Topher Alford 

Director of Marketing

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QUALIFICATION SUMMARY

A skilled and versatile marketing veteran with a proven track record for some of the largest brands in Pop Culture and publishing; with over 15 years experience in digital, print, and experiential marketing, project management, innovative design, vendor relations and people administration. 

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KEY SKILLS

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CAREER HISTORY

ALFORD MARKETING & DESIGN - Freelance Contractor - 2004 to Present 

Work with local small businesses to develop branding, marketing materials, and websites.

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• Design and maintain numerous local business websites, overseeing content, SEO, and technical support

• Develop and implement marketing strategies from organic social media to paid Google Ads

• Design marketing materials, including logos, branding guides, templates, plus print and digital assets

• Contracted with PinkDeer social agency for talent, influencer, and content management, including ANW S16

• Contracted with Promo360 & D23/MARVEL as Experiential Onsite Manager for The Hellfire Gala at SDCC 2023

• Worked with Promo360, Walmart, & Nickelodeon to design the TMNT Lair in New York City Comic Con 2024

 

Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group - Associate Director,  Trade & Consumer Strategy - Nov 2024 to Dec 2025

Contracted to run marketing and strategy for various fiction imprints, with a focus on WEBTOON Unscrolled. ​

• Oversaw at 78% year-over-year increase to local store sales for WTU imprint. 

• Helped transition the entire department from the Studio division to the Consumer Goods corporate structure.

• Managed 3 direct reports and oversaw hiring and performance evaluations. 

• Directed and implemented marketing strategy for over 50 titles within the calendar year. 

 

IDW PUBLISHING - Senior Manager, Digital Marketing - Feb 2021 to May 2023
Directed consumer marketing, including social media, digital asset production, newsletter, website merchandising, and branding, as well as acting director for large-scale custom experiential activations. ​

• Social channel authority on TikTok / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube 

• Drove multichannel double-digital growth by developing custom strategies and content to grow engagement rates to over 10% year over year

• Developed digital strategies and GTM plans, setting KPI benchmarks for the company across digital, web, social, and influencers — reporting and coalescing data to advise executive leadership

• Overhauled the company’s newsletter and CRM programs, introducing new software systems, testing, and campaign strategies, resulting in a 25% increase in open rates and click-through year over year

• Created, developed, and managed custom big brand consumer experience booths with multiple fun activations and sales points, plus acting on-site leader for setup, staffing, and teardown with over 20 staff
   

DC ENTERTAINMENT - Manager, Marketing Strategy - June 2016 to Nov 2020

Developed marketing campaigns and strategies, including digital, print, and experiential marketing for local stores and large-scale events, promotional item lifecycles, and project management. ​

• Directed development of a variety of traditional marketing, including print ads, advertorials, and editorials for over 400 books per year in circulation of over a million units per month

• Produced cohesive cross-channel video content, including live, long, and short-form content, resulting in millions of views across numerous platforms, such as theaters, local stores, and social media

• Orchestrated multi-million impression media buys on web, broadcast, and SVOD for publishing film tie-ins

• Managed production life cycles from general promotional items to custom, high-end unique items

• Lead event activations, talent management, on-site coordination, budget, and staffing for large-scale events

• Developed and tracked multi-million dollar yearly budgets and coordinated spend across numerous areas

 

DARK HORSE COMICS - Senior Marketing Manager - Oct 2010 to May 2016

Managed consumer marketing efforts and teams, including social media, newsletter, publicity coordination, web and app merchandising, consumer fan shows, and various marketing asset production.

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• Developed comprehensive sales plans and merchandising for online, in-app, and social media, resulting in campaigns with triple digital sales growth

• Regularly produced custom websites for product launches, overseeing creation, SEO, and digital ad buys, resulting in increased sales and discoverability by 20%

• Point of contact for business relationship management with numerous industry prominent companies such as Microsoft, FOX, Lucas Film, HBO, Sony, EA, and more

• Managed a team of 4 direct reports, developed career plans & yearly reviews, and functioned as a mentor

• Oversaw hiring of full-time and part-time marketing staff, interns, and temps vital in implementing marketing

 

Zango Ad Agency - Marketing Coordinator - Aug 2008 to Dec 2009

Oversaw international client relations and managed hundreds of digital ad campaigns a month.​

• Worked directly with the Legal department on vetting processes, reducing fraud by 10%

• Created and managed SEO, PPC, PPV, CPC, RON, and various media ad buy digital marketing campaigns

 

AdOn Network Ad Agency - Marketing Coordinator - Aug 2004 to June 2008

Led customer support and developed digital ad campaigns and strategies.

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• Initial contact for customer support and helped roll out online chat support 

• Developed, implemented, and advised clients on various digital ad campaigns, overseeing dozens a month

• Created and documented processes, including best practices, support scripts, and refund processing

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​CERTIFICATIONS & SOFTWARE EXPERTISE

✓ Apple Search Ad Certified

✓ Asana

✓ Adobe Creative Suite

✓ BOX

✓ Google Ads Certified

✓ Monday

✓ Sprout

✓ Slack

✓ Hubspot Marketing Certified

✓ Basecamp

✓ Google Cloud

✓ Microsoft Office

 

EDUCATION – Honor grad

• BA in Multimedia & Web Design from The Art Institute of Phoenix with 3.8 GPA 

• AAS in Multimedia Marketing from Iowa Central with 4.0 GPA 

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CHARITY

• University of California, Riverside  - Riverside, California - 2022-2023

  • Design Thinking Executive Program Advisory Board Member

• LGBTQ Victory Fund - Portland, Oregon - 2021 - 2022

  • Event Sponsor and Donor

• Children’s Cancer Association - Portland, Oregon - 2013

  • Developed and implemented a donation of a digital comic book reading program