What’s your golden rule?
I’ve broken the rules at the get-go and I’m offering up two golden rules. One that is perhaps a philosophy related to how I approach colleagues and clients I meet along the way, and one that I apply to the craft of my job, day to day.
Be kind: I firmly subscribe to the belief that the energy you put out into the world, is the energy you get back and being kind to everyone you meet should always be the guiding principle. Not least because we work in a small world and a small industry, but also because generally, everyone is doing the best they can!
Experimentation mindset: it’s a golden rule in my approach to the craft of media strategy and planning, but I love to apply it all aspects of life. Always be open and curious, and if it works, great and if it doesn’t, learn from it and try again. It’s all about reframing failure as a learning opportunity.
Who has been your biggest influence?
I’ve been lucky to have some brilliant mentors and cheerleaders throughout my career. It’s never been one singular influence, but a merry band of amazing people that I’ve met and collected along the way. At every step, it’s this group of people who have told me to keep going, to pick myself up and dust myself off in the face of failure, to learn from the process when things don’t go as expected and to just go for it instead of letting self-doubt get in the way. Each of them gives me a different perspective, a new way of looking at the problem. Some help me work through a difficult challenge, others offer me advice on what the best next step is, and whether it’s worth going for, that choice may be high risk but also a high reward.
What is your most hated business expression?
Let’s circle back on that’ – usually said at the end of a circular conversation!
What’s the smartest business idea you’ve ever had?
Tricky question, I have a couple of contenders for this...this is less of a business idea but more the tool I wish I had as a planner: a one-stop insight machine that uses AI to model behavioural data from multiple different sources (for example search signals, conversational data on Reddit etc.) into structured sets: 1) ephemeral, fast-moving fads that ripple through the digital world, 2) medium-paced trends that are slightly faster moving shifts in how people behave and 3) bigger, behavioural shifts that could change the structure of a category or society. We have such incredible data at our fingertips these days, figuring out a way to bring them all together into one place and use it to predict and monitor every micro shift would be amazing. I’d probably need to retrain as a data scientist to get there though!
I also set up a wine influencer account about seven years ago called Ven du Vin – I wanted to make natural and biodynamic wine more accessible to a younger audience. I did nothing with it and now heaps of people have made their stake in it, so I’m definitely late to the game on that!
Which leader do you admire most and why?
Indra Nooyi (former CEO of PepsiCo) was one of the first female leaders I saw out in the world who looked like me. I cannot stress how much a difference that made to me. But that wasn’t just it – she pioneered a style of empathetic leadership, embracing who she was and using that as her superpower but also empowering everyone around her to do the same. I’m such a huge believer of superpowers and how your individuality, your authenticity and your perspective on the world is the very reason why you have a seat at the table. So, using that perspective and voice to make space for others too, is so critical. She talks a lot about always learning and intellectual curiosity. One of the reasons I love my job and the work we do in media and advertising is that it’s never a dull day. We need to keep pace with the change of media and technology and how that is transforming the world we live in, and I love that about our industry.
Seeing role models out there in the world who looked like me made me feel like anything was possible
What is on your mind the most right now as a marketing leader?
There are two big things on my mind now...firstly, measurement: it’s been playing on my mind that we operate in a world where everything is measured. From our daily lives, using Strava to map the evening run, to digging into analytics to understand the ebbs and flows of website traffic. In a hyper measurable world, we’ve lost sight of how it all relates to each other. A lot of the stuff we measure in marketing and media is like comparing apples to pears, we use short-term performance techniques to measure slow-moving brand movements. We need to get better at the ‘art’ of measurement, alongside the ‘technical, scientific’ aspects of it.
Secondly, it’s around the pace of change. Media is at the coalface of that change. Our industry has such a huge role to play in the changing landscape. The tension is with how we, as humans, react to this change. The upside is enormous of course – we know more, we are more connected, but the downside is we may not realise some of the unintended consequences of it, too. The shared moments of mass media, or mainstream culture are fewer and far between, instead we all have our own versions of culture, or own individual spheres of influence. How we plan for this more complicated world, how do we build brands that are long-lasting and memory structures that will endure? How do we keep pace with how behaviour is changing? How do we play our part in making sure our world is safe and inclusive? A lot of big questions we should all think about with depth and intention.
Why is being part of The Marketing Society important for your career?
The Marketing Society brings together all the brilliant people in our industry. And being around the brains who do it day in and day out is an inspiration! At Publicis, we’ve partnered with The Marketing Society to host a series of events under the ‘Uncomfortable Conversations’ umbrella, and we host a monthly podcast called ‘In my humble opinion...’ to bring really provocative, challenging topics to TMS’s audience allowing us to engage in what’s disrupting our industry in real time.
I never fail to be amazed at how much brilliant work we all collectively deliver, the creative problem solving, the imagination we bring to bear
Why does marketing matter to you?
I think it’s probably evident at how much of a marketing and media nerd I am. We genuinely create the brand stories and shape the businesses that make up our world. On one hand, it’s an enormous responsibility but gosh, it’s fun too. I love understanding how people tick, how and why people make decisions. One of the most fascinating projects I worked on recently got me looking into what it means to be a hard-working family in Britain today. Not only was this a fascinating project, but it was also truly humbling as it showed me the incredible levels of quiet ingenuity that every family is exercising each day, with every decision. It’s not an easy world out there, but we are all finding small wins and ways to get through it together. And I love that my job lets me spend time thinking about and doing just that.
Tell us something that’s not on your CV.
I was training as media lawyer before I fell into agency life – which took me to presenting libel claims in front of High Court judges at the Royal Courts of Justice. You’d be surprised (or maybe not...) to hear how similar it is to pitching!
Spark Foundry UK are part of Publicis Groupe UK, partners of The Marketing Society.
