WINNERS
NEVER STOP
LEARNING

Tell us a bit about you.

I am a dad to two teenagers, but I still feel a teenager at heart in many ways! I love sports, especially playing tennis, as well as reading, traveling and watching my favorite team Juventus (preferably at the stadium in Turin!) and F1 races. I play the drums and percussions (used to play and manage local band Corkskrew) and nowadays i’m involved in the annual Rock in the Forest concert held every summer. I’m very passionate about my career in marketing and communications, which spans the last 20 years, and I love what I do – I love being with people, meeting new people, creating, running campaigns, organizing events, being in filming/ editing/ AV set-ups and getting things done in a spirit of teamwork.

You started off as a traditional marketer, how has digital changed the game?

My career in Marketing and PR started way back in 2001, after around five years in journalism and following the completion of my BA Hons in Sociology at the University of Malta. Back then I had joined Malta’s second mobile phone operator, go mobile, which was tasked to challenge Vodafone’s monopoly. That was the time of the seminal Nokia 3310s and smartphones were not even a thought! At first I was responsible for PR and later handled the telecom’s firm marketing and market research. That was a hell of an experience in which in learnt a lot and contributed to the success of go mobile. Later in my career (2006) I worked with go mobile’s mother company (Maltacom – later known as GO) as Head of Marketing and Communications and was involved in the rebranding of GO. By then we had launched “cooler” smartphones like the iPhone, Blackberry and also brought to the market the first 4P telecoms packages like Home Pack, as well as exclusive TV content like Premier League, Serie A, Champions League and F1.

Between 2011 and 2018, I was Head of Communications at HSBC Bank Malta, a fantastic experience which gave me the great opportunity to work with colleagues all around the globe. Of late (last 5 months) I wanted to get my hands “dirty” in Marketing again and joined one of Malta’s leading financial services firms, Calamatta Cuschieri, as Head of Marketing and Communications. With CC, we are doing lots of digital marketing, apart from traditional marketing, and this is where ICE Malta’s Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing course came to play a key role in helping me understand better this new world. I thank Calamatta Cuschieri for supporting me in this diploma.

Since my early days in marketing and communications, a lot has changed. Back then, the focus was on traditional and broadcast media. I remember the days, around 2008 when at GO we had launched our Facebook page – that seemed so avant-garde. It was just the start, a taster of what was to come.

How would you describe your study experience at ICE Malta?

It was simply great. Highly interactive from the word go. I was in my element – learning new things, consolidating ideas that I had already formed, challenging new ideas in the constant interaction with the course educator and my classmates, who were great. The bootcamp format is great as you immerse yourself for five days into all the aspects of digital marketing and you have also a lot of hands-on experience during that week.

What, in your opinion, is the secret to career success?

The secret is to be ready to continue learning all throughout your career. And the ability to adapt and change. Never stop believing in yourself and always be willing to learn from others as well as from positive and negative experiences.

Your message to students.

There is no limit to what one can achieve in today’s world. Determination, willingness to learn and innovate are key. This diploma definitely sets you on the right course of success!

Time to get startedNo stalling. Get right to it.