Estonian Business
David Bailey runs his own digital marketing agency in Estonia and is a member of the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce, helping to facilitate trade between the two countries. The Staffordshire University history graduate emigrated to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city, to help meet the Baltic country’s need for English speakers with sales and marketing experience.
Blu Mint Digital was launched in 2016 to offer wide-ranging digital marketing services. It now has three offices across the world, with clients in the USA, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, UK, Australia and Canada.
“Being a digital company, we’re not limited to where we can offer our services – whether digital marketing, web development or business consultancy,” David explained. “Our team work remotely from various locations across the world, whether in a café, from home, in an office or even on a beach!”
Baltic Silicon Valley
David grew up in Worthing and, after finishing his A-levels, wanted to experience another area of the UK. After visiting several universities, he chose to study History at Staffordshire University. He said: “I was impressed by the tutors and the level of support the administrative staff gave me. After visiting the university and campus, I decided Staffs was the right choice for me.
“There were two aspects of the course that left an impression on me; learning about European political history and being introduced to gender/feminism in history. My learnings from Staffs enabled me to be culturally sensitive and have a greater understanding of European political issues. Learning about gender rights and feminism has ensured my own company is gender diverse and I’m frequently asked to write about gender equality within the local Estonian community.”
His interest in gender equality eventually led David to pursue a Masters in Globalisation and Development at the University of London, where he focused on diversification within the workplace.
Prior to continuing in higher education, however, David chose to take a gap year, backpacking around the world. He said: “Everything I learned at Staffs inspired me to find out more, from the people and countries I studied through history. I visited Africa, Asia, India, China, Oceania and North America in 12 months.”
After returning to the UK and gaining his Masters, David worked in various sales and marketing roles, during which time he met his Estonian wife. They have since had three sons and decided, in 2014, to emigrate to Estonia. “As a family, we visited Estonia each year and I learned about the aptly named Baltic Silicon Valley tech sector,” David recalled. “Since emigrating, I have worked with clients in various industries and I was elected to the British-Estonian Chamber of Commerce.”
Digital Marketing
David’s experiences working within the Estonian tech sector prompted him to set-up Blu Mint Digital. He explained: “With the advent of digitalisation and the mass consumption of online content on our smart devices, it was a logical decision to offer digital marketing services. Digital marketing is very data and analytics driven, providing a more affordable solution for local and international tech companies.
“I see digitalisation as the future. It empowers people to reach others across the planet without actually visiting each other. It transcends international borders and politics. My goals are to increase our company’s digital brand even further into growing markets, combining digitalisation with localisation.
“What that means is somebody in Africa can sell their products online to others in North America without having a local, physical presence. This facilitates growth and wealth in developing economies. From learning about the past at Staffordshire University, I am now helping to shape the digital future.”
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