Sonya Murrell has over 9 years of experience in marketing, events, and project management in both the private and public sectors. She has a background in marketing roles at Royal Holloway University of London and experience coordinating events for the Australian Institute of Management. Her experience also includes project management roles at Virgin Retail Limited where she managed budgets of up to $5 million for store refits.

1. SONYA MURRELL
4204/141 Campbell Street, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, 4006, QLD
sonyamurrell4@gmail.com
0459 204531
Linkedin/SonyaMurrell
PROFILE
A marketing professional with over nine years’ experience in both the private and government sector. I
have a solid understanding of marketing, events, student recruitment and project management.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), April 2016
Events Assistant – Brisbane (part of Casual staff team)
Provided support at high profile events. Responsibilities included; erecting stands and banners, setting up
tables, displaying sponsor information, manning the registration desk and clearing away post-event.
Australian Institute of Management (AIM), February 2016
Membership Engagement and Events Manager – Queensland, February 2016 (Temporary contract)
I coordinated corporate events for members and guests in collaboration with Regional Committee
Managers
• Organised venue, negotiated costs, arranged av and catering
• Liaised with and secured guest speakers
• Supported Sales team with promotion of event to achieve targets
• Represented AIM at State office events – Greeted attendees, organised seating arrangements,
distributed promotional materials, assisted guest speakers
• Networked with attendees during and post-event promoting membership benefits and future events
• Followed up leads and enquiries post- event with speakers, attendees, members, new members
seeking to improve future events
2015-16 Emigrated from the UK to Australia, travelled around the UK and Australia, provided care for
mother during operation in the UK
Royal Holloway, University of London, 2006-14
Marketing Officer, Jun 2008- Dec 2014
I managed and developed marketing activities to support the School of Management’s overall strategy to
raise student quality and increase application numbers.
Key Responsibilities:
 Collaborated with other departments on student recruitment events – Recruitment Agents Conference,
Enterprise Youth Entrepreneurship Awards, Alumni and student recruitment events
 Represented department at internal/external events - Open days, external recruitment fairs, attended
Higher Education conferences/exhibitions, supported Head of School with VIP’s/corporate contacts
 Trained Student Ambassadors for recruitment events and provided guidance for UGC for the website
 Collaborated on e-communications campaign with Recruitment office, to segment and target key
students
 Managed all marketing activity for the School of Management (largest academic department)
 Devised and implemented marketing strategy and plan in line with corporate strategy
 Formulated and managed marketing budget, £160,000 (approx. $300,000)
 Managed advertising agency and external agencies and negotiated costs
 Created and implemented advertising strategy and plan (SEO/SEM/Geo-targeting/PPC)
 Audited website, benchmarking against competitors – briefed and oversaw improvements required

