Digital consultant driving growth for brands in the creative industries.

Hello!

I’m Edward Montagu, a digital leader with 13+ years’ experience building and scaling digital functions for brands in the creative industries.

I support CEOs and founders with senior-level digital leadership across digital marketing, ecommerce and CRM; providing a holistic approach to the digital customer lifecycle and driving profitable growth.

Common barriers

In my experience, many creative brands suffer with common barriers to digital growth:

  • Digital function operating in silos

  • Gross sales increasing but profitability declining

  • Gross sales achieved isn’t incremental

  • Brand value not translating into digital performance

The Result? Digital growth that’s difficult to scale profitably.

A holistic approach

I counter common barriers to growth by providing senior holistic leadership across digital marketing, ecommerce and CRM to align the full digital customer lifecycle around profitable growth, underpinned by contribution margin visibility and commercial discipline.

My methodology:

  1. Leadership (Strategy)

  2. Digital Customer Lifecycle

    1. Acquisition (Digital Marketing)

    2. Conversion (Ecommerce)

    3. Retention (CRM)

  3. Profitability (Contribution Margin)

Expertise

I offer broad expertise across the full digital function, developed over 13 years leading digital departments. Including but not limited to:

    • Digital Audit & Strategy

    • Profit & Loss Management

    • Contribution Margin Visibility

    • Internationalisation

    • Omnichannel

    • Reporting & Data Warehousing

    • Digital Marketing Strategy

    • Paid Search

    • Paid Social

    • Creator Program

    • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

    • Affiliate Marketing

    • Email & SMS Marketing

    • Ecommerce Strategy

    • Ecommerce Trading

    • Ecommerce Road Mapping

    • Conversion Rate Optimisation

    • User Experience

    • Customer Experience

    • CRM Strategy

    • CRM Strategy

    • Automation

    • Customer Lifetime Value

    • Loyalty

How I support

I support CEOs and founders through a small number of engagement models depending on the stage and needs of the business.

  • Ongoing digital leadership embedded within your organisation.

  • Developing a clear roadmap for profitable digital growth.

  • Comprehensive audit of digital marketing, ecommerce and CRM performance.

Impact

Over the past 13 years I have led digital growth across a range of creative brands, delivering measurable commercial impact across digital marketing, ecommerce and CRM.

Examples include:

  • +49% net sales YoY at Hunza G (FY24)

  • +138% net sales YoY at OMNES (FY22)

  • +65% net sales YoY at Jo Malone London (FY20)

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Case Studies

From startups to large enterprises, I’ve delivered digital growth to a variety of brands in the creative industries:

  • Role: Consultant & Head of Digital

    Challenge: Achieve ambitious sales growth and improve profitability.

    Impact:

    • +49% increase in YoY net sales for FY24.

    • +8% increase in YoY net sales for FY25, with a 30% reduction in digital marketing spend.

    • +10% pp decrease in digital cost of sale and improved contribution margin % for FY25, driven by increased channel efficiency.

    • +65% increase in YoY gross sales for North America territory in FY24 driven by spend mix review and territory efficiency analysis.

  • Role: Global Digital Director

    Challenge: Covid store closures required rapid pivot to digital-first growth.

    Impact:

    • +65% increase in YoY net sales for FY20.

    • Digital expert in covid taskforce, managing temporary business pivot to online first and fully mitigating store closures in key markets.

    • +72% increase in YoY T-Mall GMV, achieving #1 global door.

    • Launched UK brand.com redesign, major functionality and CRO improvements.

  • Role: Head of Digital

    Challenge: Drive rapid sales growth to capture market share in time sensitive market.

    Impact:

    • +138% increase in YoY net sales for FY22.

    • -29% pp decrease in digital cost of sale driven by channel efficiencies and new digital agency transition.

    • +55% increase in YoY CVR driven by full ecommerce audit & CRO updates.

    • Project managed warehouse relocation, improving CX and operational efficiency.

  • "Ed is obviously an expert in Digital but he also combines this with strong commercial acumen and P&L focus. In tough covid impacted conditions he displayed a flexible solution orientated approach, strong leadership skills and an extremely collaborative style."

    Farhan Khan - CFO at Roland Mouret

  • "Ed proved to be a strategic thinker with a deep understanding of what technology was able to provide alongside an appreciation of remaining focused on our brand's core values."

    Johan Quintus - Founder at Mih Jeans

  • "I had the great pleasure of working with Ed and it's a testament to his achievements at Le Chameau that the e-commerce store we built in a matter of weeks still endures today."

    Robin Beech - D2C Managing Director at Le Chameau

  • "A naturally gifted all around ecommerce professional, his dedication, reliability and pro-activeness made working with him a pleasure and helped drive our impressive year on year growth."

    Kish De Silva - Head of Ecommerce at Wolsey

Get In Touch

Have a question or want to reach out for a tailored approach to your digital needs?

Book a free initial consultation in my calendar or use another contact method to reach me.

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