Wayne L. Griffith has been named online manager in the marketing department at Collette Vacations. Griffith will oversee Collette’s Web site, including the development and execution of online marketing strategies and the introduction of new Web 2.0 techniques. Previously, Griffith served as search marketing manager at affiliated-marketing and managed-search firm, CJ Search/ValueClick. He has an M.A. in business administration from Columbia University.
PBN: What are you looking forward to in your new position?
GRIFFITH: I am really looking forward to working with an extremely intelligent peer set. The Collette Vacations marketing team is comprised of some of the smartest marketers I’ve met throughout my career. I am also extremely excited about bringing my online marketing experience and ideas to Collette Vacations, to aggressively gain market and voice share.
PBN: How will your previous experience in marketing inform your next steps with Collette?
GRIFFITH: Prior to joining the Collette Vacations team, I was a search engine marketing manager at CJ Search/ValueClick, where I was responsible for developing, implementing and executing search-engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click campaigns. My first priority is to apply all of that knowledge to primarily drive revenue, and secondarily increase brand awareness.
PBN: What kinds of Web-based marketing strategies are you most focused on right now and why?
GRIFFITH: Over the next eight quarters, we are going to focus on search-engine marketing (SEM), pay-per-click advertising, search-engine optimization, photo optimization, video optimization and press release optimization. We’re focusing on SEM because of its scalability, point-of-entry costs, manageability, customer reach and frequency. We’re also heavily focused on Web 2.0 social marketing and networking because it is really adds that sense of peer-to-peer credibility to the brand and product line. With social marketing, we’re really engaging the customer on their terms and then have them act as brand advocates and ambassadors by disseminating the Collette Vacations brand principles and special offers as they deem appropriate. •