2.  Created engaging content (web and print) and provided imagery for marketing collateral
 Managed adhoc projects for Head of School – branded School’s new extension, advised on brief for
interior design, developed long-term relationships with industry to gain placements for students
 Critically evaluated and monitored marketing campaigns and initiatives to measure KPI’s and ROI
Key Achievements:
Redesigned the School of Management’s visual identity and significantly contributed to improving the
‘student experience’ – a major benchmark in university rankings for prospective students
 Remastered School’s website resulting in 24% increase in traffic to course application pages
 Redesigned School’s promotional materials resulting in 42% increase in positive student feedback
 Launched new visual identity and format for the School’s recruitment events in collaboration with
External Relations and Recruitment, resulting in a 21% increase in high quality student applications
 Conducted competitor research, providing key strategic insights into other Business School’s and their
course portfolio to enable change, become more competitive and attract high quality students
 Redeveloped advertising campaigns to prioritise PPC, SEO and Social Media to support new visual
identity and target relevant students, resulting in 28% increase in traffic to the Schools website
 Redefined new students Welcome Week events and processes in collaboration with Undergraduate
Director and Recruitment
 All the above significantly contributed to a 89% positive student experience and the School’s position
rising in university rankings, over 3 years from 34th
to 19th
Marketing Coordinator, Jul 2006 - Jun 2008
Delivered marketing initiatives and campaigns to support the School’s strategy to establish, promote and
raise the profile of the School numbers through intrapreneurial initiatives
Key Responsibilities:
 Developed and managed relationships with key stakeholders to secure support for the School’s new
marketing initiatives and events, many of which were then adopted throughout the university
 Briefed internal agency on new, high quality marketing material required for the School
 Re-launched School’s website in collaboration with Webmaster – improved navigation and visuals
 Effectively promoted new courses, recruitment events, industry connections on the School’s website
 Organised and attended recruitment events on behalf of the School, followed up leads and enquiries
 Briefed advertising agency and created copy for advertisements in line with branding guidelines
 Managed film company and project managed video showcasing student life at the School
 Developed high quality, highly desirable branded goods for the School’s staff, students and guests
 Devised and produced Business School Competitor Research reports to ascertain the Schools true
competitors and use as a benchmark for courses, facilities, academics, support staff and marketing
 Conducted ‘Start of term’ new student surveys to gain key insights as to why they applied to the School
 Launched ‘Welcome packs’ for new students containing useful information and promotional goods
 Conducted annual review of marketing output to critically evaluate both ongoing and new initiatives
 Created and implemented new marketing procedures and processes to improve efficiency
Key Achievements:
 Launched recruitment Open Days for Postgraduates resulting in a 41% enrolment rate - this initiative
was subsequently adopted by the university
 21st
anniversary of the School event – promoted and raised profile of the school through exclusive
event attended by academics, industry connections, School staff and student representatives
 Significantly contributed to improving the internal and external profile, and perceptions of the School
to a professional, well-respected, collaborative department to work for /study at
 Created a Marketing office within the School – the only academic department to have this facility
 Appointed and managed advertising agency for the School

3. Virgin Retail Limited, 1996-2006
Project Manager, Mar 2002 - Jul 2006
Key Responsibilities
 Managed £2.5m (approx. $5m) budget for 16 Virgin Megastore refits over 2 years
 Briefed and directed external agencies, contractors, suppliers on specifications for refits and monitored
standard of work and timescales
 Created weekly Gantt chart reports on refit progress for Directors and Senior Managers
 Coordinated estate rollout of 45 in-store concessions for Virgin Mobile and Costa Coffee
 Communicated project updates to Senior team and problem solved with internal/external agencies to
ensure in-store concessions were completed on time
 Managed estate rollout of display equipment for 90 stores, collaborating with other departments to
secure support for the project
 Redesigned department at Oxford Street flagship store for Radiohead album artwork exhibition
Key Achievements
 Delivered 16 store refits within timeframes as part of brand repositioning project
 Launched new innovative Megastore window display across the estate
 Successfully completed the CISCO Systems team challenge 2005 with the Virgin Megastores team
Personal Assistant to Marketing Director, Jul 1996 – Feb 2002
 Efficiently managed Marketing Director’s diary and travel arrangements
 Produced high level PowerPoint presentations for company conference
 Organised company events – Virgin Megastores Annual Barbeque, Quiz night and Christmas party
Operations Coordinator, Apr 1995 – Jun 1996
 Monitored and created monthly staff travel reports
 Reviewed and collated Megastore Customer Service reports
 Provided secretarial support to Operations Manager
Tate Bramald Limited, Sep 1994 – Mar 1995
Office Administrator
 Created monthly client reports for Senior Managers
 Collated and issued clients with annual maintenance renewal contracts
 Provided administrative support to IT team
EDUCATION
BA (Hons) History/Geography, University of Surrey, 1992
A’ levels - History, International Relations, Law, Strodes 6th Form College, 1989
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
Professional Diploma in Marketing, Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), 2013
 The Marketing Planning Process
 Delivering Customer Value through Marketing
 Managing Marketing
 Project Management in Marketing
An Overview to Strategic Marketing, 2014
 Marketing and Corporate Performance
 Strategic Marketing Planning and Analysis
 Growth Strategy
 Implementation - process, action planning, issues and review
IT SKILLS

4. PC literate, website design, Dreamweaver and Contensis (Web Content Systems) Photoshop, Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, SEO, digital advertising, Google analytics, Outlook
References available on request