Hjörtur Smárason

Internet marketing and place branding consultant, columnist, speaker, owner Scope Comm

Iceland

Current
Past
  • Member of the Board of Directors at Fjolvi
  • Columnist at Vidskiptabladid
  • Managing director at iPlus ehf
  • Copy writer and concept developer at Hvita husid ad agency
Education
  • Copenhagen Business School
  • Lunds universitet
  • Háskóli Íslands
  • Kvennaskolinn i Reykjavik
Connections
363 connections
Industry
Marketing and Advertising

Hjörtur Smárason’s Summary

An anthropologist that went practical. I write, speak and consult on social media, personal branding and Internet marketing (you can read my Marketing Safari blog on http://blog.scope.is).

I'm the founder and CEO of Scope Communications ehf., a marketing consultancy in Reykjavik, Iceland specializing in branding and Internet marketing (viral, blogs, social media, SEO, SEM). I have more than a decade behind me in marketing, starting as copy writer and concept developer at Hvita husid ad agency in Reykjavik working for many of the biggest brands in Iceland and later as a director of a company specializing in email marketing, running email clubs that 15% of the total population in Iceland signed up to.

I help companies finding their way into social media and get their story heard. I also work for municipalities on place branding. I was the editor of the book "CoolBrands - an insight into some of Iceland's coolest brands 2006. I'm a frequent speaker and offer courses and presentations on Internet marketing, social media and personal branding. I'm a columnist in Vidskiptabladid, the local business newspaper in Iceland, and write a popular marketing blog. I run several forums and blog magazines in Icelandic.

My academic background comes from anthropology and political science, with a BA in anthropology from the University of Iceland, and a masters degree in political science from Lund University, Sweden, specializing in diplomacy, conflict resolution and peace negotiation (thesis "Does Size Matter - Asymmetry in the Negotions on the Sovereignty of the Faroe Islands"). Additional to that I have a Cand.merc.int minor in Business and Economic Development from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

I now live in Iceland with my wife, dog and five children. I suffer from insatiable curiosity and love to travel and be faced with new ways of thinking things. You can check out my travelblog on www.mousefriends.com.

Hjörtur Smárason’s Specialties:

Internet marketing, social media, SEO, SEM, viral marketing, place branding, personal branding, concept development, contagious stories, word of mouth marketing


Hjörtur Smárason’s Experience

  • Director

    IMinnovation.org

    (Internet industry)

    January 2009Present (11 months)

    Running the IM-innovatin project, an online innovation project for the Reykjavik University and the Icelandic Academy for the Arts. Not online yet, but stay tuned.

  • Co-founder

    IfTheWorldCouldVote.com

    (Internet industry)

    June 2008Present (1 year 6 months)

    A website where we gave the world an opportunity to vote the next president of the United States. Without having a penny to spend and using only social media marketing, we got almost 900.000 people from over 200 countries to vote and the website was featured in all mature media around the world.

  • Owner

    Scope Communications

    (Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

    October 2004Present (5 years 2 months)

    A company specializing in Internet Marketing and Branding.

  • Member of the Board of Directors

    Fjolvi

    (Publishing industry)

    October 2007December 2008 (1 year 3 months)

  • Columnist

    Vidskiptabladid

    (Newspapers industry)

    November 2006September 2008 (1 year 11 months)

    Write a weekly column on marketing in the national business paper.

  • Managing director

    iPlus ehf

    (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

    May 2003September 2004 (1 year 5 months)

    A company specializing in permission based email marketing

  • Copy writer and concept developer

    Hvita husid ad agency

    (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

    August 1997July 1999 (2 years )


Hjörtur Smárason’s Education

  • Copenhagen Business School

    Cand.merc.int. minor , Business and Economic Development , 20022003

  • Lunds universitet

    MA , Negotiations, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution , 20012002

    Thesis: Does Size Matter? - Asymmetry in the Negotiations on the Sovereignty of the Faroe Islands. A study on the negotiation process between Denmark and the Faroe Islands.

  • Háskóli Íslands

    BA , Anthropology , 19951998

    Thesis: Salesmen or Missionaries - a comparison of the social structure of a multi-level-marketing to new religious movements.

  • Kvennaskolinn i Reykjavik

    19911995

    Represented the school on the debate team, quiz team and mathematics team in national competitions.


Additional Information

Hjörtur Smárason’s Interests:

Marketing, Internet, social media, SEO, trend hunting, hiking, travelling, innovation, anthropology, psychology and storytelling

Hjörtur Smárason’s Groups:

Ímark, Trendhunters, SVEF, SEOmoz

  •    LinkedSEO
  •    On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs
  •    LInked Business Strategists
  •    Lunds Universitet - Alumni Group (500+)
  •    NOM - Nordic Online Marketing (+1000 members from Nordics)
  •    IEM 2.0 - Intelligent Email Marketing (+1000 members)
  •    Internet Affiliate Marketers Association (IAMA)
  •    ThoseinMedia
  •    HoteLIers
  •    Friends of Iceland
  •    Road Warriors
  •    Search Engine Land
  •    Startup Specialists
  •    JibberJobber - Career Management
  •    OpenCoffee Reykjavík
  •    Word of Mouth Professionals
  •    Tweeple
  •    SEO Secrets
  •    Green Affiliates
  •    Nýsköpun.org
  •    What Recession?
  •    ST.EN - Start-ups & Entrepreneurs
  •    Trend Hunter Magazine (TrendHunter.com)
  •    Fair Play in Music

Hjörtur Smárason’s Honors:

IMARK 2006 - best ad of all time in Iceland (MasterCard Circular Campaign)
IMARK - the Icelandic Advertising Awards - number of awards and nominations
CRESTA Awards 2000 (MasterCard Circular Campaign)
New York Festivals 2000 (MasterCard Circular Campaign)
EPICA Awards 1999 (MasterCard Circular Campaign)


Hjörtur Smárason’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
  • job inquiries
  • expertise requests
  • business deals
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

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