Sarah Thomas is PR account director at Unify PR & Marketing, a Brighouse-based communications agency.
Founded in April 2019, Unify specialises in traditional and digital marketing, PR, design and content production.
Thomas initially joined the agency as senior PR manager, and most recently was head of PR until transitioning into her new role as PR account director in February.
Alongside Olivia Brackenridge, she now oversees the smooth operation of all client accounts and leads on consumer facing brands.
From the benefits of working a four day week to spotting newsjacking opportunities, Thomas shares a recent week in her life with us…
Monday
We work from home on a Monday, so it’s a short commute to my home office where I start the day with a coffee. Even after Covid, we still work from home two days a week, which I really enjoy! If we have meetings or brainstorms I like to be in the office, but I find I can really get my head down at home, draft copy and catch up with emails. I like to start the day by checking the news to see if there are any newsjacking opportunities for any of our clients, and then get started on my emails.
I use Monday’s to plan the week ahead. Anyone who knows me, knows that I live by my diary – the joy of ticking things off! I also like to check each clients PR plans at the start of the week too, to check we’re on track with the month’s activities. After work I have a yoga class with my colleague Sophie – time to relax and unwind, ready for the week ahead.
Tuesday
My alarm goes off at 6am. Time to get myself ready, before waking my little boy Isaac up, ready to drop him off at the childminders. The whole team is in the office today. It’s a great opportunity to find out what everyone’s priorities are, and make sure we’re getting through the workload. We’ve got an exciting new business opportunity, so it’s all hands on deck to think of some exciting ideas, and put a proposal together.
In the afternoon we’ve got a monthly meeting with one of our homeware clients. The marketing team showcased all of their new products – now we need to think about how we can elevate the launches and present the products to the press.
Wednesday
I came back from maternity leave back in May, and since then I’ve been working a four day week. I was initially worried about being able to fit everything in to four days, but I find I manage my time much more effectively now. Every Wednesday I get to spend quality time with my 16-month-old son, Isaac. We normally go swimming and have a walk, or spend the day out together. Most recently we explored Eureka in Halifax.
Thursday
Today I’m spending a lot of time on media relations for the different clients we work with. Each month I scan through the weeklies, nationals, and food and home titles to find opportunities for clients. Rather than sending a blanket message out to all the journalists in our database, I like to tailor my pitches to specific journalists and pages. This strategy has helped to place some fab high profile pieces of coverage.
There are lots of seasonal and new product pitches we carry out for clients, so I manage to get a few new product releases drafted, ready to issue in the next few weeks.
Friday
It’s the end of the month, which means reporting on the exciting results we have achieved. We all work on the reports, and then I give them a final check before we send to each client. After all of the reports are finalised, it’s time to focus on Unify. I’m sure it’s the same at many other PR agencies, you spend so much time helping clients reach KPIs, that you forget about promoting your agency’s work and exploring opportunities to grow the brand.
We’re looking at new business opportunities for next year, focusing on our strengths in housewares, interiors and the kbb industry.
