Dean Gallagher, associate director at Weber Shandwick Manchester, takes us through a week in his working life. To suggest another senior media or creative figure for A Week In My Life, please email david@prolificnorth.co.uk.
Monday April 9th
The morning starts by following up on an Instagram chat with a BBC journalist from over the weekend. An embargoed story we have been working up for more than three months goes live tomorrow. Checking videos of orangutans are fully approved. Our account team are executing the sell-in superbly. It’s a joy to hear. We are juggling the schedules of our three spokespeople. They’re filling up.
Client status calls. Next. Call with our Beijing office to brief on a launch we need to pull together, and fast. Building the budget – excel can be a gift and a curse in equal measure can’t it? Who has capacity to take this on? Yes, that person will smash it. Great.
Laptop. Check. Press release. Check. Q&A. Check. Factsheet. Check. Message crib sheet. Check.
Last thought of the day: Press Association said it would go up at 2.45am.
Tuesday 10th
4.30am wake up. I sent the B-Roll to BBC Breakfast, didn’t I? We have a WhatsApp group for launch day – it’s the most efficient way to keep everyone on the same page. Coverage here. Yes. Coverage there. Yes. It’s looking good. Uber to Media City. Last burst of interview prep for our brilliant client. Chat with 5Live producer. Successful segment. Over to Breakfast. Grab a photo of client with Charlie and Louise on the red sofa. More radio interviews.
Bill’s back! An old colleague has returned to the fold. Welcome hug. “Drink later”. “Yes”. Back to work, aligning with our consumer colleagues on progression of a client’s brand evolution exercise. Next. Who else is free to attend a new business meeting on Thursday? Let’s get in touch with New York and check who would be the North American lead beforehand. When is the deadline? We should have the space to respond.
Bed. Another page of that book I’ve been reading for two months. Drifting.
Last thought of the day: Syria…
Wednesday 11th
Starting the day with a WIP for a client. Must prioritise content creation, and be even more targeted with top tier media. Call with said client on their proposition goes well – they know the score. We’ve found their white space. Now we have to own it. Need to set up a call on digital with them, and there’s scope for international too.
The team are still buzzing from yesterday’s results. Legends, one and all. Next. A line management meeting with one of our awesome account directors. 360 feedback is glowing, unsurprisingly. Ambitious. Dedicated. Gutsy. Entrepreneurial. He’s Weber through and through.
Last thought of the day: Why did I Deliveroo again? Gym soon. Oh, please, how many times have you said that to yourself Dean?
Thursday 12th
Trip to briefing session with prospect. Uber drivers can talk… Plush offices. This business is insane. Impressive growth. Unique. Fast paced. There’s a lot to love. We’ll work well together. Interrogating a brief is always the fun bit. We talk about the best team to develop the proposal in the car.
Back to a call with the Department of International Trade and the China-Britain Business Council. They’re keen to partner on the launch. Brilliant news. Next. An agency marketing team meeting. Let’s allocate networking across the team. What recent wins can we announce? Can we draft a top tips in time for this slot? How can we showcase this exceptional campaign?
Evuna dinner with a husband and wife-to-be. They’re down from Glasgow. He asks me to be his groomsman. So chuffed.
Last thought of the day: It’s been a year soon. How do you even mark that?
Friday 13th
London. Flying visit to attend a client’s internal strategic marketing plan walk through. Four hours on the pendolino would be hell for some. For me, it’s solitude. Time and space to keep pace, and to consider what’s beyond the here and now. Although, train travel does have its frustrations. I try to dial into a client call. Cut off. Twice. Eye roll. Quick chat with our Chairman, and fire over what he needs.
The week closes, as it always does, with a million and one questions flying around my grey matter. Will we be stretched on new business next week? Who should be added to our prospects list? Where’s the next award winning campaign coming from? Can we consolidate our account teams so individuals can be more focused on a smaller number of clients? Is digital our best option for organic growth on X client? Is Y client truly happy? Can we get our EMEA employee engagement lead into client Z?
And yet, that’s all for next week (and a bit over the weekend too). Oh… I need to write A Week In My Life…
