2B sites using Pressero, prepared user groups, products, SEO and pricing, making these fully autonomous. I still assist with data work and any other part of business operations when required including operating printers, machinery or helping out with a tight turnaround campaign.
  2014
• Sep 2010 - Sep 2014 | Anton Group Ltd - Data Programmer
  This was my beginning role in Direct Mail. The Anton Group was the largest sheet-fed mailhouse in Europe and I began as a trainee however, after 3 months learning the ropes and proving the necessary programming skills required I was offered a full time contract with the company.
  
  During this time I used PReS, Cygnus, and the Printnet Inspire suite to manipulate data and use document composition software to prepare for print and postage. This would range from 1000 mail packs to 28 million.
  
  One major project I undertook while employed with the Anton Group was managing the Kenyan Election ballots, including data work, document composition and various programs written to compile the job for the various ways it was being printed. These totalled 120 million ballot papers with variable information for over 2000 councillors for the Local, Governor and Senate elections all being carried out simultaneously.
  2010
• Apr 2008 - Sep 2010 | Dixons Group UK - Sales
  Meeting and greeting customers at all times, helping with queries and complaints, giving customers advice on what they may need with their product and making their visit enjoyable, filling stock levels on shop floor, and keeping the store safe for staff and customers. Fixing customers items frequently including laptop and desktop hardware and software.
  2008