Britefire is a digital strategy and marketing innovation firm that helps companies excel in e-business, online marketing and web project management.

Britefire was founded by e-marketing and e-learning pioneer Godfrey Parkin and global e-commerce guru Karen Parkin, who built their reputations over nearly 30 years in the USA and Europe. We develop digital marketing strategies, and implement web projects that move the e-marketing performance of our clients to the next level. We provide strategy consulting, e-marketing implementation and business-based training services in all key dimensions of digital marketing.

Britefire's consultants are seasoned executives with broad experience in large corporations and small entrepreneurial start-ups. They have been responsible for driving digital initiatives since the web began, and have an intimate familiarity with emerging trends. Our methodologies for crafting digital business strategies are analytical, innovative and proven. We are able to separate hype from reality, clarify where an industry is headed, and conceptualise the business models and structures that will keep a business strong. We help to define the strategic projects that will take a business forward with confidence, and can, if required, help to manage the implementation of those projects.

The company’s principles have a real depth of local and global experience in business development, marketing, market research, applied web technologies, e-commerce and corporate strategy. They are acknowledged thought leaders in fields such as e-marketing, web project management, digital strategy formation, online learning, usability, globalisation, and information architecture.

Brief bio of Godfrey Parkin:

Godfrey Parkin’s primary expertise is in creating and implementing business strategies that build profitable relationships with the online consumer. He has an enduring passion for the power of informal online communities and buzz marketing, and a particular interest in the branding of luxury products and services.

Following on the success of his book, Doing Business Digitally, his second book, Digital Marketing: Strategies for Online Success, was published in Europe and the US in 2009.

A UCT graduate in Business Science, Godfrey is a popular speaker in his field. His entrepreneurial immersion in branding and digital business development spans three decades and three dozen countries.

He ran the world-wide management services division of A.C. Nielsen, and went on to found a series of pioneering web-centric marketing businesses in Zurich, London and Washington DC. His international client list has included Global 500 companies (e.g. Unilever, Nomura Bank, American Airlines, Motorola, Ford, DreamWorks, American Express, Honda, Nestlé, Credit Suisse), academic institutions (e.g. Georgia Institute of Technology) and government agencies (e.g. Library of Congress), as well as smaller organizations and start-ups.

Godfrey is on the faculty of the University of Stellenbosch Business School Executive Development (USB-ED) where he leads the Programme in Online Marketing Strategy and the Programme in Marketing Wine Online. Through Britefire, he runs the series of e-marketing courses that leads to the E-Marketing Professional (EMP) certification. He moderates the E-learning Forum of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and is a permanent member of the judging panel for Brandon Hall’s annual international “Technology Excellence Awards” and “Learning Excellence Awards.”

Brief bio of Karen Parkin:

Karen Parkin is an outstanding leader with an enviable depth of experience in Information Technology, Project Management, advertising, new media, web development and e-commerce. She has a reputation for planning, execution, and delivery on complex high-pressure projects demanding sound business judgment, creative flair, and technical innovation.

Before returning to South Africa, she led the projects that took Marriott Hotels International from having a US-only web site to its international presence in 20 countries in 9 languages, marketing more than 3,000 hotels worldwide. Marriott’s award-winning web site takes over $17 million a day in online hotel reservations, making it the sixth largest e-commerce site on the web.

Her bio includes working for or with major companies like IBM, Dow Chemical Europe, the BBC, EURO RSCG (a subsidiary of Havas International), Lockheed Martin, Intel, and Marriott International. She is regularly invited to speak at conferences, such as the IT Directors of Southern Africa Conference, on themes of web project management, digital strategy, and travel and tourism marketing. She runs Britefire’s series of popular courses in web project management.

Karen is passionate about everything she does and inspires people around her through striving uncompromisingly for the best. She believes strongly in the importance of Project Management and communications as fundamental building blocks for getting things done professionally. She has developed great understanding of multicultural work environments and international markets and is a recognized guru in internationalisation, localisation, usability and information architecture. She moves with ease from large corporate structures to small entrepreneurial companies. Her mastery of state-of-the-art management processes and technology has been gained by “walking the walk” in major projects and in real-world business experiences.