OLIVER BLACKBOURN

Full-Spectrum Marketing, CRM Operations and Intelligence Specialist


Capability Areas

CRM Strategy and Operations

— PROJECT COMPANIES

Canadian Workforce & Talent Solution Firm


USA Based Enterprise Human Capital Advisory Firm


UK B2B SaaS Operations Simulation



— Domains

CRM Strategy

CRM Operations

Marketing Operations

CRM Automation

HubSpot CRM

MarTech

CRM Data Operations

Segmentation & Lead Management

Lifecycle & Customer Journey Management

GTM & Growth Operations

B2B Lead Generation

Email Marketing & Campaign Operations

Marketing Analytics & Optimisation

Product Development

Process & Operating Model Design

CRM / MarTech Solution Architecture

AI-Assisted Operations

Project & Implementation Management

Consulting & Knowledge Transfer


— ROLE & CAPACITIES

CRM Strategist

CRM Operations Specialist

Marketing Ops Specialist

Marketing Automation Specialist

HubSpot CRM Specialist

CRM Data Operations Specialist

Lifecycle Specialist

Customer Journey Specialist

GTM Specialist

Growth Marketing Specialist

MarTech / Solution Specialist

CRM Project & Process Consultant

Product Developer

Consultant / Advisor


— TASKS

CRM Strategy

Operating Model Design

CRM System Design

Process Design

CRM Data Management

Data Governance

Data Cleaning

Data Enrichment

User Segmentation

Lead Management

Lead Magnet Development

Lead Scoring

Lead Qualification

Customer Journey Design

Lifecycle Design

Campaign Design

Nurture Design

Email Marketing

Campaign Execution

Marketing Automation

Workflow Design

MarTech Integration

Solution Design

GTM Strategy

Lead Generation

Demand Generation

Product/ Service Development

Process Improvement

Testing & Analytics

Performance Measurement

Implementation

Migration & Rollout

Project Management

Stakeholder Management

Documentation

Training & Knowledge Transfer

Consulting & Advisory


— CERTIFICATION

22 Hubspot Certificates


Salesforce Sales Operations Professional Certificate


— DATE

2025 onwards

My CRM experience combines CRM strategy and operations, marketing operations, data management, automation, lifecycle marketing, GTM, customer journeys, analytics and process improvement. I work across the strategic and operational layers of CRM — understanding business requirements, structuring data and processes, designing solutions, building workflows and automation, and developing the measurement and documentation needed to operate and improve them.


For a Canadian Workforce & Talent Solutions Firm, I delivered hands-on CRM and marketing automation work centred on HubSpot and connected MarTech. This included mapping and automating an end-to-end client journey from booking and validation through CRM activity, AI-assisted call information, retainer and proposal processes, contracts, sequenced follow-up, surveys and project hand-off. I designed multi-step workflows, conditional logic, automated tasks, communications, If/Then routing and cross-platform data flows, working with HubSpot, Make, Calendly and Zoho. The work required translating business requirements into practical CRM processes and rebuilding automation as requirements and technology evolved.


For a US-based Enterprise Human Capital Advisory Firm, my work has been broader across CRM strategy, CRM data operations and GTM. I analysed and prepared a substantial prospect and contact population, undertaking data cleaning, deduplication, classification, enrichment, segmentation and qualification. I developed proposed CRM and GTM operating models connecting prospect identification, qualification, segmentation, campaigns, engagement, meetings and conversion, alongside lifecycle and customer-journey structures, lead-generation processes, propositions and lead magnets. I also developed extensive project, process and implementation documentation to translate the proposed operating model into an actionable CRM framework.


Across this work I have developed capability spanning CRM and Marketing Strategy, CRM Operations, CRM Data Management, GTM Strategy, Lifecycle and Customer Journey Architecture, Marketing Automation, B2B Lead Generation, Marketing Analytics, MarTech Solution Architecture, Product and Proposition Development, Process Improvement, Project Delivery and Consulting.


I have complemented this practical experience with deliberate platform development: 20 HubSpot certifications and a Salesforce Sales Operations Professional Certificate. My HubSpot learning spans Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Revenue Operations, Reporting, Data Integration, Content Hub and Sales Enablement, alongside lifecycle marketing, email, ABM, SEO, digital advertising, AI and emerging AEO. Further HubSpot Reporting and Workflow Automation bootcamps are planned for Autumn 2026. The certifications provide current platform breadth alongside — rather than instead of — my professional CRM experience.


