A personal presentation for the team at Axiom Hospitality
Digital Strategy Director
Manchester, UK · barlow.alex@gmail.com · linkedin.com/in/barlowalex
The Brief
Five responsibilities from the job spec. Five direct matches.
Own digital and e-commerce strategy across the portfolio, aligned to group and hotel commercial priorities
Done across 150+ brands at Arc Network spanning EMEA, APAC and the Americas.
Build standardised reporting for senior stakeholders and hotel owner packs — verified data, not agency self-reported
Built board-level reporting at Arc Network; real-time infrastructure across 1,500+ sites at EWM.
Lead the digital agency RFP and selection process — brief, evaluate, appoint, hold accountable
Ran a performance agency team at Connective3. Knows exactly how agencies pitch, what good looks like, and how to hold them to it. Managed multi-agency output across 150+ brands at Arc Network.
Own the AI visibility and GEO strategy across all properties
Works daily across Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity. GEO is already in the active skill set.
Drive technically deep SEO, paid media and e-commerce with property-level flexibility
Full stack: Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Ads, Meta, Google Hotel Ads, GA4, Power BI, Screaming Frog.
The Journey
2025 – Now
Bien Venue
Built a proprietary venue matching platform from scratch, now used to win and deliver for Apple, BBC & Pearson. Rebuilt operations end-to-end; 3x consultant capacity, same-day proposals.
Systems thinking · 3x capacity2022 – 2025
Arc Network
Digital transformation across 150+ brands. Unified reporting and single source of truth for board and owner-level decisions across EMEA, APAC & Americas.
150+ brands · Owner packs2021 – 2022
Connective3
Performance agency. Team of 13. Award-winning campaigns for Compare the Market. Knows what strong agency delivery looks like from the inside.
Award-winning2018 – 2020
Edinburgh Woollen Mill
Technology & marketing across 1,500+ stores. Centralised reporting infrastructure with real-time performance tracking across the entire estate.
1,500+ locations2010 – 2021
Scratch Marketing
11 years. £3m luxury hotel digital strategy built from scratch. Costa Coffee. KFC. Hospitality, real estate and F&B.
£3m hotel strategyThe Proof
The goal
Build standardised reporting trusted by owners, not built on agency self-reported data
The evidence
Built unified, verified reporting for 150+ brands at Arc Network. Same infrastructure logic applied across 1,500+ locations at Edinburgh Woollen Mill.
The goal
Lead the digital agency RFP process — brief, evaluate, appoint and hold partners accountable
The evidence
Led a 13-person performance agency team at Connective3 — knows exactly how agencies pitch and what exceptional delivery looks like. Managed multi-agency performance across 150+ brands at Arc Network. Evaluates from both sides of the table.
The goal
Own AI visibility and GEO strategy across all properties from day one
The evidence
Works daily across Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Builds Custom GPTs. GEO is already in the active skill set. This is not something to learn on the job.
The goal
Strengthen direct booking performance and grow share from owned channels
The evidence
Full distribution stack: Google Hotel Ads, Booking.com, Expedia, TripAdvisor. Built direct digital strategy for a luxury hotel from the ground up. Knows the commission economics and the levers.
The goal
Deliver group-wide digital coherence while keeping each property's distinct identity
The evidence
150+ brands simultaneously at Arc Network: global standards, local voice. Each brand had different audiences, budgets and priorities, yet the group stayed coherent. Axiom's portfolio is a well-scoped version of that challenge.
The Numbers
Years of commercial and digital experience
Brands managed under one digital strategy
Retail locations, centralised reporting
Capacity increase at Bien Venue
Luxury hotel digital strategy, built from scratch
Global regions managed simultaneously
The job spec explicitly asks for someone to own the AI visibility strategy across all properties — ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, Perplexity. Most candidates will not have touched this. Alex uses these tools daily, builds Custom GPTs, and has GEO actively in his skill set. This is not something to learn on the job.
ChatGPT & Custom GPTs
Daily workflow tool. Builds custom GPTs for specific commercial use cases. Understands how ChatGPT surfaces hotel recommendations and how to influence it.
Google Gemini & AI Mode
Understands how Gemini integrates with Google Search and how AI Mode is reshaping organic visibility for hospitality brands.
Perplexity & GEO
Active GEO skill set. Knows how to optimise content and structured data so hotels surface in AI-generated answers, not just traditional search results.
Claude & AI Workflow Automation
Uses Claude for commercial analysis, content strategy and workflow automation — integrated into daily strategic and operational work.
The Arsenal
Hospitality & Distribution
Analytics & Reporting
AI Visibility & GEO
Paid Media
SEO & Technical
CRM & Automation
Web & CMS
Creative
The Closing Argument
Fifteen years of digital strategy across hospitality, travel and retail. Everything this role asks for — the reporting, the AI and GEO capability, the agency management, the direct booking work — is already in the skill set and actively in use. Happy to talk through the specifics whenever suits.
barlow.alex@gmail.com • linkedin.com/in/barlowalex • Manchester, UK