My wider background in business information management, intelligence, market and competitive analysis, marketing, communications and digital operations also informs how I approach CRM: analytically, commercially and structurally. I am comfortable moving between the detail of data and workflows and the wider business problem they are intended to solve.


An additional UK B2B SaaS CRM Operations project provided an environment for extending this experience through a complete CRM operating cycle: Build → Test → Launch → Simulate → Measure → Learn → Optimise. The project covers CRM data, segmentation, lifecycle management, campaigns, workflows, simulated customer interactions, reporting and continuous improvement.


Why CRM?

I like CRM because it brings structure to complexity. It sits at the intersection of business, marketing, people, data and technology, where problems can be analysed, solutions designed, tested, measured and improved. I particularly enjoy the process of understanding a problem, structuring it, designing the solution and then making the system work better.

Intelligence: Full Spectrum

See. Listen. Feel. Immerse. Anticipate. Gauge. Predict. Own. Adapt. React. Be Relentless. Synthesize. Storytell the Mosaic. Disseminate. Be Heard.

Disrupt the Enemy.


— DOMAINS

Intelligence

ICT Intelligence

Public & Govt Intelligence

Parliamentary Intelligence

Secret/Top Secret level

Economic Intelligence

Strategic Intelligence

Commercial Intelligence

Comparative Intelligence

Export Intelligence

Product Intelligence

Country Intelligence

City Intelligence

Market Intelligence

Competitive Intelligence

User Intelligence

Customer Intelligence

Data Operations

Social Media

Image Intelligence

Public Health Intelligence

Education Intelligence

Purchasing Intelligence

Multi-sector intelligence

Historical Research & Intelligence

Military Research & Intelligence

Tourism Intelligence

B2B

B2C

Enterprise


— ROLES

Intelligence Analyst

ICT Expert

Senior Intelligence Analyst

Deputy Team Leader

Intelligence Center Leader

Government Team Leader

Sector Expert

Intelligence Monitoring Spec.

Intelligence Purchaser

Asia ICT Expert


— TASKS

Intelligence Acquisition

Intelligence Sourcing

Systematic Dissemination

User Services

Foreign Trade Services

Parliamentary Briefing Intell.

Intelligence Reviews

Intelligence Monitoring Newsletters

Fast Reaction Service

Short and Long Profiles

C-Suite One-Pager Profiles

Deep Dive Intelligence

Investigative Intelligence

OSINT

Biographic Intelligence

Targeted Intelligence

Complex Intelligence

Entity & Network Intelligence

Product/Service Benchmarking

Price Benchmarking

Company Benchmarking

Intelligence Matrices

Harvey Ball Analysis

SWOT/PEST

Image Intelligence

Advisories

SITREPs

Briefings

Sector Intelligence Sales

Commercial Market Reports

Intelligence Purchasing

Bilingual Work mode

Operations / Workflow

Database Intelligence

Database Management

Knowledge Transfer

Intelligence Partnering

SLAs

Intelligence Classification

Intelligence Tagging

Keyword Assignment

Subject-Term Assignment

Intelligence Taxonomy

Resource Classification

Metadata & Indexing


— DATE

1996 to 2026

Global Fortune 500 Tier 1 Enterprise, B2B Services


Deutsche Telekom T-International B2B and B2C. Asia specialist. Sector and market specialist.


Three UK Government Departments. I was given security clearance vetting to Secret/Top Secret level and worked under the UK Official Secrets Act on sensitive government projects.


UK Public-Private Sector Organisations / NGOs


UK Large Commercial Companies


Various SME Projects and Consultancy


Work roles were carried out between 1996 and 2026.


Much of my work was Confidential, Secret/Top Secret, Commercial, Proprietary or covered by NDA – so I have nothing I can show you here. I’m sorry! Thus there is no dedicated portfolio page for Intelligence, it would be pointless.

What I can show you to the left and also above of here is the breadth of the intelligence work, the roles I performed, the problems I solved and the methods I developed over 30 years.

Sectors of Expertise

ICT / Telecommunications

Professional / Business Services

HR / People Analytics

Communications

SaaS / Technology

MarTech / Marketing Technology
Marketing
Digital Marketing and Web Skills
Social Media
Business
Economics
CRM

Purchasing

Knowledge Management / Information Management

Research / Intelligence

International Trade / Export

Education

Government / Public Sector

Health / Healthcare / Medicine

Cultural / Heritage

Tourism / Hospitality

SMEs

NGOs / International Organisations

City Development

UK

EU

Germany

USA

Asia

Culture / Arts










Digital Marketing and Marketing

All the World’s a Stage:

Orchestrating Digital Marketing


— PROJECT NAMES

Intelligence Website

International Educational

Playmobil Branding

Take Your Vitamins

Consulting for CX & Inbound


— ROLE & TASKS

Digital Marketing

Marketing Automation

Email Campaigns

Member Newsletters

Content

Editorial

CMS

CRM Hubspot

SEO

SEA

SEM

Performance Marketing

Research

Branding

Strategy

Product Strategy


— DATE

2018 to 2026

Intelligence Hub Cuspis | IHC


Berlin international educational organisation


Playmobil


Vitamin Council


These projects were carried out between 2018 and 2026.


Click here to see the portfolio projects


Other prior Marketing roles were:


Germany NGOs


German Tier 1 Fortune 500 B2B


UK Large Commercial Companies


UK NGOs


UK Student Society


Business Intelligence: Fiber, Traffic & Accommodation

Business Intelligence Know Thyself: Owned Intelligence


— PROJECT NAME

Google Business Intelligence


— ROLE

Business Intel

Project Lead


— DATE

2024

Google Fiber customer service repeat calls pattern resolution covering key markets and key problems types and trends, covering problems resolution.


Minnesota Transportation Department interstate traffic volume and patterns. Trends in travel over time periods, national holidays and under weather patterns.


Airbnb Accommodation hotspots and pricing. Trends in vacancies, areas and costs.


This project was carried out in 2024. The portfolio page can be seen here.


It was carried out with Excel, SQL, Tableau, Big Query and public data sets


Data Analytics: Bellabeat

From Wearables to Wisdom: Bellabeat Analytic



— PROJECT NAME

Google Data Analytics


— ROLE

Data Analytics

Project Lead


— DATE

2024

A Google training project with Bellabeat, a company selling wellness products and services.


This project was carried out in March 2024. The portfolio page can be seen here and a PDF can be downloaded here.


It was carried out with Excel, SQL, Tableau, Google Big Query and massive public data sets


Data Visualisation with Tableau

Visual Storyweaving with Tableau


— PROJECT NAME

UC Davis Data Visualisation with Tableau


— ROLE

Data Visualisation

Project Lead


— DATE

2024

Superstore USA


UK Tourism Trends and Corona


Transport for London trends


UK Top Ranked Chocolate


USDA retail


These project was carried out in 2024. The final project page can be seen here with tabs for worksheets, dashboards and story . The final stand alone project story can be seen here.


The other Tableau projects can be seen here.


Projects were carried out with Excel, SQL, Tableau, and public data sets




UX Design: Coaching Wizards

— PROJECT NAME

UX Design App

Coaching Wizards:

Coaching & Training


— ROLE

UX Design

Research

Marketing


— DATE

2022-2023

Coaching Wizards is an app and product design for kids and parents that are trying to deal with developmental issues such as neurodiversity, social problems, dysmorphia, gender and physical interaction.


Coaching Wizards offers expert coaching that untangles these developmental issues, whether they are simple or complex and allows the kids to deal with or solve them.


Click here to view the project


UX: Language & Learning

— PROJECT NAME

UX Design App

Learning & Language


— ROLE

UX Design

Research

Marketing


— DATE

2022

An app to learn and study online with language learning.


This UX Design project involved wireframing and prototyping a low fidelity app using the software Marvel.


This project was the completion piece for a basic course in UX with Career Foundry before starting the 5 month intensive UX Design course that produced Coaching Wizards. It followed the stages of research and definition, design and iteration, prototyping and testing.


This was an excellent learning by doing project where I worked through methods, theory and software. I learned a lot in every area. For example user research showed what people want, competitor analysis showed what was going on, design involved learning and experimenting while creating and testing about how to do it all better and iterate something new and improved.

Other Content

I am an experienced micro blogger and visual and narrative storyteller, and have honed my smartphone photographic skills over the years. I primarily use Instagram to showcase my work, but also in the website and email marketing for a major Berlin international school.


My content involves strong and emotive visual written work that connects with the audience and makes them feel involved and present in a story.


I have 10+ years experience producing successful focused newsletters within organisations. This includes weekly intelligence newsletters for a multicorp and an weekly info and Friends letter for a renowned international school in Berlin, where I was also web admin and content chief editor for 5 years.